Thursday, October 16, 2014

Kamakshi Amman Temple - Coimbatore- 1/10/2014


Kamakshi Amman temple in Coimbatore is a shrine very close to my heart and I always long to sing there during Navarathri. This year, I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity.


















Wonderful ambience, an audience with a keen ear for music, strains of mantrAs being heard when the hOmam takes place simultaneously near the main sannidhi - what more should one ask for?





Co-artists:
Sri.B.V.Raghavendra Rao - Violin
Sri.B.Sivaraman - Mridangam
Sri. Anirudh Athreya - Kanjira







 

"Ma Ramanan Uma Ramanan" - Thematic Multimedia Presentation- 30/9/2014


On the occasion of the 124th Jayanti Mahotsavam of Padmabhushan Sivapunya Ganamani Brahmasri Sri.Papanasam Sivan, I gave a thematic multimedia presentation titled "Ma Ramanan - Uma Ramanan" under the auspices of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Papanasam Sivan Rasikar Manram.

Venue: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. 

After giving an introduction to the different kinds of bhakti bhAva seen in Sri.Papanasam Sivan's kritis, I took up a mix of rare and known kritis on Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu for this presentation. My thanks are due to Dr. Rukmini Ramani, musician and daughter of Sri. Papanasam Sivan, who taught me a few of these rare kritis. Dr.J.Subramanian, Sri.P.S.Prabhakar and Sri.ARS gave me a lot of interesting and wonderful inputs on various aspects of Sri.Papanasam Sivan's music.  




Co-Artists:
Sri.Kandadevi Vijayaraghavan - Violin
Sri. Chidambaram Balashankar - Mridangam











Song list : (R-Raga Alapana,N-Neraval,S-Kalpanaswaram,T-Tani Avarthanam)

1. unnai tudikka - kuntalavarALi - Adi
2. sri viswanAtham bhajE - bhairavi - Adi
3. ksheerasAgara sAyI - pUrvikalyANi - Adi
4. karuNAkaranE - keeravANi - Adi
5. kaNNan madura - bhimplAs - Adi
6. kANa kann kOti - kAmbhOji - Adi
7. illai endra sol - kharaharapriyA - Adi(tisra gati)
8. mA ramaNan - hindOLam - rUpakam
9. pollA puliyinum - mAyAmALavagowLa - Adi
10. krishNA mukundA murArE - navrOj - Adi
11. pichchaikku vandeerO -surutti - Adi
12. nambikettavar - hindOLam - Adi
13. yashOda bAla - dasAvatAra rAgamAlika - Adi
14. mangaLam



Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Oothukadu Venkatakavi Academy Trust - 22/9/2014



This was the first concert of their annual series. Venue was Dakshinamuthy Auditorium, P.S.High School.




Co-Artists:
Dr.R.Hemalatha - Violin
Neyveli Skandasubramanian - Mridangam
N.Guruprasad - Ghatam






 


Song List:

1. swAgatam krishNA - mOhanam - Adi
2. shlOka on aghOra vIrabhadra followed by tyAgarAja paramEsha - chakravAham - Adi
3. kalyANarAma - hamsanAdam - Adi (R,S)
4. nAdamuraLi - hamIrkalyANi - tisra Adi
5. sadAnanda mayI - hindOlam - sankeerNa matyam (R)
6. nAn enna tavam - kamAs - Adi
7. sarasijabhava - kalyANi - rUpakam (R,N,S,T)
8. nandagOpAla - bhImplAs - Adi
9. muddukrishNa - chenjurutti - Adi
10. tillAnA - sindubhairavi - Adi

Monday, October 6, 2014

Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha - 28/8/14



This concert was held as part of their Sri Jayanti Festival.

Co-artists:
Smt.M.Narmadha - Violin
Sri. Neyveli Skandasubramaniam - Mridangam
Sri.K.V.Gopalakrishnan - Kanjira

Song List: (R- raga alapana, N-neraval, S-swaram, T-tani avartanam)

1. sakti gaNapathim - nAta - rUpakam - Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar (S)
2. gAnamurthe - gAnamurti - Adi - tyAgarAja
3. neene dayALo - Anandabhairavi - misra cApu - purandara dAsa (R,S)
4. rAjeevAkshabAro - sankarAbharaNam - Adi - Maharaja swAti tirunAL
5. AdAdu asangAdu - madhyamAvati – Adi - Oothukadu Venkatakavi (R,S)
6. AlokayE sri - charukEsi - Adi - nArAyaNa teertha
7. sree sathyanArayaNam - sivapantuvarALi - rUpakam - muthuswAmy Dikshitar (R,N,S,T)
8. pravisharAdhe - misra sivaranjani - kanta cApu - jayadEva
9. kAtrinilE varum - Kalki Krishnamurthy
10. Mangalam jaya mangalam - Suruti - Adi - purandara dAsa

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2012 - SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI - 23/8/2014


It was a great honor to be chosen to receive the prestigious "Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2012" instituted by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.

