Sunday, April 29, 2012

Apr 28 - Seattle, Washington

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh
morsing - nirmal narayan

715-945pm

varnam - bhairavi - ata - pachaimiriam adiyappaiah
vallabha - begada - rupakam - dikshitar (s)
balasubramaniam - vishnupriya - adi - thanjavur sankara iyer (r,s)
vinaradhana - devagandhari - adi - thyagaraja
mamava karunaya - shanmukapriya - misra chapu - swathi thirunal (r,n,s,t)
rtp - kalyanavasantham - adi (tisra nadai) - "sama gana lolane | sadasiva smarane"
krishna nee begane - yamankalyani - misra chapu - vyasaraaya
gayathi vanamali - hamsadhwani - adi - sadasiva brahmendra
thillana - varamu - misra chapu - sulochana pattabhiraman
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Apr 27 - Vancouver, Canada

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh
morsing - nirmal narayan

venue: sai center, vancouver
sankara jayanthi celebrations

745-1015pm

varnam - surutti - adi - pallavi gopala iyer (s)
sri mahaganapathi - gowla - misra chapu - dikshitar
kayarohanesam - aberi - rupakam - dikshitar (r,s)
dakshinamurthe - sankarabharanam - misra jampa - dikshitar (r,n,s,t)
marukelara - jayanthashri - adi - thyagaraja
rtp - kapi - adi "needhu mahima teliya na tarama | lokabhirama"
-ragamalika: bowli, begada
chinnanjiru kiliye - ragamalika - ekam (tisra nadai) - subramania bharathiar
slokam...chandrasekhara - sindhubairavi - adi... venkatachalanilayam - sindhubairavi - adi - purandaradasa
thillana - chandrajyothi - adi - ks raghunathan
ramani bhajithal - mand - adi - papanasam sivan
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Monday, April 23, 2012

Apr 22 - Birmingham, Alabama

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

615-845pm

varnam - kathanakuthuhalam - adi - ks krishnamurthy
sivaloka - mayamalavagowla - rupakam - gopalakrishna bharathi (s)
marubalka - sriranjani - adi - thyagaraja (r,n,s)
hidako - atana - adi - purandaradasa
pogadhirelo - sankarabharanam - misra chapu - purandaradasa (r,n,s,t)
nagagandhari - nagagandhari - adi - muthuswami dikshitar
rtp - bageshri - kanda triputa
-ragamalika: begada, sindhubairavi
tamboori meetidava - sindhubairavi - adi - purandaradasa
rama nama - desh - adi - thanjavur sankara iyer
thillana - chandrajyothi - adi - ks raghunathan
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Apr 21 - Atlanta, Georgia

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

630-930pm

varnam - sri - adi - karur devudu iyer
sobillu - jaganmohini - rupakam - thyagaraja (n,s)
shri mathrubootham - kannada - misra chapu - dikshitar
deva deva jagadheeshwara - purvikalyani - adi - swathi thirunal (r,s)
paramathmudu - vagadheeshwari adi - thyagaraja (r,s,t)
naan oru - navarasakannada - adi - papanasam sivan
rtp - mohanam - kanda triputa (tisra nadai)
-ragamalika: komalangi, bageshri
ninnaye - bageshri - rupakam - subramania bharathi
sarvam brahmamayam - madhuvanthi - adi - sadasiva brahmendra
thillana - niroshta - adi - tn seshagopalan (requested)
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Monday, April 16, 2012

Apr 15 - Buffalo, New York

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh
morsing - nirmal narayan

venue: university of buffalo
thyagaraja celebrations

645-915pm

varnam - saveri - adi - kothavaasal venkatrama iyer
telisirama - purnachandrika - adi - thyagaraja (s)
ne nendhu - karanataka behag - adi - thyagaraja
sri narada - kaanada - rupakam - thyagaraja (r,s)
manavyalakim - nalinakanthi - adi - thyagaraja
koluvaiyunnade - bairavi - adi - thyagaraja (r,n,s,t)
jagadhodharana - kapi - adi - purandaradasa
sri rama jaya rama - yadhukulakambodhi - kanda chapu - thyagaraja
thillana - basanth - adi - tn seshagopalan
ramanai bhajithal - mand - adi - papanasam sivan
malasai kopam (thiruppugazh) - jonpuri - adi - arunagirinathar
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Apr 14 - Toronto, Canada

