Jalandhar Fest to Begin From Dec. 23; Ayaan, Amaan Ali Khan to Perform

The famous Shree Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Samelan will kick off on Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Punjab’s Jalandhar city, which has kept the musical tradition alive for 136 years.

Young sarod masters Ayaan and Amaan Ali Khan, the sons of famous Sarod player Amjad Ali Khan, will be performing a 'jugalbandi' on the opening day.

Pakistani Dhrupad singers Labrez Afzal Khan and Hafiz Ali Khan, whose ancestors used to perform with the Sikh gurus, will also be coming to perform this year.

Big names of the Hindustani classical music including Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (vocalist), Ustad Allah Rakha Khan and Ustad Zakir Hussain (both tabla), Hari Prasad Chaurasia (flute), Bhimsen Joshi (vocalist), Pandit Jasraj (vocalist), Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (mohan veena), Gangu Bai Hangal (vocalist), Pandit Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ustad Sultan Khan (israj) have attended the fest in the past.

It is one of the oldest festivals of Hindustani classical music that takes place on the last weekend of December every year at the 'samadhi' of saint-musician Baba Harivallabh in Shri Devi Talab neighborhood.