It was an honour for AIR Pune to be selected for organising Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan 2019. On 19th October at 5:30 p.m. at Shakuntala Jagannath Shetty Auditorium, Erandwane, Pune it was arranged. The programme started with felicitation ceremony. All artists were felicitated by Shri. Ashish Bhatnagar [DDG(E) & Head of Office], Shri. Gopal Autee [Deputy Director (P) & Head of Prog. Section] and other higher officers from Prog. and Engg. sections.
The concert started with vocal performance from Shirin Sengupta. First she rendered Raga 'Shudh Kalyan' followed by Raga 'Nayki Kanada' and concluded the performance with Raga 'Basant'. She was accompanied by Biplob Bhattacharya on Tabla, Chaitanya Kunte on Harmonium, Madhura Navare and Sucheta Chandolkar on Tanpura. The audience enjoyed the majesty of Hindustani classical music by her performance.
Shirin Sengupta has established herself as a prominent classical vocalist. With the initial musical training from her parents Shri. R.M.Nath and Smt. Sunanda Nath, she got 'Taaleem' from Pandit A. T. Kanan, Pandit Arun Bhaduri and Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Now it was time for Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt [ Guitar ( Mohanveena)] and Vidwan S. Shashank's [Flute] Jugalbandi to take to a different level. The performance began with Raga 'Dharmavati' followed by Raga 'Hansdhwani'. Fans of classical music were left in awe. The performance was concluded with Bhajan 'Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye'. They were accompanied by Himanshu Mahant on Tabla and Vidwan Patri Satish Kumar on Mridangam.
Pt. Bhatt is a Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena. He has been honoured with Grammy Award, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padma Shri in 2002 & Padma Bhushan in 2017.
Vid. S. Shashank is a Grammy-nominated renowned exponent of the Bamboo Flute from India and specialises in Indian Classical Music. He is the youngest recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi's senior award by Govt. of India bestowed by the Hon. President of India for the year 2017 at an investiture ceremony held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi. He was trained in Carnatic Music by his father and by vocalists R.K. Srikantan, Palghat K.V. Narayanaswami, and Hindustani music under Pandit Jasraj. He had no Gurus for Flute playing and was self taught.
This concert was a feast for classical music lovers from Pune. The performances mesmerized the audience.