Eight-day music extravaganza begins today

Vocalist T.S. Sathyavathi will perform in the music fest this year. File Photo: K. Gopinathan

The 44th Annual Music Conference of the Bangalore Gayana Samaja will kickoff on Sunday at 10 a.m. with lexicographer G. Venkatasubbaiah inaugurating the event. “The 107-year-old sabha’s annual conference is being flagged off by the 100-year-old veteran,” said sabha president M.R.V. Prasad.

The eight-day music extravaganza will comprise academic sessions (lec-dems), award presentations, short-film screening and junior and senior concerts. Gowri Kuppuswamy, senior musician and author, and the conference president, will lead the festival, even as the sabha will honour her with the ‘Sangeeta Kalaratna’ during the valedictory ‘Sadas’ on November 4.

Artist of the Year awards will also be presented the same day to seven achievers. Hindustani legend Pandit Jasraj will be conferred the ‘Paarangatha Prashasti’ for his life-time achievement on October 29.

Anjali Kirtane’s short film in English,

Golden Age of Music , tracing the course of the Hindustani Classical for over 100 years from 1850, will be screened at the auditorium on November 4, 4.30 p.m.

“The grandeur and scholarly features of the long-standing sabha is reflected in our lec-dems every year,” said Mr. Prasad.

Senior performers

“Our list this year contains senior names in the industry such as Gowri Kuppuswamy, Suguna Purushottaman, Shachidevi, Neela Ramgopal, S. Shankar, R. Vedavalli, Mysore V. Subramanya, Rajalakshmi Tirunarayan, T.S. Sathyavathi, Hariharan, S.C. Sharma and Pappu Venugopal Rao. The 12 academic sessions will cover interesting topics in the classical genre in the morning sessions,” he said.