Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan's Concert In Our House

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concerts

On November 3, 2007 we hosted a veena concert by senior Vidushi Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan. It was a special occasion for us as Kalpakam Mami is a disciple of our Parama Guru Brahmasri A Ananthakrishna Iyer. The focus of the concert was on Dikshitar Krithis.

We thank the internet forum rasikas.org for organizing and coordinating the event and having us as hosts for the same. For all rasikas who happened to be present, it was definitely a concert that they would cherish in their minds and hearts for a long time to come.

Mami's accompanists for the evening were Shri L Ramakrishnan for Veena Support and Shri Tanjavur Kumar on the Mridangam.

Given below is the link to the concert on the rasikas.org forum:
Click Here

VEENA NAVARATHRI FESTIVAL

Words are not enough to describe the enthusiasm with which septuagenarian Shri Raghurama Ayyar organizes these veena-centric events one after the other. The first ‘Veena Navaratri’ festival was held in Chennai, from September 11-19. The festival was jointly organised by the Veena Foundation, New Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Narada Gana Sabha, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Kartik Fine Arts and Sri Tyagaraja Vidwat Samajam, Chennai.

We performed on the 16th of September. It was heartening to see the glint of happiness in Shri Raghurama Ayyar's eyes, when he remarked in his speech that he was particularly happy about the crowd attendance. As vainikas it gives us a lot of pleasure to place on record the fact that the invaluable support of rasikas is definitely one of the things that keeps us going.

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concerts

Celebrating the festivals of Varalakshmi Vrata and Gokulashtami, we hosted two chamber concerts on 26th August, 2007, with the following themes:

1. Varalakshmi Namosthuthe

Artists:
Kamakshi and Meenakshi - Vocal
Kolkata K. Harish - Violin
Manikantan - Mridangam

2. Om Namo Narayana

Artists:
Bharathi Ramasubban - Vocal
K.P. Nandhini - Violin
B. Srivatsan - Mridangam

The first concert comprised of a comprehensive list of compositions on Goddess Varalakshmi, including Sri Varalakshmi (Sriragam), Varalakshmi Neeye (Salakabhairavi), Kamakshi Varalakshmi (Bilahari), Varalakshmi Namosthuthe (Gowrimanohari), Varalakshmim Bhajare (Sourashtram). All the compositions were rendered to perfection by Kum Meenakshi and Kum Kamakshi. The Gowrimanohari Krithi was preceded by a short alapana by Meenakshi and ended with a round of swarams. Kolkata K. Harish excelled in his raga alapana of Gowrimanohari and gave fitting replies when his turn for kalpanaswaras arrived. Manikantan on the mridangam played his role with enthusiasm.

Kum Bharathi Ramasubban was given the theme of Krishna/Narayana. Starting with a brilliant rendition in two speeds of the Saveri Varnam Sarasuda Ninne, she went on to present a chaste version of Venugana Loluni, a Thyagaraja Krithi in Kedaragowlai. Her main piece of the evening was Balagopala in Bhairavi and Pankaja Lochana in Kalyani was the submain. Her biggest asset is her pliable voice combined with a full throated rendition, with an ability to traverse the higher octave with ease. Her raga alapanas of Kedaragowlai, Kalyani and Bhairavi were characterized with Sampradaya sudhham, and furthermore, bore the stamp of her own originality. It was heartening to see the artist implore her imagination to coax out lightning phrases with a lot of ease, and her singing also had a lot of punches, reminiscent of some of the golden greats of carnatic music. K. P. Nandini on the violin was very professional in her approach. B. Srivatsan on the mridangam presented an enjoyable thani avarthanam.

After the programme, Prasadam, and Manjal Kumkum for all the ladies present was distributed. We would also like to acknowledge here the assistance provided by Sri Krishna Sweets for printing the invitation cards for the programme.

Concert At Krishna Gana Sabha

We met Late Shri Yagnaraman, the then secretary of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, sometime in February 2007 when he had asked us to come in to his office, and he confirmed our concert at the Gokulashtami Series for 10th August, 2007. We consider this as a huge blessing coming from a person who had seen them all and served the cause of carnatic music for a lifetime. Little did we know that this was to be our last meeting with him before his demise earlier this year. It is indeed difficult to believe that the cruel hands of fate has snatched him away from all of us. He was one of the most widely respected music promoters and administrators, having been at the helm of affairs of the prestigious Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in T. Nagar for 5 decades. Shri Prabhu Yagnaraman, his son, has assumed the Office after the demise of Shri Yagnaraman, and we thank Shri Prabhu for all the support extended to us.

Related link:

http://skgs.wordpress.com/2007/08/12/friday-10th-aug-2007-630-pm/

Concert For Manoranjitham, Coimbatore

We were happy to play a concert on June 30, 2007, Guru Purnima Day. As a tribute to our Gurus, we played amongst other things a Ragam Thanam Pallavi in the raga Naattaikurinji, wherein the words of the Pallavi were, "Maata Pita Guru Deivam. Anudinamu Namaskara." The concert was under the auspices of Manoranjitham Sabha of Coimbatore. It was a valuable experience playing in front of very knowledgable rasikas, distinguished veena players in particular who had turned out in large numbers, and it was a full house despite the inclement weather. The review link to this concert is given below:

The Hindu Friday Review Link

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concert

We invited Shri Poorna Pragna Rao to present a chamber concert on May 14, 2007 with emphasis on Syama Sastri Compositions. His accompanying artists were, Shri Madurai Balasubramanian (Violin), Shri Manikantan (Mridangam), and Shri Papanasam Sethuraman (Ganjira).

The Song List:

1. Sree Ganapathini - Sourashtram - Thyagarajaswamy

2. Shankari Neeve - Begada - Subbaraya Sastri

3. Shankari Shankuru - Saveri - Syama Sastri

4. Marivere - Anandabhairavi - Syama Sastri

5. Kamakshi - Yadukulakambhoji - Syama Sastri

6. MeenaLochana - Dhanyasi - Syama Sastri

7. Sarojadala Netri - Shankarabharanam - Syama Sastri

8. Kanakasaila - Punnagavarali - Syama Sastri

9. Mayamma - Ahiri - Syama Sastri

What made the concert very special was that each and every song,
save the opening piece, was prefixed with expansive and pristine
raga alapanas (including those of Punnagavarali and Ahiri),
demonstrating the artist's vidhwath in ample measure. The violinist
was equally sophisticated in his replies. Shri Manikantan, standing in
for his guru Kumbakonam Saravanan, who could not participate as he was
not well, acquitted himself very creditably. He accompanied
beautifully for all the songs and played a commendable thani for the
main piece Sarojadala netri, with competent support from Shri
Sethuraman.

Concerts in New Delhi

Last month we were invited to present concerts in New Delhi. One of them was organized by The Veena Foundation jointly with the Indira Gandhi National Centre For The Arts. The IGNCA videographed the concert for their archives and also took a formal video interview for their record.

The second concert was under the auspices of Veenalaya, New Delhi, in conjunction with Veena Sangeetha Sangha of Trivandrum. The venue for the event was Tamil Nadu House in Chanakyapuri.

Given below are the relevant Review Links:
World Music Central Review
The Hindu Friday Review

श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः

Our Guru Sri A. Anantharama Iyer performing Arati to Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Also seen are photos of Lord Ganesha, Lord Karthikeya, Srividya Mandalam worshipped by Sri Dikshitar and, a photograph of our Guru's father Sri Ananthakrishna Iyer.