Indian classical music’s future audiences were front and centre at MALHAR 2026, a youth-centric, monsoon-themed celebration of the tradition held in New Delhi and inaugurated by Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan.
Organised by Antar Hriday Connect, the event was conceived to connect young people with the country’s classical heritage — part of a broader push to ensure that the audiences and practitioners of tomorrow grow up with the music, not apart from it.
The emphasis on youth engagement mirrors a concern heard across the field: that the survival of a centuries-old art depends less on its masters than on whether the next generation chooses to listen.