Hindustani Vocal Duet By Pt Rajan And Sajan Misra: Events in Hyderabad

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By the time most people on the planet were born, these brothers had peaked. Then, there are some versions that say that they haven't yet peaked. Maybe they will tonite.

The Chowmohalla Palace, together with the Department of Culture, is organising a summer festival of arts and crafts, from 21st April to 1st May. The festival will have several cultural programs in the evenings, with Kathak by Mangala Bhatt, ghazals by Devi Ramana Murthy and Javeed, Hindustani vocal by Ajay Chakravarthy, qawwalis by Shahid Ahmed Khan Warsi, shehnai by Shailesh Bhagwat & Prem Shankar, ghazals by Vittal Rao & Indira Naik, Dholak-E-Geet, ghazals by Anup Jalota, and a Hindustani vocal duet by Rajan and Sajan Mishra.

In addition to the above cultural programs in the evening, a crafts bazaar representing the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Thailand is being set up from 10:00am till 10:00pm every day except on 22nd, 24th and 28th April. On these 3 days, the palace will be open only from 10:00am to 5:00pm.

Today, the final day, Rajan and Sajan Misra will present a Hindustani vocal duet recital. Rajan and Sajan Misra made remarkable progress in their vocal lessons from their father Pt. Hanuman Prasad Mishra and their uncle Pt. Gopal Mishra. They were also fortunate to have learnt from Pandit Bade Ramdas Mishra. They were blessed with melodious voices as well, and most importantly, they were able to assimilate the essence of the age-old Banaras Gharana with consummate ease.

Apart from learning the magnificent compositions which have been handed down the generations, they made the analysis and appreciation of the music of the great masters of music, irrespective of distinctions such as gharana, an integral part of their training. The brothers were confident singers, and had developed a beautiful understanding between themselves when they sang together.

Finally, it was the natural talent for singing Rajan and Sajan had that enabled their father to take the crucial decision to groom them into full-fledged vocalists, though he may never have imagined the fame and popularity that his sons would be blessed with.

Since their first concert when they were in their teens, Rajan and Sajan have performed to great acclaim in almost all the cities of India, and have taken part in all the major music conferences of India. Their first concert abroad, in Sri Lanka in 1978, paved the way for many subsequent concert tours abroad, particularly in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, USA, UK, The Netherlands, USSR, Singapore, Qatar and Muscat.

Awards, accolades and critical acclaim have come their way often, and in many forms. Notable among them are the Sangeet Natak Academy Award (the President's Award) in 1998, the Sanskrit Award (presented by the Prime Minister of India), Sangeet Nayak (from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh), Sangeet Ratna (Allahabad), Sangeet Bhushan (Varanasi), the Kumar Gandharva Award (1996) and the Kashi Gaurav Award (Varanasi). They received honorary citizenship for the city of Baltimore in USA.

The entry to the crafts bazaar and the cultural programs is by tickets of Rs. 25 per head. For further details, please contact the venue at 2452-2032.