I thought I would briefly write about my concerts here in the US during the month of April.
Cleveland,11-Apr:
The week starting from 5-Apr was indeed very festive at Cleveland, with many of us artistes having arrived there for the Tyagaraja Aradhana celebrations. The Vocal-Violin-Mridangam-Harikatha competitions held on 6-Apr were of very high quality, with children in various age groups performing extremely well.We had the Pancharatna group singing on the 7th.
Gayathri At Cleveland
Accompanied by Jayashankar Balan and Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan
My concert at Cleveland is indeed memorable, with many Vidwans like Sri.Guruvayur Dorai,Sri.Srimushnam Raja Rao,Sri.Nagai Muralidharan,Sri.Chitraveena.N.Narasimhan and Vidushis like Smt.Suguna Purushothaman and other ardent Rasikas present among the audience.
Sri.Jayashankar Balan was on the violin and Sri.Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan was on the Mridangam.
ICC,Rochester,13-Apr 2007:
Gayathri at Rochester
Ganeshprasad- Gowrishankar
Here was an excellent auditorium with great acoustics. It is always a pleasure to sing with such high quality audio systems. The concert was well attended. I would like to make a special mention of lots of Westerners(students of music) who were present.It was amazing to note that they could clearly follow all talas ranging from Kanta Jathi Ata thalam to Adi (Tisra Nadai)! They keenly observed all the nuances and also pointed out that ragas Bowli and Vaasanthi are allied ragas!!
You can go the following link to see a review of the above concert:http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=2590
Accompanists for this concert were Sri.B.U.Ganesh Prasad on the violin and Sri.Gowrishankar on the Mridangam.
Pomona Temple,NY,14-Apr 2007
Gayathri At Sri Ranganatha Temple, Pomona,NY
Ganeshprasad-Prakash Rao
I was indeed fortunate to perform at this beautiful Ranganatha Temple on Tamil New Years'Day.
Accompanists were Sri.B.U.Ganeshprasad on violin and Sri.Prakash Rao on Mridangam.
CAMAGA,Atlanta,15-Apr 2007
This again was a nice auditorium and lots of serious Rasikas present. It was a pleasure singing for this elite crowd.
I had excellent support from Sri.Nagai Sriram on the violin and Sri.Vinod Seetharaman on the Mridangam.
One noteworthy feature in all concerts in the US is that Rasikas stay till the end of a concert. There is no exodus during the Thani! One can see a lot of discipline inside the auditoriums (no mobile phones ringing either!)
You can go the following link to see a review of the above concert:http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=2568
Meenakshi Temple,Houston,21-Apr 2007
Gayathri Girish At Meenakshi Temple, Houston
Akkarai Subbalakshmi-Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan
This concert was a part of the Tyagaraja Aradhana celebrations at Houston. I took up the theme "Rama Avatara Vaibhavam" as seen by Tyagaraja. I think the audience welcomed this slightly different format of a concert, wherein I provided brief explanations about the songs chosen for the occasion. Also, everyone enjoyed the choice of a few rare compositions of this great composer featured during the concert.
Accompanists were Kumari.Akkarai.Subbalakshmi on the violin and Sri.Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan on the Mridangam.
SIFA,San Jose,22-Apr 2007
This concert was a part of the two-day Spring Music Festival at SIFA. Here again, there was an excellent audience and acoustics. The three-raga RTP that I had presented during the concert was very well appreciated.There was one lady who came up to me after the concert that the Ashtapadi that I sang in Sivaranjani moved her to tears..Well, I can't ask for anything more..
Excellent support from Smt.Anuradha Sridhar on violin,Sri.Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan on the mridangam and Sri.Ravi Balasubramaniam on the ghatam.
Gayathri, Smt.Anuradha Sridhar (third from left) and other members of the organizing committee
You can go the following link to see a review of the above concert:http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=2635
DFW Hindu Temple,Dallas,28-Apr 2007
Gayathri Girish At Dallas
H.N.Bhaskar-Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan
This was a 4-hour concert, with a very good, appreciative and knowledgeable audience. I sang Karthikeya Gaangeya(Todi) as the main item and then,a detailed RTP in Kalyani. We really enjoyed performing at the temple and it was heartening to get a very good feedback from a lot of Rasikas after the concert..
Accompanists were Sri.H.N.Bhaskar on the violin and Sri.Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan on the Mridangam.
Balaji Temple,Chicago,Illinois,29-Apr 2007
Gayathri Girish At Chicago
H.N.Bhaskar-Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan
This was the last concert in the one-month tour of mine during April 2007.
The concert at this beautiful temple was on the Pradosham Day and I was very happy to be a part of the elaborate Puja at the temple premises after my concert.
You can go the following link to see a review of the above concert:http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=2686
12 comments:
Looking forward to your Kutcheri at Parthasarathy Swamy Koil on May 13th. You could have a schedule of your concerts eiter here or in your site.It would be highly useful to Rasikas.
Sathej
I will definitely publish my monthly concert schedule on this blog..Hope you enjoy the concert today at Parthasarathy Swami Temple!
Gayathri
It was a nice concert at Parthasarathy Swami Temple.Looking forward to more concerts in Chennai.
Sathej
Hi Sathej,
Were you there for the entire concert that day? Glad that you liked it.. I visited your blog..its nice..I will post my concert schedule here very soon, as promised !! Hoping to see you in my next concert !
Gayathri
The review for the concert is at http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=2800
By the way,my blog is http://nadasudha.wordpress.com.
I shifted recently.Thanks for the compliment.
Sathej
Yeah, I saw the review, but then, subsequent discussions shifted to another topic- so I was wondering if you had been for my concert..And, yeah, the address mentioned by you now, was the blog that I was referring to.. Have a great day !
I was there from the Kambhoji Pasuram only.Your Thodi was really nice with glimpses of your Guru TNS and a good Krithi to follow it up.Nice to know that people are there to follow in TNS' footsteps.I attended TNS concert the next day too.It was small,but great!He had to leave for Trichur,they said.He too sang Thodi!
And it is very glad to observe that you maintain a nice blog.Very rare for artistes to do so!
Keep up your nice Thodi-the TNS way!
Sathej
Hi, thanks so much for those compliments ! TNS Sir is a born genius of this century and I think I am indeed fortunate to be one of his disciples..Will try my very best and come up with more such thodis and kambhojis !
Gayathri
The Rasikas' behaviour in a concert,yes!It leaves a lot to be desired here in India. From mobile phones to Tani walk-outs,it is appalling.Once,at a concert of Shri TN Krishnan recently,there was a mass exodus just as the Tani started.The Mridangam Vidwan Shri Thiruvarur Bhakthavathsalam just stopped playing and looked on.Shri TN Krishnan,who is an extremely mild-mannered person asked "Mangalam Vasichidulama?Ellarum Porele!"
The Rasikas must show better behaviour and give respect for all performing artistes.
By the way,R&D for the calendar is worth it!It is a much better option to use Google calendar than simply put it up as a post.
Sathej
Nice pictures!Your blog is really getting maintained well!Keep up the good work.I read about the Cleavland festival in Shruthi.
Sathej
I suppose that the 23rd concert would comprise of Tamil Krithis.It would be very interesting.Anyway,I am looking forward to your Swamy Hall Kutcheri as of now which is supposedly 2.5 hours.
Best wishes,
Sathej
Hi,
Yeah, the concert on the 23rd will comprise of all Tamil Krithis.I think it is a series of concerts with 2 concerts/day..
Looking forward to seeing you on the 9th!
Gayathri
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