Passion is Competition for Hindustani Classical Music organized by Suranjan. After an overwhelming response last year with the online mode, Passion is here again, in 2021. This fourth edition of Passion is bigger than ever, with Swar Instruments in addition to the vocal category.
After an overwhelming response to our 100% online competition in 2020, Suranjan has decided to include instrumental as an additional category for the first time. We hope this encourages the students of classical music across the globe to participate and get valuable exposure.
Prize winners are now declared.
Group I Prize Winners
Group I - First Prize Winner
Maitreyi Bhosale
Pune, India
Disciple of Shri. Amol Nisal
Group I - Second Prize Winner
Hrishikesh Dhavalikar
Ponda, India
Disciple of Mugdha Gaonkar & Nitin Dhavalikar
Group I - Second Prize Winner
Devika Ankulge
Pune, India
Disciple of Dr Priyanka Gulavani
Group I - Third Prize Winner
Vini Gupta
Bhopal, India
Disciple of Shri. Mukund Dev
Group I - Third Prize Winner
Ishaanbhi Mishra
Ellicott City, US
Disciple of Shri. Hemant Kulkarni
Group I - Special Recognition
Aadit Bhave
Princeton, US
Disciple of Shri. Hemant Kulkarni
Group I - Special Recognition
Sabyasachi Das
Hooghly, India
Disciple of Aritra Chakraborty
Group I - Special Recognition
Swara Kimbahune
Pune, India
Disciple of Smt. Apoorva Gokhale and Smt. Monika Kakade- Kimbahune
Group II Prize Winners
Group II - First Prize Winner
Aadya Mukherjee
Varanasi, India
Disciple of Pt. Devashish Dey
Group II - Second Prize Winner
Sumoulika Sarkar
Kolkata, India
Disciple of Shri Sanjoy Banerjee, Smt Ruchira Kedar, Shri Ujjwal Dutta
Group II - Second Prize Winner
Chaitanya Parab
Ratnagiri, India
Disciple of Pt. Jayateerth Mevundi
Group II - Third Prize Winner
Yugandhara Keche
Aurangabad, India
Disciple of Vidushi Shubhadatai Paradkar
Group II - Third Prize Winner
Gauri Niwargi
Dayton, US
Disciple of Shri. Hemant Kulkarni
Group II - Special Recognition
Krishnendra Samarth
Bangalore, India
Disciple of Smt. Bharathi Prathap
Group II - Special Recognition
Falguni Purohit
Bhopal, India
Disciple of Shri. Mukund Dev
Group III Prize Winners - Vocal
Group III Vocal - First Prize Winner
Rajat Kulkarni
Kittur, India
Disciple of Shri. Anant Tardel
Group III Vocal - First Prize Winner
Vishwajit Mestri
Pernem, India
Disciple of Pt. Shounak Abhisheki
Group III Vocal - Second Prize Winner
Devashree Bhargave
Nashik, India
Disciple of Mrs.Manjiri Asanare-Kelkar
Group III Vocal - Second Prize Winner
Savani Gogte
Aurangabad, India
Disciple of Vidushi Shubhadatai Paradkar
Group III Vocal - Third Prize Winner
Savni Parekar
Kalyan, India
Disciple of Smt. Pallavi Manohar Joshi
Group III Vocal - Third Prize Winner
Sagnik Basak
Kolkata, India
Disciple of Shri. Sujoy Koley
Group III Vocal - Special Recognition
Saee Katdare
Thane, India
Disciple of Smt. Dr. Varada Godbole
Group III Vocal - Special Recognition
Shreya Gonugunta
Bangalore, India
Disciple of Sri. Dhananjay Hegde and Smt. Geeta Hegde
Group III Vocal - Special Recognition
Prajakta Kakatkar
Dombivali, India
Disciple of Shri. Seetaram Kakatkar and Smt. Pratima Tilak
Group III Prize Winners - Instrumental
Group III Instrumental - First Prize Winner
Dhaval Joshi
Sindhudurg, India
Disciple of Pt. Dr. Keshav Ginde
Group III Instrumental - First Prize Winner
Goutham Hebbar
Bangalore, India
Disciple of Pandit Venkatesh Godkhindi and Vidushi Poornima Kulkarni
Group III Instrumental - Second Prize Winner
Shreya Aigalikar
Pune, India
Disciple of Shri. Pravin Kaslikar
Group III Instrumental - Second Prize Winner
Siddharth Garud
Pune, India
Disciple of Shakir Khan and Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan
Group III Instrumental - Third Prize Winner
Prahlad V Deshpande
Pune, India
Disciple of Pt. K. P. Shenoy
Group III Instrumental - Special Recognition
Ameya Gandhi
Mumbai, India
Disciple of Smt. Seema Shirodkar
Group III Instrumental - Special Recognition
Tanmay Mestry
Mumbai, India
Disciple of Pt. Sudhir Nayak
Group III Instrumental - Special Recognition
Adwait Kashikar
Mumbai, India
Disciple of Shri. Anand Kashikar
With the vision of spreading Hindustani Classical Music and imbibing its importance in the future of India, Suranjan Trust proudly presents the fourth iteration of the competition for students of Hindustani Classical Music, Passion 2021. With the advent of COVID- 19 still affecting attendance of physical concerts and competitions, Passion 2021 will again be held completely online, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to both participants as well as organisers.