This grand function was held at Agartala on the 23rd of August, 2014.

I had the great fortune of receiving the award from Sri.P.B.Acharya, His Excellency, Governor of Tripura. (Also seen in the picture is Smt.Leela Samson, Chairperson, Sangeet Natak Akademi).

 
 
 






























The following day was a concert by the awardees.

We presented a 45 minute concert.





















Co-Artists:

Sri.B.Ananthakrishnan - Violin
Sri.B.C.Manjunath (Yuva Puraskar Awardee)
Sri.N.Guruprasad (Yuva Puraskar Awardee)
Sri.Anirudh Athreya (Yuva Puraskar Awardee)



 

Pallavi Darbar - Carnatica - 4/7/2014



The theme taken up was "The Art of Pallavi Singing".





Co-Artists:

Sri.B.Ananthakrishnan - Violin
Sri.R.Sankaranarayanan - Mridangam


BTM Cultural Academy, Bangalore - 29/6/2014



The theme was "Rare : Ragas, Compositions and Composers"

Co-artistes:

Sri.B.K.Raghu - Violin
Sri.Srinivasan - Mridangam
Sri.Phanindra Bhaskara - Ghatam














Song List : (R-Raga Alapana,N-Neraval,S-Kalpanaswaram,T-Tani Avarthanam)


1. valaci vacci - hindOLa vasantA - rAmaswAmi Dikshitar
2. srI shivE jaya vaibhavE -AbhogI - Adi -  Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar (R,S)
3. manaviche konavayya - sarasAngi - rUpakam - Patnam Subramanya Iyer (R,N,S)
4. cidambara nataraja mUrtim - tanukeerti-  MuthuswAmi dIkshitar
5. vAnchathOnu - karNaranjani - Tisra Adi - Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar
6. phanipati sAyee - jhankAradhwani - Adi - tyAgarAja
7. azhagA azhagA - suddha dhanyAsi - kanta cApu - Ambujam Krishna (R,S)
8. marachitivO mA ramaNa - latAntapriyA - Adi - yOganarasimhA
9. pasupatheeshvaram - sivapantuvarali - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshitar (R,N,S,T)
10. gAyati vanamali  - gAvati - Adi - sadAshiva brahmendrA
11. Thillana - sindhubhairavi - Adi - oothukadu vEnkatakavi
12. MangaLam


 

Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai - 14/6/2014


Co-Artists:

Sri. Mysore Srikanth - Violin
Poongulam Sri. Subramanian - Mridangam
Sri.K.V.Gopalakrishnan - Kanjira


Song List : (R-Raga Alapana,N-Neraval,S-Kalpanaswaram,T-Tani Avarthanam)

1. varnam - bhairavi - ata tAlam
2. vara vallabhA ramaNA - hamsadhwani - Adi - G.N.Balasubramanian (S)
3. mArubalga - sriranjani - Adi (R,S)
4. sri suganthi kuntaLAmbikE - kuntaLam - rUpakam - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (R)
5. chittam irangAdadEnayyA - sahAnA - misra cApu - pApanAsam sivan
6. srikAntha - bhavapriyA - Adi - tyAgarAjar (S)
7. O rangasAyee - kAmbhOji - Adi - tyAgarAjar (R,N,S,T)
8. telisirAma - poorNachandrikA - Adi - tyAgarAjar
9. RTP - keeravANi (R,T,N,S)
10. virutham, irakkam varAmal - behAg - rUpakam - gOpAlakrishna bhArati
11. tillAnA - sindhubhairavi - Adi - uthukAdu vEnkatakavi
12. Durga pancharatnam - His Holiness Jagadguru Sri. Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi
13. MangaLam

 

Workshop at SAP Labs, Bangalore - 29/5/2014


I had a wonderful opportunity to interact with a diverse group of software professionals at SAP Labs, Bangalore to talk on the subject of "Teamwork" in Carnatic music concerts.
















This session was very interactive, with members from the corporate world asking very interesting questions about what actually takes place during a typical concert and how the artistes in a Carnatic concert gel with each other without any rehearsals.

I talked on various aspects like core competencies of a musician, innovation, teamwork among the artists, adaptability of artists and about concert planning. I also gave numerous examples by demonstrating these aspects and also played video clips, which was very well received.