FEW artistes instantly weave magic with their audience through their works of art. And young acclaimed flautist Abhiram Nanda certainly is one of those few.
Claimed one of the future faces of flute, Abhiram, now in mid 30’s, has created a niche for himself at the international arena as an accomplished accompanying artiste to Odissi dance recitals. From the legendary Keluchcran Mohapatra to the budding Odissi dancers of today, he has been the unanimous choice of Odissi dancers across the globe to play flute for them.
Besides being an accompanying artiste, he is a gifted soloist too having been fortunate to be trained under the legendary Hariprasad Chaurasia whom he also accompanies in concerts. It was at Goa Youth Festival in 1995 that Abhiram rendered an impressive performance in front of Pandit Chaurasia as the national youth award winner for flute. When the maestro blessed him, Abhiram instantly appealed him to accept him as a disciple. “Guruji asked me to meet him at his residence in Mumbai and agreed to take me under his tutelage. Later on I discovered that he has a soft corner for anything Oriya, for, his career had kicked off from Orissa and he is married to an Oriya. Even his daughter-in-law is an Oriya,” revealed the humble artiste who hails from Bhubaneswar.
Abhiram acknowledges the great contribution of his father, an engineer by profession but an amateur flute player and stage actor by passion, who wisely sent him to the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya (USM) for a career in music. “He tells me that as a kid I was very fond of playing flute and also loved to act. He was also the inspiration behind my actor-brother Pintu Nanda’s career in cinema,” says Abhiram.
At USM, Abhiram’s talent was nurtured under the watchful eyes of eminent flautist Guru Mohini Mohan Patnaik. “By the time I had my masters in music from the college, Guruji had laid the solid foundation for me that clicked when I shifted to Mumbai,” he says with gratitude.
Winner of the prestigious Sur Mani title from Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai, Abhiram opted to be in his home state of Orissa while still struggling to establish his identity as a soloist at the national level. The handsome artiste is married to the gifted but hearing-impaired Odissi dancer Sonali Mohapatra and the couple is blessed with a son.
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