SPIC MACAY PARAMPARA UTSAV – Bringing the young stakeholders of

our musical legacy closer to the youth

PRESS RELEASE

After the overwhelming positive response received from students across the globe for
the International Yoga Day Intensives held by SPIC MACAY during 17 th-21st June ,where
more than 15000 students from all over the globe participated in Yoga sessions, SPIC
MACAY is organizing the Parampara Utsav, its latest digital initiative to reach out to the
young students and give opportunity of extracurricular learning amid the academic
schedules by bringing the new generation of artistes who are taking the legacy of Indian
classical music forward, closer to the students on the digital platform. This will give
exposure to students about the Indian culture and its heritage by experiencing live
interactions and concerts by eminent artists of Classical Music.

Parampara one of its kind event that seeks to build a connection between the youth of
the country and the new generation of artistes who are taking the legacy of Indian
classical music forward. Parampara Utsav will be streamed live on the SPIC MACAY
YouTube channel from 6 pm IST.

While the young and versatile artistes are the torchbearers of our glorious heritage, the
younger generation helps in sustaining it. The convener of the Parampara Utsav, Smt.
Sujata Kully, mentioned,” the concept of a series like parampara originated from the
idea that we need to bring the young artist and students on the same platform. To
achieve this goal of bringing these two aspects of cultural world together, SPIC MACY
has collaborated with more than 20 host schools and colleges across the country. The
entire school will be attending the program as part of the extracurricular learning
activity for the school student, as part of their academic learning schedule. Each of
these schools will be hosting an interaction session with one of the many brilliant young
artists for their students. This session will be followed by a concert by the artist. Not
only will this kind of interaction with the artists motivate the students during these
tough times, it will also serve as a platform for the children to experience our great art
forms and heritage of our country and also take lifelong lessons and learning as part of
internal assessment activities.

Many schools from all over the country have participating and hosted an event of this
series of which some are

The Parampara Utsav was

inaugurated with an engaging
interactive session with the
Hindustani Vocal duo Pt. Ritesh
and Pt. Rajnish Mishra. Pt.
Ritesh and Pt. Rajnish Mishra
shared various nuances and
aspects of being one of the
successful duet performers of
classical music today, under the

guidance of Padma Bhushan Pt.

Pt. Ritesh and Pt. Rajnish Mishra
Rajan Misra (Father) and Pt. Sajan Misra (Uncle).
ddduringdurinhduperformingdduringPara Duet singing in the Indian Classical
Music is considered a very difficult art, for it requires not only individual competence
but, great amount of self-control to improvise and harmonize at the same time. They
emphasized to the youth on the importance to stay composed and focused their energies
on positive activities , during the current times and added that listening or learning
music will give the youth mental strength, peace of mind needed to adapt to the current
scenario.

This was followed by a webcast of their concert where the artist duo rendered Raag
Gorakh Kalyan.

They talked of how duet singing is all about complimenting each other for them and they
always wish to emanate love through their performances. They also emphasized the
need for youth to become good listeners of music, if not play or practice it.
This was followed by a Carnatic Vocal performance by Abhishek Raghuram who is
known for his unconventional approach of giving diverse expressions to the classical
ragas. Shri Raghuram comes from the rich lineage of Shri Palghat Raghu, his paternal
grandfather and the legendary violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman.

As a part of the second day of Parampara Utsav,

and on the occasion of the World Music Day, there
was a morning interaction session and a live
concert by Abhay Rustom Sopori, son of Pt.
Bhajan Sopori. The session was hosted by
Kendriya Vidyalaya RK Puram Sector 8. After
Pt. Abhay Rustom Sopori speaking about the journey of Santoor in Indian
Classical Music, he also talked about the
meditative effects of the sound of the Santoor,
along with a short demonstration also. This was
followed by a mesmerizing live concert in the
Sufiyana style of Raga Music on Santoor, called
Sopori Baaj. It was a beautiful rendition of the
meditative raga, Raga Basant Mukhari. He also played some of his signature Kashmiri
dhuns .

The evening session on the 21 rt featured a live interaction and concert by Sabir Khan –
Sarangi, the musical prodigy from the Sikar Gharana of music. He is the ninth
generation of Sarangi players and son of legendary Sarangi player and vocalist Padma
Bhushan Ustad Sultan Khan.

Pandit Rupak Kulkari engaged with students to demonstrate how to play teevra, manda
and madya saptaks on flute. He reminisced about his concert in Switzerland on a chilly
winter morning and told how the unique tempo of Indian Classical music that starts
with alaap helped him warm up and perform through the concert.

Nandini Shankar, who is the granddaughter and student of Dr. N. Rajam, interacted
with the students on the third day of the series. Nandini Shankar, while answering a
student’s question on the effects of learning music, said that it gives us a different
perspective on life. Nandini ji also played Hindustani and Carnatic styles on violin to
delineate the nuanced differences between the two styles of Indian classical music.

The fifth day of the Parampara series witnessed a candid interaction with Ambi
Subramaniam. Ambi Subramaniam has been trained by his father and guru Dr. L.
Subramaniam from the age of three, and gave his first performance at the age of seven.
The inauguration started with a message by Dr. L. Subramaniam, who explained the
importance of tradition, and how it is even more important for someone to carry it on.

