MUMBAI: The Art & Cultural Trust of India celebrated its 13th Annual Festival “Traditions 2010” on the 2nd Dec, 2010 at Stein Auditorium, Indian Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi and on the 7th and 8th Dec, 2010 at Auditorium of Triveni Kala Sangam, New Dehli under the chairmanship of Shri. Lalit Basin. Art and Cultural Trust of India is founded by Shri Thakur Chakrapani Singh with a selfless motive to promote our rich and creative cultural heritage in the field of music and Art. The occasion on 2nd Dec, 2010, was presided over by Chief Guest Shree Ajay Maken, Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt. of India along with Shri. Lalit Basin, Chairman, Art and cultural Trust of India, Shri. Thakur Chakrapani Singh, Founder President of the Trust, and several award winners. The Chief Guest conferred the “Sangeet Samman Awards” to several renowned personalities in the field of music and dance. “Bharat Ke Sangeet Ratna” award was conferred to Padma Vibhushan Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia for his significant contributions in the field of music and to Padma Bhushan Smt. Uma Sharma for her contributions to Kathak Dance. Pt. Umakant & Ramakant Gundecha, “the Gundecha Brothers” were given the “Sangeet Shree” award for their contribution to Vocal Dhrupad, while Pt. Dalchand Sharma was awarded “Delhi Ratna” award for his expertise in Pakhawaj. The Hon’ble Minister applauded the wonderful selfless initiatives undertaken by the trust for promoting various forms of performing arts. The audience was blessed with the performances of Smt. Uma Sharma, Gundecha Brothers and Pt.Dalchand Sharma. Several Students of the Art and Cultural Trust of India were awarded shields for their achievements in the last one year.
The celebrations of the festival on the 7th and 8th Dec, 2010, witnessed performances of several young budding and upcoming artists. The audiences were spell bound by the masterly performance of Master Aalekh Chakrapani in instrumental music; Miss Aashka Pallath received large appreciations for her excellent performance in Kathak, while Miss Urja was loved by all for her devotion for classical vocal at a tender age of 4years. Mrs. Sampa Ghosh Choudhury, Pt. Vinod Pathak, Mrs. Vidhushi K. Jayasree Gridhar, Shree A. Dattareya Sharma, Shree Satya Kumar, Dr Ujjawal and Mrs. Lakshmi Singh displayed their passion for art and music through their performances spread over the two days. Further information of the activities of the trust is available on the website: www.classicalguitar-veena.com.