Music fest to go fully offline Hariprasad Chaurasia to perform at Rajkot’s famed SaptaSangeeti

This will be the seventh edition of SaptaSangeeti, which literally translates to seven harmonies. “The response has been overwhelming this time round. We opened the window for registration for free entry and within three days, we received registrations (from 15 cities and towns of Saurashtra) that are more than three times the capacity of Hemu Gadhvi Hall,” Rindani said. In 2021 and 2022, the concert was more or less virtual with limited access to people as the performances were telecast live on YouTube.

Apart from Chaurasia, Kathak exponent Shinjini Kulkarni, Thumari singer Rujuta Lad and Dadra singer Avanti Patel, sitarist Ravi Chari, Ustad Nishat Khan and vocalist Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar are among the performers this year.

In a first, SatpaSangeeti will also feature three artistes—violinist Sangeeta Shankar, and her two daughters Ragini Shankar and Nandini Shankar—taking the stage together. Octogenarian Chaurasia’s performance will mark the culmination of SaptaSangeeti 2023.

As has been the custom, this year, too, budding local artistes, including Ankita Jadeja, Anuj and Sapan Anjaria, the Nadaswaram Group, flutist Chetan Rathod, vocalists Kaushar Haji and Palak Dholakia, and the students and teachers of Param Kathak Kendra, will also get to perform.

NRF, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has been organising the musical fest since 2017. Vocalists Pandit Jasraj, Begum Parveen Sultana, Kaushiki Chakraborty, Shubha Mudgal, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Ustad Rashid Khan, Prandi Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Gundecha brothers, N Rajam, Ajoy Chakrabarty, flutists Rakesh Chaurasia and Ronu Majumdar, sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee and tabla maestro Fazal Qureshi are among the artistes who have performed at SaptaSangeeti in the past.

“Pandit Jasraj’s performance at SaptaSangeeti in 2020 turned out to be the last concert of his life. Likewise, we have also lost other big names such as Kanti Sonchhtra, Harikant Sevak and Pandit Rajan Mishra. We will pay musical tribute to these greats by dedicating performances to them,” Rindani said, adding the audience will be extended invitations via e-mail based on their preferences shown in their registration details.