Jalgaon: The Balgandharva Music Festival, which has gained recognition as a cultural benchmark of Khandesh for Indian classical music, is being organised by the Late Vasantrao Chandorkar Smriti Pratishthan on January 9, 10, and 11 at the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje Natyamandir from 7 PM to 11 PM. This information was given by Deepak Chandorkar, the executive trustee of the Chandorkar Smriti Pratishthan, while speaking at a press conference here today.
A music festival in the name of Balgandharva is organized only in Jalgaon throughout India through the Late Vasantrao Chandorkar Pratishthan, and singers of national and international repute participate in this festival. Therefore, classical music enthusiasts attend this festival. The year 2025-26 is being celebrated by the Late Vasantrao Chandorkar Smriti Pratishthan as its Silver Jubilee year.
To date, legendary artists from the field of music have participated in this music festival. This year, artists representing the younger generation have been invited to the festival. On January 9, the festival will begin after the inauguration with the first session featuring the highly talented and accomplished singer Shruti Bajbarua, originally from Assam but now settled in Mumbai, who will present classical and semi-classical singing.
She will be accompanied by Abhinay Ravande on the harmonium and Rohit Dev on the tabla. In the second session, world-renowned sitar player Chirag Kutty will perform a sitar recital. He will be accompanied on the tabla by Vivek Pandya, who is based in America.
January 10
On the second day, in the first session, Ustad Sabir Khan, son of Mumbai's world-renowned sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan, will present his sarangi performance. He will be accompanied on the tabla by Vivek Pandya. The second session will feature a jugalbandi (duet) by renowned Kathak dancer Nidhi Prabhu and famous flamenco dancer Kunal Om. They will be accompanied on the tabla by Rohit Dev and Vinayak Gavas, and on the harmonium and vocals by Shrirang Tembe.
On January 11th, the third day, a joint performance of Nadaswaram, Tavil, and Mridangam will be presented under the title 'Carnatic Quartet'. This will feature internationally acclaimed artists Shreya Devnath (electric violin), M. Karthikeyan (Nadaswaram), Pravin Sparsh (Mridangam), and Gummidipoundi Jeeva (Tavil).
Deepak Chandorkar informed that the entire program will be compered by Mumbai's renowned anchor Mangala Khadilkar. The main sponsors of the program are Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Deepak Chandorkar has appealed to all lovers of Indian classical music to attend this festival.
