Hindustani classical singer Swadhin Kumar Pradhan performs at the musical evening at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 22: A classical music concert hosted by the Bhubaneswar Music Circle won over music lovers in the city.

From instrumental to vocal, young Odia artistes showcased their talent through varied performances at the programme at Rabindra Mandap on Sunday.

Young sitarist Sabyasachi Rout and flautist Soumya Ranjan Joshi presented an instrumental duet of Hindustani music as the opening item of the programme.

Rout, son of veteran musician and Odissi vocalist Keshab Charan Rout, presented a versatile recital that included playing of a couple of ragas.

The promising sitar player flaunted technical finesse and a deep sense of aesthetics. Trained by exponents such as Pandit Bauri Bandhu Sethi and Guru Ravi Shankar Pradhan, he is learning sitar from Pandit Purbayan Chatterjee.

His partner in the duet, flautist Joshi, is a disciple of Mohini Mohan Patnaik.

The musician, who was adjudged first in a national-level flute competition in 2010, and has been second in National Youth festivals held in 2008, 2009 and 2010, displayed great variation and control over his instrument during the duet. He has been an accompanying artiste for many Odissi dancers and also Pandit Birju Maharaj in Kathak.

The second session included a felicitation to visually-impaired vocalist Swadhin Kumar Pradhan.

“Bhubaneswar Music Circle has been presenting an award for Excellence in Hindustani Music to a young scholar for the last few years. This award is sponsored by one of its life members — H. Balakrishnan, who has instituted it to celebrate the ardent love for classical music of his father Hariharan. The award constitutes of a certificate and cash of Rs 10,000,” said general secretary of the organisation Khirod Patnaik.

The ceremony was followed by a fascinating rendition of Hindustani music based compositions by Pradhan, who has not only worked hard to groom his sonorous voice but is also an accomplished keyboard player. He is now training under Chitta Ranjan Pani.

Accompanists for the performers included Biswaranjan Mishra on the tabla for the instrumental duet and Sandip Kumar Rout (tabla), Kshitiprakash Mohapatra (harmonium) and Babun Parida (tanpura) for Pradhan’s rendition.