NEW DELHI: Sitar maestro Zunain Halim Khan from Mumbai held a scintillating recital, mesmerising listeners, at Ved Mandir, Amphalla in Jammu during the ongoing 9th Annual SaMaPa Aalap Festival (SAF) 2014. Khan had earlier given a recital in Rajouri.
The Festival is presented by SaMaPa (Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts) in collaboration with Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Jammu & Kashmir Police and Department of Tourism, Jammu. The concert was also dedicated to Ustad Ghulam Mohd. Saznawaaz, a legendary Sufiana musician of Kashmir who died yesterday.
Music maestro Abhay Sopori described his demise as a huge loss to Sufiana Mausiqi and also to the State of J&K.
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The concert witnessed participation of young children of Bal Niketan, Balika Niketan and Maharaja Pratap Singh Vidyalaya along with their teachers and staff. The people living in the Home for the Aged and Infirm were also invited for the concert.
The programme began with the traditional lamp lighting ceremony by maestro Abhay Rustum Sopori, Senior musicologist and music critic Pt. Vijay Shankar Mishra, Sufi Singer Ragini Rainu, performing musicians along with Amar Chand Gupta, President Ved Mandir, Capt. Purshotam Sharama, Vice President, K. K. Mengi, Secretary Ved Mandir, and O. P. Verma, member Ved Mandir.
Zunain Halim Khan, who has emerged as one of the foremost Sitar players of his generation, is the leading exponent of the Jafferkhani Baaj, an innovation of his eminent father and guru Padmabhushan Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan. He presented Raga Basant Mukhari commencing his recital with a brief Aalap – Jod followed by Gat in Vilambit Teentaal and Drut Teentaal. His recital demonstrated his unique subtlety of the rendition of the raga. His fast tempo Taan patterns left the audience enthralled. Earlier he gave a brief description on music and Sitar to the audience. He was accompanied on Tabla by Shubash Kanto Das.
The programme also featured an enthralling vocal recital by Nitin Sharma, a young vocalist from Delhi. Nitin is an upcoming musician and showed a keen sense of aesthetics and development of the raga.
He commenced his recital with a Brief Aalap and Bandish ‘Ab Mori Naiya’ in Raga Gurjari Todi, Bandish ‘Jao Ji Jao Shyam Chhaliya’ in Raga Shudh Sarang and concluded with a Bhajan in Mishra Bhairavi. Nitin made the students sing with him various compositions and patterns and also gave a brief description on various aspects of Indian music. He was accompanied by Shubhash Kanti Das on Tabla and Damodar Lal Ghose on Harmonium.
SAF 2014 will feature a vocal recital by Jagmeet Kaur at DBN School, Camp Road at 11:00 am on 15 February.
