The sounds of Kathak and tabla reverberated through the Gyan Manch auditorium during a recent programme, Kalakaar, organized by Jailal Academy of Music. Trina Roy (picture), attracted the audience with the spontaneity and effort in her Kathak recital. She commenced her performance with a Shiv vandana in ektaal followed by the main recital in teentaal. She demonstrated different parans, chakradhaar, tihai, toda and other intricacies, proving her talent and showcasing her mastery in footwork. She also performed a thumri, ably supported by Rajkumar Misra on the tabla, Chandrachur Bhhattacharya on sitar, with Pratip Banerjee performing the vocal and Kajal Misra Roy rendering the bols.

The mood and energy of the programme were enhanced by Shubhankar Banerjee's solo performance on tabla. In spite of being a sincere follower of Farukabad gharana, Shubhankar Banerjee aesthetically portrayed various styles from different gharanas and of several maestroes. He presented compositions of Keramatullah Khan, Samta Prasad, Ahmedjaan Thirakwa and Masit Khan in vilambit teentaal, emphasizing the kaydas, gats and relas in different jatis. In madhya and drut teentaal he focused on the tukras, gats and chakradhars of Habibuddin Khan as well as Amir Hussain Khan. Some of his own compositions were commendable as well. He is naturally skilled and the audience got a taste of gharanas like Farukabad, Benaras, Lucknow, Punjab and Ajrada.

A rpan, a musical offering to goddess Durga, was the initiative of Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture and ITC Sangeet Research Academy. The two day event succeeded in creating an enchanting ambience. The vocal recital by Kumar Mardur set a mood of serenity and his evocative voice brought out the beauty of Raga Shree through the vilambit kheyal in tilwada taal. His drut kheyal in teentaal was also charming. He sang a thumri in Khambaj too. Ulhas Kashalkar's mellifluous performance with Vasanth Kedar and Malati Vasant drew the audience in and the style in which he sang a composition of Vilayat Hussain Khan, " Samajh man murakh", was a surprise. Omkar Dadarkar's rendition of Raga Bhimpalasree was arresting. He treated the audience to unpredictable sparks in his performance with expertise. He concluded with a Durga bhajan. Ayan Sengupta's Raga Shyam Kalyan on the sitar and Paramananda Roy's Raga Puriya on the flute could have been better. Ajay Chakraborty's rendition in Raga Kafi and a bhajan in Parameshwari made for a perfect ending to the festival. The programme would have been incomplete without the able accompaniment of artist like Sanjay Adhikary, Ashoke Mukjerjee, Gourab Chatterjee and Sarwar Hussain.