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh
morsing - nirmal narayan

venue: yorkwoods library auditorium

6:15-9pm

varnam - sahana - adi - thiruvettiyoor thyagayya
ninnu joochi - saurashtram - adi - patnam subramania iyer (s)
thyagaraja yoga vaibhavam - anandabairavi - rupakam - muthuswami dikshitar (r)
emaiyya rama - kambodhi - kanda chapu - badrachala ramadas (r,n,s)
theril yeri naan - kalyani - rupakam - papanasam sivan
rtp - todi/mohanam - adi (4 kalai)
-tani avarthanam
dhanya anjaneetsa - aboghi - adi - tukaram
cinnanjiru kiliye - ragamalika - tisra nadai - subramania bharathi
thillana - chandrajyothi - adi - ks raghuraman
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Friday, April 13, 2012

Germany Recap... Tour Musings Part 1


Ideally, I should have been posting my thoughts and feelings after each concert instead of just the song-lists, but somehow I never thought to put it down in words until now. Rather than going back and commenting on each concert, I thought I'd just share some of the highlights so far, as I remember them...

Germany Concert Schedule:
Mar 10 - Bielefeld
Mar 11 - Baden Baden
Mar 15 - Munich
Mar 17 - Frankfurt
Mar 18 - Miltenberg

Our tour started over a month ago in Germany, where we arrived in Frankfurt on Mar 9th. It was my first time in Germany, so I was excited to see the country but also a bit unsure what the listeners might be like, or how to structure my concerts for German audiences. Our first two concerts in Germany were in churches. Beautiful locations with fantastic natural acoustics, but no heating! Luckily these concerts were only 1.5 hours long, but I definitely wore socks and had a shawl on my lap to keep me warm. Unfortunately my violinist, Mysore Srikanth, and mrudangist, Neyveli Venkatesh couldn't do anything to keep their fingers and toes warm through the concert. Srikanth tried many tactics, such as having a cup of hot water with him on stage, or asking the organizers to turn up the heat. We found more often that there was little or no heating in these churches, and the audiences knew to keep their jackets on throughout. During the intermissions we would stand over small heating vents in the green room and run our fingers under hot water, not to mention the countless cups of hot tea we went through before and during the concerts. The irony was that just a couple hundred feet from our concert venue in Baden Baden was some of the famous natural hot springs that tourists flock to throughout the year. There aren't any Carnatic concerts held in hot springs though. However the setting of the churches, and the acoustics in the hall made the freezing temperatures bearable!


Following these two concerts was a concert in the Volkerkunde Museum in Munich. This was a nice auditorium with central heating. This concert, as well as the first two, was recorded for future radio broadcasts, so we needed to arrive quite early to make sure the mics were all set up okay for the recording purposes. We had no monitors or feedback of sound in these concerts, but the intimate settings made up for it, and we were able to sing with the natural sound balance for the 1-2 hour durations.

During the week, we stayed in the German countryside with our fabulous host (and kanjira artist for our concerts) Herbert Lange, in his family's home in Adelsheim. He and his mother showed us great hospitality and we had a chance to walk around and see a very different side of the country not seen by tourists. Authentic farmland, a stream running through the backyard, forest hills for our morning walks, all of this and more made our stay unforgettable. I almost forgot, we saw a great music shop in Frankfurt where they had a tambura made from a Church organ pipe! Srikanth-ji and I were amazed at the sound and resonance of this instrument. Unfortunately its size made it difficult for us to take with us!


Our fourth concert in Frankfurt was at the residence of two journalists who have previously organized concerts of some great artists such as my guru Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan, and they had also hosted the concert of Sri GJR Krishnan in the same venue where I was to sing. Upon entry, myself and my artists were in awe of the book collection in this house. Almost every single wall was covered with bookshelves filled with books, some even on Indian classical music. I feared that this 2nd story apartment would collapse into the 1st floor at any moment, given the weight of the books. Neyveli Venkatesh was seated at the bottom of one of these towering bookshelves, and we verified periodically that it was safely mounted and not about to topple over onto him! This was an enjoyable concert as the audience sat on the floor in front of us, and in chairs just a few feet away. They seemed to be frozen for 1hr15min. I chose to sing a new thillana that I had just learned the day before, in ragam Hamsanandhi composed by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar (I'm told). I had practiced it once with Srikanth-ji and Venkatesh-ji the day before, but we still had a lot of fun with it on stage, going through its many rhythmic sangathis and patterns (I sang this in Los Angeles as well, and it can be viewed here). Afterward all of us had a really great feeling that we had tried new things and they went over well. There were even some percussionists in the audience who seemed to enjoy the thillana, and followed along with the tisram/chatusram nadai variations at the end. Surprisingly, our audiences in every venue were 99.9% German, and there were little or no Indians in the audiences. It made for a difference experience, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.


