To keep up with the expected high standards, the organisers have already invested their energies to ensure a hi-calibre fest - a fest which this year brings in a breath of fresh air with some promising young performers. The mahotsav is scheduled to be held at the New English School, Rambaug, in Narayan Peth, on December 9, 10 and 11.

Says Trustee Rambhau Joshi, ``the three nights will feature artistes from different gharanas and we anticipate a crowd of 8000 to 10,000 people to attend.'' A roster of who's who in the performing arts' world has already been finalised for the event.

The highlight of the occasion will be ``the presence of two artistes from the same field performing together on the stage at the same time, something which we have introduced for the first time. Gangubai Hangal and daughter Krishna will present vocal classical, Hema Malini and daughter Esha will perform Bharat Natyam and Odissi respectively, Shiv Kumar Sharma and son Rohan present santoor vadan and Kartik Kumar and son Niladri will give a sitar recital,'' explains Joshi. ``These are not jugalbandis but the spectators will see two maestros giving independent recitals together,'' he clarifies.

Among the stalwarts giving solo recitals, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, whose association with the mahotsav dates a long way back, will be performing after a gap of two years. There is a line up of vocal classical singers for music aficionados -- Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Feroz Dastur, Khan Saab Rashid Khan, Malini Rajurkar, Kalpana Jhorarkar, Meeta Pandit, Shrikant Deshpande (disciple of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi), Ulhas Kashalkar, Padma Deshpande, Shaunak Abhishekhi (son of Jitendra Abhishekhi) and Uday Bhavalkar, who present dhrupad gayan.

``Spectators will also enjoy instrumental music recitals by Hari Prasad Chaurasia on bansuri, Purbayan Chaterjee on sitar, Rajan Kulkarni on sarod, Ustad Sadat Ahmed Khan on tabla,'' says Joshi. ``And as you can see, the line-up of young talent is long, because if we are to sustain the event, we have to introduce new faces.''

A lot of people are going to look forward to the festival, indeed!