December 09, 2012 - Kanakadasa Pratishtana, Udipi

violin - nalina mohan
mrudangam - hs sudheendhra

615-845pm

1. varnam - bhairavi - ata - pachaimiriam adhiyappaiya
2. gajavadhana - hamsadhwani - rupakam - md ramanathan (s)
3. suryamurthe - saurashtram - chathusra dhruva - muthuswami dikshitar (r)
4. ramanujare - panthuvarali - adi - kanakadasa (r,s)
5. cheraravadhe - reethigowla - adi - thyagaraja
6. pogadhirelo - sankarabharanam - misra chapu - purandaradasa (r,n,s,t)
7. kandena govindhana - chandrakauns - adi - purandaradasa
8. baaro krishnaiyya - mand - adi - kanakadasa
9. thillana - sindhubairavi - adi - oothukkadu venkata kavi
10. pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Although my flight from Chennai left 4.5 hours late (that's right), I had a great trip and thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The organizers went above and beyond to ensure our comfort and convenience throughout the stay. The senior accompaniments of Nalina Mohan and HS Sudheendhra helped me throughout the concert. At moments I felt tired from lack of sleep due to the early morning flight that got delayed several hours due to bad weather in Bangalore (the stopover), and no time to rest after reaching Udipi. But their energy more than made up for it, and also helped me to gain some momentum as things went on. It was the first time singing this krithi in panthuvarali which I learned from a recording of Sri T.N. Seshagopalan sir. It seems to have gone over well with the audience and perhaps I shall include in concerts in the near future. Definitely a good warm up to the music season in Chennai which continues for me from this Thursday onwards.... Thanks everyone!

December 5, 2012 - Jaya TV

violin - m rajeev
mrudangam - sj arjun ganesh

5-615pm

1. varnam - nattaikurinji - adi - moolaiveedu rangaswamy nattanuvar (s)
2. sri varalakshmi - sri - rupakam - muthuswami dikshitar (r,s)
3. manavyalakim - nalinakanthi - adi - thyagaraja
4. gananaya desika - rishabapriya - adi - koteeshwara iyer (r,n,s,t)
5. ramanai bhajithal - mand - adi - papanasam sivan


First concert of the season, and my first time singing for Jaya TV's Margazhi Maha Utsavam. It was a good experience and I'm happy with the way the concert went. I was definitely a bit nervous at times with the 3 huge cameras in front of me, knowing that any part of the concert would be televised on Jaya TV at some point. But I was very glad I had great accompanying artists who I'm so comfortable with, Rajeev and Arjun. They definitely eased my nervousness and played really well, as they always do. It's always difficult to manage time in such short concert slots, but their flexibility and support helped tremendously. I tried my best to mix known and slightly unknown songs/ragas in such a short timespan, I hope that went over well with the audience members. Thanks to Rajeev, Arjun, the organizers, and of course the audience!

Hope to continue writing my thoughts after concerts through the season, in addition to the song-lists... We'll see if I manage to keep it up.

November 11, 2012 - Chamber Concert

violin - m vijay
mrudangam - tanjore praveen kumar

10am-1230pm

1. varnam - mohanam - ata - harikesanallur muthiah bhagavathar
2. ganarasamudan - begada - rupakam - papanasam sivan (s)
3. jaya jaya padmanabha - sarasangi - adi - swathi thirunal (r,s)
4. sri ramam - narayanagowla - adi - muthuswami dikshitar
5. kamalacharane - amrithabehag - adi - gn balasubramaniam
6. sendil andavan - karaharapriya - rupakam - papanasam sivan (r,n,s,t)
7. apadhurukulo (javali) - khamas - adi - pattabhiramaiyya
8. kanavendamo - sriranjani - tisram - papanasam sivan (requested)
9. brindavanam idhuvo - sudha dhanyasi - adi - sudhananda bharathi
10. vetta veli - cenjurutti - misra chapu - kudhambai sidhar
11. thillana - dvijavanthi - adi - thanjavur s. kalyanaraman
12. vaanathin meedhu - mand - adi - ramalinga swamigal
13. ramanai bhajithal - mand - adi - papanasam sivan
14. malasai kopam (thiruppugazh) - jonpuri - adi - arunagirinathar 

November 5, 2012 - Bharat Sangeet Utsav

violin - delhi sunderrajan
mrudangam - neyveli venkatesh

245-445pm
venue: narada gana sabha main hall, alwarpet, chennai

gajavadana - hamsadhwani - rupakam - md ramanathan (s)
kaalai thooki - yadhukulakambodhi - adi - marimuthu pillai (r)
manasunilpa - aboghi - adi - thyagaraja (r,s)
bhajare re chitha - kalyani - misra chapu - muthuswami dhikshitar (r,n,s,t)
gopala bhakthim - bageshri - adi - swathi thirunal
thillana - hamsanandi - adi - harikesanallur muthiah bhagavathar

October 26, 2012 - IIT Music Club, Chennai

violin - sp ananthapadmanabha
mrudangam - r sankaranarayanan

630-915pm

1. varnam - malavi - adi - ks krishnamurthy
2. sri varalakshmi - sri - rupakam - muthuswami dhikshitar (s)
3. kalayami hridhinanda - kannada - misra chapu - swathi thirunal (r)
4. rama neeve - narayani - adi - thyagaraja (s)
5. karthikeya kangeya - todi - adi - papanasam sivan (r,n,s,t)
6. kamalacharane - amruthabehag - adi - gn balasubramaniam
7. rtp - aboghi/valaj - kanda triputa
8. vaanathin meedhu - mand - adi - ramalinga swamigal
9. vetta veli - cenjurutti - misra chapu - kudhambai sidhar
10. thillana - sindhubairavi - adi - oothukkadu venkata kavi
11. pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

October 21, 2012 - Chamber Concert (Navaratri), Bangalore

violin - mathoor srinidhi
mrudangam - arjun kumar
ghatam - sukanya ramgopal

430-730pm

1. varnam - kathanakuthuhalam - adi - ks krishnamurthy
2. mamava sada - nattaikurinji - rupakam - swathi thirunal (n,s)
3. kamalamaba - anandabairavi - misra chapu - muthuswami dikshitar (r)
4. sankari sankuru - saveri - adi (tisra nadai) - shyama sastri (r,n,s)
5. neerajakshi kamakshi - hindolam - rupakam - muthuswami dhikshitar (r,s,t)
6. himagiri thanaye - sudha dhanyasi - adi - harikesanallur muthiah bhagavathar
7. gopala bhakthim - bageshri - adi - swathi thirunal
8. baaro krishnaiyya - mand - adi - kanakadasa
9. nee dhan thunai - ragamalika - misra chapu - ns chidambaram
10. thillana - varamu - misra chapu - sulochana pattabhiraman
11. pavamana - saurashtram - adi - thyagaraja

Sruti Magazine: Musician to watch

Sruti Magazine: Musician to watch: Sandeep Narayan At the end of a ragam-tanam-pallavi competition last year at Sastri Hall, violin maestro VV Subramanyam...