Sarada Prasanna Das

Bhubaneswar, April 21: Violinist Sarada Prasanna Das shows great promise of becoming a bright star in the field of classical instrumental music. The 24-year-old Odia instrumentalist recently bagged the first prize in a national music competition hosted annually by All India Radio.

Pursuing his PhD in music at Banaras Hindu University, Sarada is training hard under the able tutelage of renowned violinists Swarna Khuntia and V. Balaji. Son of veteran violinist Ramesh Chandra Das, Sarada received the first lessons in playing the string instrument at the age of seven from his father.

As a teenager, Bhubane-swar-based exponent Md Hameed Ahad, also guru to Sarada’s father, groomed him. Though he studied Plus Two Science and initially wanted to become an engineer, he realised he could not part with music.

“I had the option to join an engineering college and go for a career where probably I would earn great and be settled abroad but the thought of giving up music was extremely painful. I decided that I would invest all my efforts to learn more and more about various styles of playing the violin,” said Sarada.

“Now, I am living my dream of learning from maestros while also getting opportunities to perform across the country,” he said.

Sarada has performed at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai and at various famous institutions in Calcutta. He wishes to establish himself as a leading soloist but also plans to try a hand as an accompanist to dancers.

“Violin plays different roles in different systems of music like Odissi, Carnatic and Hindustani. I have grown up watching Odissi dancers perform to the tunes of violin but I can also play for other dance forms as an accompanist. However, I enjoy most when I perform solo,” said Sarada, who has also won various other national awards.

On April 29, the young musician will be honoured and felicitated in a special function organised by the Cuttack division of All India Radio.