This year, students learning Swar Vadya will also have a big opportunity to participate, making it a very unique experience for the participants as well as judges of the competition.
Performance Categories
Based on the feedback from last year, we are happy to extend Passion 2021 to Instrumental musicians. Apart from Classical Vocal, we welcome Harmony Instrumentalists to Passion 2021. Instrumentalists such as Harmonium, Sarod, Sitar, Violine, Sarangi, etc. are welcome to participate. Percussion instrumentalists such as those performing Tabla, Pakhwaj, etc. will have to wait at this point in time.
Vocal
Only Hindustani Classical Vocal Khayal and Dhrupad is included.
Semi-classical, Thumri, Tappa, Ghazal, Light Music, Carnatic Classical Music is not included.
Read the Competition Rules for further details.
Semi-classical, Thumri, Tappa, Ghazal, Light Music, Carnatic Classical Music is not included.
Read the Competition Rules for further details.
Swar Instruments
- Harmony instruments like Harmonium, Sitar, Sarod, Violin, Sarangi, etc. are included.
- Percussion instruments such as Tabla, Pakhavaj, etc. are not included at this time.
- Read Competition Rules for more details
Age Groups - Vocal
Group I
Age up to 8 years.
Date of Birth on or after
1st Jan 2008
Date of Birth on or after
1st Jan 2008
Group II
Age 13-18 Years.
Date of Birth between
1st Jan 2003 and 31st Dec 2007
Date of Birth between
1st Jan 2003 and 31st Dec 2007
Group III
Age 18-30 Years.
Date of Birth between
1st Jan 1991 and 31st Dec 2002
Date of Birth between
1st Jan 1991 and 31st Dec 2002
Age Groups - Swar Vadya
Group III
Age 18-30 Years.
Date of Birth between
1st Jan 1991 and 31st Dec 2002
Date of Birth between
1st Jan 1991 and 31st Dec 2002
The competition will take place in the following two rounds.
Preliminary Round
The last date for registration is 10th August, 2021.
Once the registration form has been filled, Suranjan will immediately send the Google Drive Link to the participants.
The participants are expected to record a video of their performance and upload it on this link.
The last date for submission of video entry is 15th August, 2021.
Final Round
Final Round will be held via Facebook Live, on Suranjan's Facebook page. The shortlisted participants from each group from the Preliminary Round will perform in the final round live.
The final round is tentatively scheduled for 4th & 5th September, 2021.
Prizes
Here are the prizes that will be awarded to the winners of each group, in Vocal as well as Instrumental.
Group I
First Prize:
Rs. 5,000/-
Rs. 5,000/-
Group II
First Prize:
Rs. 10,000/-
Rs. 10,000/-
Group III
First Prize:
Rs. 15,000/-
Rs. 15,000/-
Participants standing second and third will be given a certificate and an opportunity to perform on Suranjan's platform.
All participants will receive participation certificates.
Judges
Passion 2021 has been blessed with a distunguished panel of judges for the Final Round, each judge a stalwart in their own respect.
Vocal
The judges for the Vocal category are the renowned Classical vocalists, Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar.
Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande
Renowned Classical Vocalist
Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande is an outstanding Hindustani Classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana.
Born in a musical family, she completed Sangeet Visharad of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya at the young age of 16 and won the President’s Gold Medal at the All India Radio Music Competition in 1977. After initial training under the late Pt. Narayanrao Datar, she began imbibing all the traditional aspects of Jaipur Gayaki under the tutelage of her mother and Guru, Vidushi Smt. Manik Bhide.
