Young Musicians Enthrall Arizona at Sangeetshri Music Festival
Contributed By - Satish Kosuri
Sangeetshri School of Music organized the much anticipated Sangeetshri Music Festival on Saturday, October 7th, 2017 at the Chandler Center for the Arts. Sangeetshri students, the budding musicians, enthralled the audience with beautiful renditions of Indian classical and semi-classical music, both vocal and instrumental. One of the major highlights of the day was the full rendition of “Vande Maataram” in a classical form.
The article may conclude with this but ‘twil be a grave injustice to all participants, volunteers, contributors, even the 300 odd guests in the audience if certain important aspects of the music festival are omitted.
To begin with, the guiding star behind this enormously successful event is none other than the Director of Sangeetshri School Of Music, Dr. Vijayshree Sharma. She not only runs the music school but also personally trains her students. Her hard work as well as the calibre of her students became evident on the evening of the 7th when the audience got to hear a spectrum of melodious Indian Classical ragas effortlessly sung by the participants ranging from toddlers to teenagers. The audience got to listen to some of the basic Ragas of Indian Classical music like Raga Bhoopali, Raga Yaman and Raga Bhairav. One of the oldest raga, the Raga Malkauns, rendered by Divya.
The mellow Raga Tilang, the traditional Raga Bihag, the soulful Ragas Deshkar, Vrindavani Sarang, and Kalinga, were treat to the ears. Miyan Tansen’s Carnatic Music import, Raga Darbari, expertly sung by young Aditya. A quintet of five ladies mesmerized all with Raga Yaman. Then there was this trio clad in blue sarees rendering in pentatonic scale the Raga Bhoopali. The gifted voice of Madhura Shembekar singing solo, the Raga Patdeep. The promising nine-year-old Palak singing Jaago Mohan Pyare in the primordial Raga Bhairav. There were Bhajans, Miyan Ki Todi on violin by Priyati Sharma, Bandish by little girls, and the juvenile junior group singing Hum Honge Kaamyab in unison assuring us of their rosy tomorrow. Each and every rendition was received with a resounding applause from the audience. Each and every performance was a stark example of merit and refinement and deserves special mention. The practice, the riyaaz, the dedication and the love for music was evident in the manner the students delineated themselves on stage.
More than forty renditions were presented before and after the lunch interim. The lunch was equally elaborate and engaging as it presented the guests and performers with an opportunity to interact with each other over servings of moreish victuals.
The audience, half of which was comprised of expectant parents of the prodigious pupils of Sangeetshree School of Music were seen zealously taking snapshots and videographing the performances of the students so as to take home a testimonial of this proud and significant moment of their wards’ lives.
Like all good things the melodious evening too came to an end but not before the superstars of the night got their due - the gifts, awards and certificates and words of encouragement from their esteemed guru Vijayshree herself. Her steadfast efforts to keep alive the golden culture of India through music on a foreign land calls for just one thing from us - Respect!