45th Saptak to be an ode to co-founder Manju Mehta

Ahmedabad: The 45th edition of the Saptak Music Festival will take place from Jan 1 to 13 and will be an ode to co-founder and eminent sitarist Vidushi Manju Mehta, said organisers on Saturday. The event will have 43 sessions and more than 150 artists, they added.The classical dance section of the event will see Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam jugalbandi, whereas there will be a Kathak performance by eminent artists. Sanju Sahai, a tabla maestro from the Banaras gharana, will perform at the event. Music aficionados will be able to catch stalwarts like Ajoy Chakraborty, Amjad Ali Khan, N Rajam, Parveen Sultana, Ronu Majumdar, Sajan Mishra, Shahid Parvez and Shubha Mudgal who perform regularly at the festival.The first prize winners of the state govt-organised Pt Nandan Mehta Shastriya Taal-Vadya Sapardha will perform at the event. The organisers said that about 20 artists, including Harish Tiwari, Bhagyesh Marathe and Arun Dravid, will perform at the festival for the first time.At least 10 performances will have members from the same family performing together, a first for the fest, said the organisers. Prince Rama Varma from the royal family of Travancore will also perform at the fest.