ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Blue Planet is a four-month-long digital festival of Indian Classical Music featuring 21 Carnatic and Hindustani musicians. The festival will consist of several concerts and events being made available on the Dhvani website each month. A $200 value, this set of programs and concerts will be included at no additional cost in the 2022 annual Dhvani membership. Some concerts will be released in December will also be available to those who have renewed their 2022 membership. Please renew your Dhvani membership today and don’t miss out on any of these very special programs.
Concept
The festival seeks to invoke the Living Ecology of our Planet and its beautiful but fragile natural resources. It hopes to draw analogies between the Natural World and the Ecosystem of the Arts. It seeks to suggest that both ecosystems need to be cared for, understood and respected. In harming them we only harm ourselves.
Concerts under the Sky
Each concert and performance will be set in natural, outdoor settings in carefully chosen locations in the midst of mountains, sacred groves, mangroves, forests, river banks, beaches and in some of India’s endangered biodiversity zones. Guided by environmental groups and organisations working for social justice in different parts of the country, we hope to initiate preliminary conversations and meetings with artists and these groups to point at issues related to Climate Change, sustainability practices and Climate justice, which underpin the efforts of all peoples’ movements.
We have taken great care to ensure that we are not merely using Nature as a pretty backdrop; we are trying to include the spirit of local and regional conservation and sustainability practices and ideas so that they reflect in subtle ways in the films as we explore the links between Indian Classical Music and contemporary discourses on Ecology and Conservation.
ABHISHEK BORKAR
A young and versatile musician, Abhishek Borkar was drawn to the sound of the sarod from a very early age. Born into a musically rich environment in Pune, he initially underwent training in vocal and tabla at age four, before anchoring himself on the sarod, under the tutelage of his father and Guru Pt. Shekhar Borkar of the Maihar Senia Gharana. Rigorous and intensive training followed. Today, Abhishek is known as one of the foremost musicians in his generation. His natural instinct for aesthetic music coupled with impeccable control over sur and laya has enthralled audiences in various parts of India and abroad.
YASHWANT VAISHNAV
Widely acknowledged as one of the most brilliant and sought-after tabla artists of his generation, Yashwant Vaishnav began his training very early. Initial learning at age 3 began with his father and Guru Shri Rajendra Vaishnav followed by training under Dr. Hemant Sachdeva and Pandit Mukund Bhale for over a decade. Presently, he is under the tutelage of the Punjab gharana Maestro Pt Yogesh Samsi. His tabla playing is known for its high level of maturity as well as a perfect balance in the interplay of power and subtlety.
RAMANA BALACHANDRAN
Ramana Balachandran, is a Vainika in the Carnatic music tradition. His prodigious talent was noticed when he was able to identify ragas and point out nuances at a very young age. He has been performing since the age of 12 and his music has always been simultaneously deep, subtle, complex, and emotive. Ramana started learning vocal music with his mother Sharanya Balachandran. He then learned Veena under Vidushi B Nagalakshmi (granddaughter of Karaikudi Sri Subbarama Iyer) for a period of three years and continues under his father Sri Balachandran. He also pursued Vocal from Sangita Kala Acharya, Smt. Neela Ramgopal, and Mridangam from Laya Kala Pratibha Mani, Sri Ranganatha Chakravarthy. Ramana has performed over 350 solo veena concerts in and outside India. His music and artistry is a sublime experience for rasikas across the board.
SUMESH NARAYANAN
One of the most gifted and sought-after Carnatic percussionists of the current generation, Sumesh Narayanan has trained with Mridangam Maestro Dr Thiruvaarur Bakhtavathsalam for two decades and continues to learn from him. Sumesh is a rare combination of a musician who has mastered the traditional corpus of the mridangam in the Carnatic style while retaining an open and larger world view which allows him to be part of many innovative and cross-disciplinary ventures. He is a vital contributor to these and much admired for his musical ideas and energetic playing
February 12, 2022 8:30 AM EST
