Vedanta Udaipur World Music Festival, wrapped up its sixth edition, which was held from the 16th of December to the 18th of December, 2022. The festival was the brainchild of Seher and was presented by Rajasthan Tourism. It bore testimony to the performances of over 120 renowned musicians worldwide. This year’s musical celebration focused on the revival of forgotten musical instruments like the Sarangi by giving the local musicians an international platform to showcase their talent.
The festival’s first day witnessed Sarangi performance by local artists, along with several celebrated musicians and singers like Jasleen Aulakh, Parvaaz, Abakorao with their popular Latin tunes, and Papon.
The second day hosted artists like violinist Nandini Shankar, Bruno Loi, and Jonathan Della Marianna, who showcased the Launeddas instrument from Italy, Kamakshi Khanna, Katia Guerreiro, the eminent Fado singer from Portugal, SENZA from Portugal, Blessing Bled Chimanga & Dreams from Zimbabwe, the very popular The Raghu Dixit Project and Habla de mi en presente, a high energy band from Spain.
The day also held the performance of Sarangi players and the announcement of the results of the Vedanta Talent Hunt. Performances by Sri jani Ghose from Australia, Anoushka Maskey, actor-singer-songwriter Sanjeeta Bhattacharya and Aabha Hanjura graced the final day of the music festival. Naveen and Vedang, India’s premier Solo Percussive Acoustic Guitarist Dhruv Visvanath, the Electric Percussions Orchestra from France, Al[1]baluna from Portugal, Amrit Ramnath and Farhan Akhtar also performed on the last day.
Speaking of the event, Sanjeev Bhargava, Founder Director of Seher, said, “Our team at Seher has worked relentlessly for several weeks to organize this festival, and the warm reception we received was worth the effort. We are thankful to each artist and the people of Udaipur for helping us make our dream a reality. We have already started making plans for the next edition, and hopefully, we will be back soon.”
“The Vedanta Udaipur Music Festival this year has surpassed our expectations. The footfall was very encouraging, and every artist performed their best. The reception that the Sarangi performance received was admirable, and we hope to continue inspiring local artists with future collaborations.” Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc Limited said.
Farhan Akhtar, who performed on the last day of the festival said, “It was great performing at the Vedanta Udaipur Music Festival. I felt like the audience could connect with every artist and their unique style. The local musicians were inspiring, and their performance motivates us of the need for more such efforts and platforms.”
The festival hosted the Vedanta Talent Hunt, which aimed at giving local artists from Udaipur and neighbouring districts a platform to showcase their talent. It helped revive the lost art and gave hope to its connoisseurs.
On the last day of the event, the winning artists performed on the afternoon stage and the certification ceremony took place in the evening where Mr Arun Mishra & Mr Sanjeev Bhargava presented the awards