Odisha's young and accomplished Hindustani flutist Srinibas Satapathy, who was conferred the coveted Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Prativa Puraskar of the National Sangeet Natak Akademi in New Delhi recently, has come a long way ever since he fell in love with his banker-father's playing of the wind instrument in their home in Bhubaneswar more than three decades ago.
He hails from a family well known for its devotion and commitment to the arts. While his father Jagannath Satapathy has been a bank officer by profession but a flute player and flute-maker by passion, internationally acclaimed Odissi dancer Bijayini Satapathy is his sister and famed dance institution Nrityagram's percussionist Shiv Shankar is his brother. Though the siblings excelled in academics, none of them could escape the call of their hearts for the arts and embraced their passion as their profession. As a kid, Srinibas loved learning the tabla. However, after his schoolings, his father suggested him to switch over to flute and sent him to Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Odisha's premiere college of performing arts in Bhubaneswar, to be groomed as a professional flute player from where he completed his masters in music in 1998. It was during his college days that he emerged as the topper in the National Youth Festival hosted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs in 1997 and for the next two consecutive years he held the first position in the competition organised by All India State Bank of India, in the solo Hindustani classical instrumental music category.
Later Srinibas came under the tutelage of Odisha's best known flutist Mohini Mohan Patnaik and then under advanced training from Pt. Rajendra Prasanna of Benaras gharana in Delhi. He received the national scholarship from the Government of India for his special training.
A guest lecturer at the Utkal University of Culture in Bhubaneswar at present, Srinibas is empanelled with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations besides being a graded artiste of the AIR. Besides being one of the most sought after accompanying artistes for Odissi dance recitals across the globe, he has given numerous solo performances all over the country and a few overseas. Some of his notable performances have been at the Festival of Music and Dance, Belgium, Nrityalaya in Washington DC, USA; The Attic, Delhi; India International Centre, Delhi; Vasant Habba, Bengaluru, International Odissi Dance Music Festival, Odisha,Nalanda Festival, Bihar; Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Festival, Bhubaneswar and Sangeet Pratibha Festival organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
He has accompanied renowned Hindustani Classical musicians Madhup Mudgal and renowned Odissi exponents and dancers like Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, Sonal Mansingh, Madhavi Mudgal, Aruna Mohanty, Sujata Mohapatra and Bijayini Satapathy while touring with them extensively all over the world. He has performed at prestigious festivals in the USA, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Holland, Poland, Malaysia and Singapore including performances at the Edinburgh Festival (UK), Theatre de la Ville (France), 'Maximum India'- Festival of India at the Kennedy Center (Washington D.C., USA), Joyce Theatre (USA), Fall for Dance Festival (New York, Los Angeles), Lyon de Biennale (France), Festival of India (Belgium) and many more.
Srinibas strongly feels that flutists must be presented more and more as soloists.
“The beauty of the flute recital can be fully explored in a solo recital. After all, Lord Krishna symbolizes the relevance of flute as the most enchanting musical instrument”, he signs off.
