In 1954, when Jawaharlal Nehru’s Information and Broadcasting Minister B.V. Keskar offered All India Radio’s (AIR) platform to Indian classical music, not only did he privilege classical music over film music, he also tried to give it a wider audience.
Now, 62 years later, AIR’s annual event — Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan — started by Keskar, makes one more attempt to reach across to an even more diverse audience.
On October 10, in a departure from tradition, 63 artists with their 150 accompanists, will perform across 24 cities from morning to night and this musical treat of classical and folk renditions will be broadcast by AIR over a month.
Taking a stab at integration, the programme will see artists from the north perform in the south and vice versa. Those performing in Delhi include the Gundecha brothers and the Chennai-based Jeyaraaj Krishnan and Jaysri Krishnan.
The October event has been held keeping in mind factors like power outages in States. The performers will be by Top A and B grade artists, say officials.
The programme of classical music was the brainchild of Keskar who started it with the objective of popularising classical music from AIR’s platform. Old-timers say had it not been for Keskar, Indian classical music would not have reached a wide audience.
Initially, say officials, AIR only invited internationally renowned experts. As the Sammelan spread to other cities, it was decentralised and broadcast by regional networks started.
AIR is also planning to record tribal music for posterity in its archives.
