One of the most respected names in Hindustani Classical music,
internationally renowned vocalist Kishori Amonkar recently performed in Goa
after a long gap of 10 years. Another equally famous and respected artiste, Pt
Jasraj, also enthralled the audiences in Goa after a decade. Both the artistes
performed to a jam-packed house at the recently concluded Surashree Kesarbai
Kerkar Sangeet Samaroha in Kala Academy. Goa, throughout the year, hosts
numerous events of this nature – some conducted by Kala Academy, others by the
Directorate of Art and Culture, and many others by private organisations. That
Goa has a sizeable population of lovers of this genre of music, is no secret.
But is the response always satisfactory?
From what it appears, a non-ticketed Hindustani classical music
festival enjoys a huge response. The auditorium is packed. The recently
concluded Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Sangeet Samaroha or the Pt Jitendra
Abhisheki Sangeet Mahotsav, both of which are highly sought-after events in the
annual music calendar of Goa, bear a testimony to this. A ticketed festival,
however, fails to generate satisfactory response. Pravin Gaonkar, whose
non-profit organisation – Swastik organises a day-long, non-ticketed music
festival called Swaramangesh, says, “The audience response that a festival gets
also depends on the artiste roster of the festival. Renowned artistes pull a
good audience while budding and lesser known talent is left with a half-filled
auditorium. The sponsorship response, however, is relatively poor throughout.
Bodies like Kala Academy or the Department of Art and Culture have dedicated
funds for organising such events and hence can afford to get big names and go
aggressive on promotions. Private players such as us find it really challenging
to acquire sponsors despite Swaramangesh being in its sixth edition this year
and having garnered popularity over time.” This year, Swaramangesh will be held
on December 4 and will most likely be inaugurated by Asha Bhosle.
A lot of internationally renowned artistes that have performed
in Goa are of the opinion that the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government
of Goa is doing a fantastic job by providing financial aid to various groups
and thereby conducting numerous cultural events across the state and throughout
the year. But are these events getting a fitting response? Ashok Parab, Deputy
Director, Art and Culture, says, “We Goans have a weird tendency. We usually
tend to neglect what is ours and appreciate something that is from outside Goa.
Music festivals conducted by us in Goa featuring local artistes, all of which
are non ticketed, do not necessarily ensure a full house. Whereas people throng
to, say, a theatre festival featuring plays by a Mumbai or Pune-based theatre
group, and if need be, buy tickets in black to book a seat.”
So does the fault lie in the way these events are promoted?
Parab declines by saying, “We promote our events through constant SMS and email
reminders to all the media persons, who in turn broadcast the message through
daily/weekly newspapers. I feel that even if we change our promotion strategy,
making Goans realise that homegrown talent can be of substantial quality too,
will be difficult.”