Thoroughly grounded in the Jaipur Atrauli Khayal Gayaki tradition, Ashwinitai has developed into an artiste of immense public acclaim earning high praise from music lovers all over the globe. Her musicianship is characterized by a blend of tonal sweetness coupled with emotion and raag structure. She yearns to explore the pathos of rare raag characteristic of her Gharana. In this effort she has received invaluable guidance from her Guru the late Pt. Ratnakar Pai, a senior stalwart of the Gharana. In addition to being a distinguished vocalist, she is also a highly respected Guru and mentor, guiding the next generation of Classical artists in their musical journey.
Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar
Renowned Classical Vocalist
At the age of 11, Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar began his formal study of music in Mumbai under the tutelage of the late Pandit Vasantrao Kulkarni. Six years later, he commenced training with the doyen of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, Gaan Saraswati Smt. Kishori Amonkar. Over the next 20 years, under Kishori-ji's keen guidance, he trained extensively to imbibe her complex and unique musical style through rigorous daily riyaaz. During this time, he was also fortunate to learn from Kishori-ji's mother and guru, the late Gaan Tapaswini Smt. Mogubai Kurdikar, who had learned directly from the the late Sangeet Samrat Ustad Alladiya Khan, founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. By training with both Mogubai-ji and Kishori-ji, Raghunandanji achieved an authenticity in all aspects of the Jaipur-Atrauli style - a full throated akaar, dazzling taans, a sophisticated use of techniques such as meend and gamak, and a clever grasp of the intricacies of layakari.
Swar Instruments
The judges for the Swar Instruments category are the Tabla and Sitar virtuoso Pandit Nayan Ghosh, Tabla maestro Pandit Aditya Kalyanpur and esteemed violin exponent Pandit Milind Raikar.
Pandit Nayan Ghosh
Tabla and Sitar Virtuoso
Born in 1956, Pandit Nayan Ghosh is an artiste with a unique musical dimension. He is acclaimed worldwide for being the only maestro with a superlative command on two diverse instruments – the Tabla and the Sitar. Having received intensive and extensive training in tabla, sitar and vocal from his illustrious father, the renowned tabla maestro and guru, Padmabhushan Pt. Nikhil Ghosh, Pandit Nayan Ghosh is respected among musicians and listeners alike for the emotive musical depth in his performances. He also received guidance from his father’s Guru, Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa. His elder uncle was the legendary and pioneer flautist Pandit Pannalal Ghosh. He has also received additional guidance in sitar from the maestro Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta.
Pandit Aditya Kalayanpur
Renowned Tabla maestro
Pt. Aditya Kalyanpur has turned miles into milestones. Beginning his studies at the age of five under the vigilance of tabla maestro late Ustad Allarakha Saheb and tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, Adityaji is considered as one of the most promising torchbearers of the Punjab Gharana style of tabla performance.
Adityaji was first seen with his guru Ustad Zakir Hussain for the famous "Wah Taj!" television commercial at the age of 11.
As a young man, Adityaji has lived up to the words and reputation of his teachers, mastering the intricacies of the tabla to smoothly accommodate himself to the requirements of the lead artist. His style consists of bold and clear execution of syllables, pinpoint precision in rhythm coupled with a colossal repertoire of compositions and improvisational techniques, making his concerts a sheer joy.
Pandit Milind Raikar
Eminent Violin Exponent
Pt. Milind Raikar is a renowned musician from Goa. He is an acknowledged Hindustani classical violinist of the present generation. He is known for his melodious & soulful style of playing the violin with "gayaki ang".
He is mainly the disciple of Violin Virtuoso Padmashri Pt. D. K. Datar (Gwalior Gharana) and Gaan Saraswati Kishori Amonkar (a scholar & doyen of Jaipur Atrauli style of vocal music).
He performed for the first time as a singer at the tender age of five years. He began as a guitarist & a bongo player & later on completed the Grade IV in violin from the Trinity College of Music, London under the tutelage of Prof. A. P. Da Costa.
He has toured East African countries & Muscat as the lead instrumentalist. He remained dedicated to Hindustani Classical Music, although he has learned & performed Western Classical Music too.
One can easily get mesmerized in the soul of his violine performance, which showcases the gayaki of Jaipur-Atrauli gharana.