Splendid flute recital by Pt Santosh Sant casts spell on audience

Splendid flute recital by Pt Santosh Sant casts spell on audience

By Ramesh K Dhiman

CHANDIGARH

Pracheen Kala Kendra, an organization dedicated, heart and soul, to the promotion of performing arts across North India, organised a flute recital at the M.L. Koser indoor Auditorium here on Sunday.

The star attraction of the evening was Pandit Santosh Sant, a disciple of the living legend and Padmavibhushan recipient Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, who kept the audience hooked to their seats for hours.

Born and brought up in a family of musicians from Gwalior, Santosh had an inborn proclivity for music since childhood. His father late Pandit Vasantrao Sant was a well-known vocalist of the prominent Gwalior Gharana. He received his initial training in music from his father who taught him the essentials of the craft. Later, he nuanced the subtle niceties of sitar playing under the stewardship of Shriram Umedkar, a renowned Sitar maestro of Gwalior, who invested his quality time on honing his innate skills. Santosh is an innovative musician, unlike his others, who embodies the tradition and modernity of the craft. He is the founder-director of ‘Swaravenu-Gurukul’, an organisation dedicated to propagating the rich tradition of bamboo-music of his Guru Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, which imparts training to up and coming artistes from India and abroad, under the ancient ‘Guru-Shishya’ tradition.

The sultry evening instantaneously turned into musical fare as flute maestro Pandit Santosh Sant commenced his recital with popular Raga Yaman through a soulful aalap, which was followed by jod and jhala. Up next was an engaging composition set to Rupak taal, followed by a captivating drut ek taal bandish, earning a full-throated encomium from music lovers . He went on to present Madhya laya teen taal and drut teen taal compositions in Raga Hansadhawani which cast a magical spell on the audience. Ardent flute freaks were on cloud nine as they relished the concluding Dhun in Mishra Shivranjani, marking the end of the rapasodic musical evening invoking thunderous applause from the music lovers.

He was accompanied by Tabla exponent of renown Pranshu Chaturlal and her equally talented disciple, Harishita Giri.

Among those in august presence on the occasion were, among others, kendra Secretary Sajal Koser, Dr. Shobha Koser, who honored the artiste of the evening.