Prominent artists from India performed at the festival held at the Kennedy Center.
By Isha Roy
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WASHINGTON, DC: The three-day Utsav Festival showcasing Indian culture concluded on Sunday. A number of prominent artists from India performed at the festival held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan had kicked off the festival that commenced on Friday.
Speaking to the American Bazaar on the sidelines of the festival, Khan stressed the importance of cultural events such as Utsav, which was founded by prominent Indian American philanthropist, entrepreneur, and television personality Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu.
The mission of the festival is to promote traditional Indian music and dance by giving India’s classical artists a world-class platform to perform.
“We are living in the 21st century, but it is very sad to hear that still people are killing each other on account of religion,” Khan said. “In some countries, war is going on. Artists of the world want to see the world with peace and harmony.
“So it is very important to realise the value of culture,” he added. Khan and his sons performed a concert with a special theme for world harmony.
“Utsav was an experience beyond anyone’s imagination,” Dr. Potarazu told the American Bazaar. “When you bring together a collective force of maestros and genius – creativity and divinity together ignite into an energy that moves you to the core.”
The cultural extravaganza featured some of the best-known musicians and dancers from India, including renowned Odissi dancer Madhuri Mudgal and Carnatic vocalist Sudha Raghunathan.
Dancer and choreographer Sheejith Krishna and troupe presented ‘Don Quixote’ Bharatanatyam on Saturday. Renowned Carnatic music violinist A. Kanyakumari also performed a Carnatic instrumental symphony.
Speaking about how the younger generation is looking at the Indian classical music, Sudha Raghunathan said that “it is facing a big challenge in attracting younger generation”.
She said as the classical music takes a lot of knowledge and training to understand, youngsters are not easily attracted.
Madhuri Mudgal said that even the well-known dancers from Bollywood went through training in classical dances, which helped them to take their performances to higher levels.
(Updated on October 5, 2015)
1 Comment
She’s Madhavi not Madhuri.