25th November 2017; The three day SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan which kicked off with a huge audience on Friday evening, saw another magical evening at the Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi on the second day. Organised by SaMaPa (Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts), the well known music academy and music organization of India by music legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori and music maestro Abhay Rustum Sopori, the 13th Annual edition of SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan, acclaimed as the topmost classical festival of Delhi and one of the most prestigious festivals of the country is being presented in collaboration with Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, IFFCO & J&K Bank. Day 2 was highlighted with some of the great music performances, followed by the distribution of prestigious SaMaPa awards, the exclusive national level honours pertaining to Jammu & Kashmir.
Day 2 of the festival began with Saraswati Vandana by students. The musical extravaganza began with a Santoor recital by Young Talent, Divyansh Srivastava who was accompanied by Sachin Sharma (Tabla). Divyansh presented Gat in Ten and Half beats (Sadhe Dus Matra) in Raga Kaushik Ranjani and a presentation of Ati Drut Teen Taal by Divyansh talked about his amazing talent. Second performance of the day was by internationally acclaimed Rudra Veena exponent Ustad Mohi Bahuddin Dagar accompanied by Pt. Dalchand Sharma (Pakhawaj). He presented Raga Nand Kauns. It was followed by Swarlaya Samwad coordinated by Pt. Vijay Shanker Mishra featuring Dr.Sharbari Banerjee & Padmaja Chakraborty (Vocal), Dr. Manoj Mishra & Aashish Mishra (Tabla) & Ghanshyam Sisodia (Sarangi). Swar-Laya-Samvad had two compositions each in Raga Puriya Kalyan & Raga Hansa Dhwani in Roopak & Teen Taal. Day 2 concluded with a mesmerising performance by eminent vocalist Pt. Vidyadhar Vyas accompanied by Shailendra Mishra (Tabla) & Dr. Vinay Mishra (Harmonium). He presented Vilambit Bada Khyal 'Dhan Dhan Bhaag Gauri Tore' in Raga Gorakh Kalyan, a Drut composition in Madhya Laya Teen Taal, a Tarana, a bandish in Raga Durga and a new Raga Bhawani.On day two prestigious SaMaPa Awards were given to various personalities for their contribution to Indian Classical Music, Arts & Culture. ‘SaMaPa Nund Rishi Samman’ was presented to Dr. Rafeeq Masoodi for his enormous contribution to Kashmiri Art, Culture & Language, and Waheed Jeelani, the renowned singer from Jammu & Kashmir, was awarded for his immense contribution to Kashmiri music.‘SaMaPa Sangeet Tejasvi Samman’, a new award instituted by SaMaPa this year to be given to those individuals who have contributed significantly at national and international level and are promising legends in making of Indian music. This year the Award was presented to eminent Rudra Veena exponent Ustad Mohi Bahauddin Dagar (Maharashtra), eminent Flute maestro Pt. Chetan Joshi (Delhi) and well known Composer Jaspal Moni (Delhi). ‘SaMaPa Yuva Ratan Samman’ was conferred upon Rishi Shankar Upadhyay (Delhi) in recognition of his conspicuous talent and achievements in the field of Hindustani classical music (Pakhawaj). During the festival SaMaPa also felicitated various personalities from Kashmir who have contributed to their respective fields bringing laurels to the J&K State, those included were; Sh. R.C. Ganjoo (Journalism), Dr. Ridwana Sanam (Medicine), Nuzhat Gul (Sports).
On third and last day, remaining awards would also be given, which includes ‘SaMaPa Vitasta Award’ being conferred upon the veteran Tabla maestro Pt. Anindo Chatterjee (Kolkata) and vocalist Pt. Vinayak Torvi (Bengaluru) for their lifetime contribution to Hindustani classical music. ‘SaMaPa Kala Vardhan Samman’ is being conferred upon Saptak, the cultural organization from Ahmedabad. The Award will be presented to Vidushi Manju Mehta, the eminent Sitar Maestro and founder member of Saptak, who will be felicitated for her lifetime contribution to Indian music. ‘SaMaPa Nund Rishi Samman’ is being conferred upon one of the greatest living anthropologist of the world Dr. T N Madan for his contribution to socio-cultural history of Kashmir. ‘SaMaPa Acharya Abhinavgupt Samman’ is being conferred upon Dr. Deo Datt Sharma (Jaipur) for his lifetime contribution to the field of art and culture as a music critic &writer.
Apart from the awards Vidushi Manju Mehta (Sitar) accompanied by Abhishek Mishra (Tabla), Pt. Vinayak Torvi (Vocal) accompanied byDurjay Bhaumik (Tabla), Paromita Mukherjee (Harmonium) & Siddhartha Belmannu (Vocal) and finally the festival will conclude with the recital of Pt. Bhajan Sopori (Santoor) accompanied by Pt. Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla).SaMaPa is a cultural movement translating from a deep rooted vision of its Chairman, the Music Legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori and the tireless efforts of the members of Board in creating a unique, unbiased and empowering national level platform for presentation, propagation, and teaching of traditional music and performing arts for the artists and the young talents. SaMaPa is acclaimed as a Cultural Bridge of the State of Jammu & Kashmir with rest of the country and to have created a new generation of music connoisseurs. SaMaPa widens its horizon into the general masses by creating the right platform for better appreciation and understanding of the traditional music and its technicalities, and enabling them to utilize the power of music in leading a more balanced life, as well as exploring opportunities with music as means to their employment. SaMaPa recognizes the contribution of several artists, leaders, officials and individual personalities for their tireless efforts in propagating and keeping the traditional system of music alive.
Contributed By:- Rafeeq Masoodi ,rafeeqmasoodi55@gmail.com