A CORRESPONDENT
NAGAON: In an attempt to take Assam’s music to global forum, an international online programme was held on Monday at the initiative of Delphic Council of North East India. It was the first of a series of Heritage Programmes planned for North East. The program was planned and curated by Academician & Author, Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti.
At the outset, Swapnanil Baruah, President of North East Delphic Council gave an overview of the music traditions in Assam, how it evolved and which elements were incorporated in it.
Dr Prashanna Gogoi, Delphic Gold Medalist & Director of North East Zone Cultural Centre regaled the audience with his performances in wind instrument Pepa, bamboo instrument Gagana, soil instrument Sutuli etc. He also sang Bihu song along with them. Instrumentalist & Music Director Madhab Krishna Das performed Chifung flute, Dotara, Serja etc. He also sang Bargeet, Lokageet, Dehbichar geet etc.
The Secretary General of International Delphic Council, Ramesh Prasanna and the Secretary General of Delphic Council of India, Ashok Singh praised the initiative of the North East unit, especially the effort of Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti to highlight the music heritage of the region, starting with that of Assam. Dr Shabeena Kuttay compared some elements of Assam’s heritage with that of Jammu & Kashmir.
Dr Binoy K. Bordoloi, President of Naamghar Association of America appreciated the performers and expressed interest in teaching people in USA about Assamese music. Roberta Williams from USA, Dr Pabitrapran Goswami from Jorhat, Bihu expert Dr Pradip Neog, ICOMOS expert Dilip Changkakoty and several other scholars attended the programme.