This was followed by an interaction with Ambi Subramanium, who very patiently
explained the school children the answers to their questions. He stressed on the
importance of quality music education being accessible to everyone and how we should
also present classical music in a way which appeals to the next generation.
The next session was with Pt. Deepak Maharaj, son of the renowned Kathak maestro Pt.
Birju Maharaj. A student innocently asked Panditji that did he only practice Kathak in
childhood, to which he playfully replied that he also had a very normal childhood, and
would have become a cricketer if not a dancer. He also loved sports like cricket and table
tennis just like other children, but his heart was with Kathak. This was followed by a live
performance of his in which he gracefully presented many pieces like the Shiv Vandana.
He explained how art is a form of devotion for him.

On the sixth day, Vidushi Tripti Mukherjee Paid tribute to her guru Pt. Jasraj ji on the
upcoming occasion of Guru Poornima through her concert. She told the students that a
guru’s guidance is of utmost importance to accomplish any craft. Tripti ji’s concert was
followed by Vid. Sikkil Gurucharan’s interaction with school students. Sikkil
Gurucharan who comes from the family of legendary Sikkil Kunjumani, and Sikkil
Neela, is not only an accomplished musician but also holds a masters degree in
Financial Management and had been a Fulbright Scholar. Shikkil ji shared some of his
experience of balancing his academic career and his journey in music. He also
mentioned that SPIC MACAY’s concerts are a great source of knowledge for him.

The sessions from 22nd June to 28th June will feature artist live interactions and concerts
by eminent young and dynamic artists as per following line up:

22nd - Nandini Shankar (Grand Daughter of legendary violinist Dr N Rajam and

daughter of acclaimed violinist Vid. Sangeeta Shankar ),

23rdJune –Pt. Rupak Kulkarni - Flute (Son of Shri Malhar Rao Kulkarni and
disciple of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia)

24thJune – Deepak Maharaj – Kathak ( Son of Kathak dance legend Pt. Birju
Maharaj),

25thJune – Ambi Subramaniam – Violin ( Son of Violin virtuoso Dr. L

Subramaniam) ,

26thJune – ( Son of Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt)

27thJune – Tripti Mukherjee ( Hindustani Vocal)(Disciple of Pt. Jasraj), Sikkil

Gurucharan( Carnatic Vocal) ( Son of Sikkil Kunjumani)
28thJune – Shakir Khan – Sitar ( Son of Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan),
Sameehan Kashalkar- Hindustani Vocal ( Son of Pt Ulhas Kashalkar)

Registrations of students Parampara series can be done at zero cost at

https://spicmacay.org/paramparautsav2020 and will be streamed live on SPIC
MACAYs youtube channel at https://youtube.com/spicmacayofficial
SPIC MACAY also concluded the 5-day long Yoga Session on the International Yoga Day
with more than a lakh participant from all over India benefiting from it. The session
concluded with video addresses from honorable dignitaries including the honorable vice
president of India Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu.

During this pandemic when everything has come to a standstill, SPIC MACAY is
attempting to open this window of hope and reach out to youth and reach out to millions
of students and give them an experience of our Indian cultural heritage, thereby
instilling peace, positivity and resilience to overcome the current difficulties
victoriously.

For further information, contact:

Mrs. Suman Doonga

Director - Media, SPIC MACAY

Email: suman.doonga@spicmacay.com

(M): +91 98993 08093

Mr. Sabyasachi Dey

Deputy Director - Media, SPIC MACAY

(M): +91 81080 98246

Email: sabyasachi@spicmacay.com
 SPIC MACAY PARAMPARA UTSAV – Bringing the young stakeholders of
our musical legacy closer to the youth

PRESS RELEASE

SPIC MACAY is currently organizing the Parampara Utsav, its latest digital initiative to
reach out to the young students and give opportunity of extracurricular learning amid
the academic schedules by bringing the new generation of artistes who are taking the
legacy of Indian classical music forward, closer to the students on the digital platform.
This will give exposure to students about the Indian culture and its heritage by
experiencing live interactions and concerts by eminent artists of Classical Music.

While the young and versatile artistes are the torchbearers of our glorious heritage, the
younger generation helps in sustaining it. The convener of the Parampara Utsav, Smt.
Sujata Kully, mentioned,” the concept of a series like parampara originated from the
idea that we need to bring the young artist and students on the same platform. To
achieve this goal of bringing these two aspects of cultural world together, SPIC MACY
has collaborated with more than 20 host schools and colleges across the country. The
entire school will be attending the program as part of the extracurricular learning
activity for the school student, as part of their academic learning schedule. Each of
these schools will be hosting an interaction session with one of the many brilliant young
artists for their students. This session will be followed by a concert by the artist. Not
only will this kind of interaction with the artists motivate the students during these
tough times, it will also serve as a platform for the children to experience our great art
forms and heritage of our country and also take lifelong lessons and learning as part of
internal assessment activities.

There has been a massive participation in this series, with over thirty thousand