Santoor maestro Rahul Sharma to perform ragas at the crack of dawn

Set your morning alarm as Rahul Sharma takes the stage at the crack of dawn to perform ragas on the 100-stringed instrument

Though the city often witnesses Hindustani classical concerts, experts believe that this form of music is best celebrated when every raga is performed at its stipulated time of the day. At the 89th Pratahswar, the morning raga series by Pancham Nishad, santoor icon Rahul Sharma will take the stage at dawn to celebrate morning ragas. "This is the first time I'm performing at a morning, open-air concert.

Rahul Sharma

It's rare for musicians and listeners to come together to celebrate morning ragas. Classical music has a 24-hour time cycle. Specific ragas are performed from sunrise to sunset, and even post midnight," says santoor legend Pandit Shivkumar Sharma's son, who will be accompanied by Mukund Raj Deo on the tabla.

The artiste gives us a peek into the history of the instrument. "The santoor is the only instrument with 100 strings. In ancient times, it was called the shatatantri veena. To experience the purity of a morning raga on the santoor in an open-air setting is no less than a celebration for the listener," he says.

About the flow of his performance, Sharma reveals that he prefers to improvise on stage. "Although I haven't decided the main raga, I will be concluding my recital with raga Bhairavi."

On: October 29, 6.30 am onwards
At: Kala Prangan, Pu La Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy, Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi, Dadar.