Bhubaneswar, Oct. 10: At a time when there is concern about youngsters not being interested in the cultural heritage of the state, a young generation of Odissi music artistes is ready to take forward the rich legacy of their gurus.

At a musical evening hosted by art lovers, some of these promising young artistes got the chance to perform at one of the city's most prestigious auditoriums, Rabindra Mandap. The event, hosted by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre, sought to give them the experience of performing solo on the stage as well as served the purpose of introducing them to music lovers.

The artistes displayed their brilliance as classical vocalists and instrumentalists, drawing plaudits from the crowd. Singers Subrat Kumar Pradhan, Ananya Sahu, Sangita Priyadarshini Sahu, Ipsita Panda, Soumiti Sahu, Bijayalaxmi Routray presented renditions of traditional classical compositions while Deepak Nayak played the Odissi percussion instrument, mardala.

The youngsters performed in front of their gurus - veteran singers Ramhari Das, Keshab Rout, Bijay Jena and mardala players Dhaneswar Swain and Satchidananda Das.

The youngsters feel that there is a lack of opportunities for artistes trained in Odissi music, which becomes a hurdle in their careers.

"We are lucky to be able to showcase our talent with the support of the Odissi Research Centre. But, it is not easy for artistes of our generation. Many talented seniors are now make a living by providing private music lessons, since cultural organisations mostly opt for veterans artistes," said Panda.

"Shows for instrumentalists are rare and people only invite renowned musicians. Most young artistes miss out on musical concerts because of that," said Nayak.

The gurus, however, feel that youngsters have more options now as Odissi music is widely known compared to when they had started their musical journey.

"Recording an album is easy now and one can just share it online for listeners. When we started off, there were few cultural shows for Odissi music. The growth of Odissi dance got us exposure since it required musicians to record special songs for dance compositions. But opportunities come with hard work and persistent effort in every creative field," said Odissi music exponent Ramhari.

He added that there was a lot of talent in the new generation of Odissi artistes.

"Our generation can safely leave the legacy of taking Odissi to newer heights to the youngsters. There are many promising artistes now," he said.