| himalayan
village arts festival |
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date | 15-17 september, 2006
artists | shanti sharma; prahlad singh tipaniya & ashok
tipaniya; swananand kirkire and gopal tewari
the monsoons had left their verdant mark over the kumaon region and the himalayas. the clouds clear for the eyes to feast on the majestic views of the himalayan range in all its glory. himalayan village and soulitudes
had once again come together for the annual festival called the sonapani arts festival. last season we had wonderful musicians from the raghu dixit project and noted sitar exponent gaurav mazumdar revel in the mountains.
this september, we brought together, hindustani art music, folk music and theatre in song. we
had with us from the esteemed kirana gharana – vocalist shanti sharma; wonderful expressions of kabir mystic poetry by prahlad singh tipaniya; and award winning lyricist swananand kirkire with nsd honed gopal tiwari celebrating music in drama.
interspersed with the three artistes were walks, conversations and the kumaoni hospitality of ashish, deepa and their three years old daughter vanya. the setting
was intimate and personal and hopefully transformational. we
had tried to bring together a conclave of musicians and artists to interact with each other. our effort
is to sensitively blend boundaries by looking for that connection that separate different genres.
 itinerary
that was
| september
14 |
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board ranikhet express from old delhi station for kathgodam |
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| september
15 |
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arrive in kathgodam early morning and drive two hours to himalayan village sonapani |
| - |
breakfast and hike to the nearby jungle |
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early evening – hindustani classical music: candle light concert with
mrs. shanti sharma |
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late evening: invocation to kabir mystic poetry with prahlad singh tipaniya and troupe |
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september 16
|
| - |
early morning invocation with
mrs. shanti sharma |
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evening – play with swananand kirkire and gopal tiwari |
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| september 17
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| - |
departure for haldwani after lunch |
| - |
board
ranikhet express for delhi |
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september 18 |
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arrival
old delhi railway station in early morning |
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| *the schedule and programme outline is tentative and subject to change |
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vocalist
shanti sharma and prahlad singh tipaniya & ashok
tipaniya |
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| about the
artists |
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shanti sharma
| acknowledged today as one of the finest vocalists in the country, shanti sharma, a classical singer from the kirana and indore traditions, is endowed with a rich voice, aesthetic sensitivity and has received intensive talim from master vocalists like shri sangameshwar, pt. amarnath and ustad mashkoor ali khan. serenity, an integrated structured exposition of the raga, fluency and swift tanas are the hallmarks of her singing. over the years, she has performed in most music festivals in india. she was recently awarded the indira gandhi priyadarshini award on the occasion of indira gandhi’s birthday celebrations. shanti sharma is at present a faculty member of shriram bharatiya kala kendra.
source: bits sandpaper magazine
prahlad singh tipaniya & ashok tipaniya | one of the most senior, most respected and very popular artists of the malwa belt, tipaniyaji has travelled widely nationally and internationally to perform. he not only sings the words of mystic poets especially kabir, he is also the head or mathadheesh of the kabir panth (a sect of the followers of kabir) branch of the area and kabir's thought is a way of life for him.
unlike many other performing groups of the area who have inherited the tradition of singing the saints' sayings from their ancestors, tipaniyaji is a self taught man. by profession he is a teacher in a local school and he heard the sound of the tambur, the five stringed instrument that he now sings with, for the first time in 1978 as a 24 year old. he was so impressed with it that he made up his mind to learn the art of playing it and singing and so set out on his journey. soon thereafter he started doing programs for all india radio and has never looked back since. he has been honoured with countless awards over the years and has many audio and vcd albums to his credit. he performs with his brother ashok tipaniya and a team of remarkable musicians.
source: beat of india
swananand kirkire | swananand’s song in the award winning movie hazaaron khwaishein aisi, bawra mann had us spellbound.
then came the award winning movie parineeta which
firmly established him as a lyricist. he has also written the lyrics of lage raho munna bhai and is writing lyrics of the new films of sudhir misra and saurabh shukla. he is also writing the story of vidhu vinod chopra's new film called 'yagna'.
swananand’s creative capacities were honed at national school of drama in addition to being from a family that has learnt music from the legendary pt kumar gandharva.
gopal tiwari | gopal tiwari’s passion for avant-garde and meaningful theatre has led him to act in productions that are now seen to be path breaking and fortunately award winning. he was key part of the cast of the play
'peele scooterwala aadmi' that won the best hindi play at 2006 mahindra theatre awards. gopal has also acted in bollywood productions and television serials which allow him to fulfill his dream to act in meaningful theatre.
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