Pandit Jasraj to perform at Shantiniketan

Kolkata: Showcasing to the world the talent of 100 budding artists in over 50 genres of music, across 12 cities, the largest concert tour of Indian music featuring classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj will come to Shantiniketan in West Bengal Jan 30. "Such concert tours help to promote the next generation of talent. And India has got a lot of talented young classical music enthusiasts. It is our responsibility to showcase them," said Pandit Jasraj here at a media conference Monday. The "Idea Jalsa" - touted as the largest travelling music festival in India - now in its seventh year opened with its maiden performance at Visakhapatnam Jan 20. "After Visakahapatnam it is the turn of Shantiniketan which has retained its cultural integrity through the ages. I had performed there about 12 years ago and it was a delight to mingle with such talented artists. I hope this edition of my visit will be equally memorable," said Jasraj. The Shantiniketan leg of the tour will witness the jugalbandi (duet) by Ramkumar Mishra on tabla and Shridhar Parthasarthy on the mridangam, which will be succeeded by Pandit Jasraj`s mellifluous renditions. Also featuring musical greats like Selva Ganesh, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia and Wadali brothers, the concert tour will enable audiences to interact with the musicians. It will be streamed live via YouTube. "We are expecting a turnout of more than 30,000 classical music enthusiasts across all the venues. In an effort to make it global, besides being telecast on various television channels, the tour will be streamed live on YouTube," said Durga Jasraj (daughter of Pandit Jasraj) whose company Art and Artistes is responsible for the tour in partnership with Idea Cellular. Within a span of 45 days, the festival will travel through cities like Patna, Varanasi, Surat, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Bangalore among others. IANS