Our German tour of 5 concerts in 9 days came to a close on Sunday the 18th with a concert in Miltenberg*. This was an absolutely stunning city, being one of the few to not have been torn down by the war, and still have the real stone roads and old German architectural facades. Our concert was in a yoga studio located in a plaza which I swear could have easily been featured in National Lampoon's European Vacation with Chevy Chase.

*I forgot to mention that we were told our concert was the very first Carnatic concert ever happening in Miltenberg! Truly an honor for us.

Srikanth-ji and I stayed an extra day in Frankfurt after this, but Venkatesh-ji had to return to Chennai to switch out his mrudangams and prepare for the US tour that was to follow. Although it was quite cold, it was nice to walk around and see Frankfurt without too many tourists. We insisted on enjoying the river-side cafe's despite the weather, and even climbed up 600 steps in an old church to get a bird's eye view of the city.

All in all, a fantastic experience with great artists, and a grand kick-off to our tour.


I will write again soon with some of our experiences from the North American tour...(Currently in Toronto, only 1/3 the way through the North America concerts!).

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Apr 6 - Madison, Wisconsin

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

venue: university of wisconsin, madison

7-930pm

varnam - malavi - adi - ks krishnamurthy
vandhe matharam - kedaram - adi - subramania bharathi (s)
neerajakshi kamakshi - hindolam - rupakam - muthuswami dikshitar (r)
palayasadha - nalinakanthi - adi - swathi thirunal (s)
bhajare re chitha - kalyani - misra chapu - muthuswami dikshitar (r,n,s,t)
edhari sancharinthura - sruthi ranjani - adi - thyagaraja
rtp - karaharapriya - adi
-ragamalika: chandrakauns, jog
thunbam nergayil - desh - adi - bharathidasan
jagadhodharana - kapi - adi - purandaradasa
thillana - pahadi - misra chapu - lalgudi g jayaraman
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Monday, April 2, 2012

Apr 1 - Baltimore, Maryland

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

venue: sri shiva vishnu temple

330-630pm

varnam - mohanam - ata - harikesanallur muthiah bhagavathar
janaki ramana - sudha seemanthini - adi - thyagaraja (s)
ganamudha panam - jyothiswarupini - misra chapu - koteeshwara iyer (r, s)
sri ramam - nayarayanagowla - adi - muthuswami dikshithar
chalamelara - margahindolam - adi - thyagaraja
swara raga sudha - sankarabharanam - adi - thyagaraja (r,n,s,t)
sadhuthadha - vakulabharanam - adi - swathi thirunal
rtp - kaanada - tisra triputa
-ragamalika: ranjani, komalangi, sindhubairavi
pagaivanukkarulvai - ragamalika - tisra nadai - subramania bharathi
thirisila giriyaar - cenjurutti - adi
brindhavanam idhuvo - sudha dhanyasi - adi - sudhananda bharathi
thillana - khamas - adi - patnam subramania iyer
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja


Sunday, April 1, 2012

Mar 31 - Middletown, Connecticut

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

venue: sri satyanarayana temple

4:15-6:45pm

viriboni - bairavi - ata - pachaimiriam adhiyappaiah
deva deva - mayamalavagowla - rupakam - swathi thirunal (n,s)
enaalu urage - shubapanthuvarali - misra chapu - thyagaraja (r)
hidako bida beda - atana - kanda chapu - thyagaraja
bhajare re manasa - aberi - adi - mysore vasudhevachaar (r,s,t)
rtp - sankarabharanam - kanda triputa, tisra nadai
ramanai bhajithal - mand - adi - papanasam sivan
thillana - sindhubairavi - adi - md ramanathan
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Mar 30 - South Bend, Indiana

violin - mysore srikanth
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

venue: notre dame library auditorium

715-945pm

varnam - kalyani - adi - ramnad srinivasa iyengar
padavini - salabairavi - adi - thyagaraja (s)
ninne nambithe - kiravani - misra chapu - jagannathadasa (r)
kapali - mohanam - adi - papanasam sivan (r,s,t)
paramukhamadheno - shulini - adi - koteeshwara iyer
sabapathikku - aboghi - rupakam - gopalakrishna bharathi
rtp - dvijavanthi - kanda triputa (chatusra tisram / chatusram)
-ragamalika: bowli, jog, sindhubairavi
tamboori meetidava - sindhubairavi - adi - purandaradasa
tum bin more - kapi - adi - meera
baaro krishnaiyya - ragamalika - adi - kanakadasa
gavathi thillana - adi - s. kalyanaraman
pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja