December 24, 2012 - Music Academy

violin - b. ananthakrishnan

mrudangam - s.j. arjun ganesh

ghatam - n. rajaraman

145-345pm

1. varnam - kalyani - ata - pallavi gopala iyer (s)
2. undhumadha (thiruppavai) - saveri - misra chapu - andal
3. ini oru kanam - sriranjani - rupakam - papanasam sivan (r,n,s)
4. marakathavallim - kambodhi - adi - muthuswami dikshitar (r,s,t)
5. rtp - shubapanthuvarali - adi (4 kalai)
   ragamalika swarams: hindolam, sama
6. narayana - sama - adi - papanasam sivan
7. thillana - hamirkalyani - adi - harikesanallur muthiah bhagavathar

Being my first year at the sub-senior slot in Music Academy, I felt a little pressure coming into this concert. As the concert started however, I got quite comfortable and the tension eased away quickly. I owe a lot of that to the calm, cool nature of my fellow artists yesterday. However it slowly came back during the kambodhi alapanai when the mic system started to howl continuously in the monitors/speakers and interfered with the concert. Kambodhi is a ragam which I sing with some caution as it is, so this didn't help my flow. But I waited a few seconds, and after realizing the problem wasn't going to go away anytime soon, I decided to keep singing through it. Once I made that decision, I was back to being comfortable, and tried to focus on my violinist and the alapanai itself. Perhaps elsewhere one might have waited a few minutes for them to resolve the issue. But seeing that clock in front of my face, and knowing the Academy's strict adherence to time, I whispered to the violinist that we'd better just ignore it and keep going or else we'd lose time over all. He agreed. They reduced the volume and we proceeded with the rest of the concert with minimal feedback on stage. These sorts of technical issues happen everywhere I suppose, and hopefully they were able to resolve the issue for the concerts which followed mine.

Music Academy concerts remain a special experience though, and I don't think that will change anytime soon. Though I've only sung in the academy for 5 years now, I know that even senior artists hold it in high regard. Someone asked me after the concert, "Why does it seem like you all save your best stuff for this venue?" I didn't have a sure answer, because I wasn't sure if artists really do save their 'best stuff' for the music academy, or if perhaps the venue brings it out of them. For now, I'm just relieved that the concert seems to have been well received. And I am especially happy that my accompanying artists, Ananthu, Arjun, and Ramji played so well, and were so accommodating and adjusting on the stage so that we could finish on time.

Now it's time to focus on Thursday's concert in Brahma Gana Sabha at 4pm, with Delhi Sri Sunderrajan and Neyveli Sri Venkatesh!

December 22, 2012 - Charsur Arts Foundation (NGS Mini Hall)

violin - avaneeswaram s.r. vinu
mrudangam - srimushnam v. rajarao
ghatam - n. guruprasad

venue: narada gana sabha mini hall, alwarpet
445-7pm

varnam - mohanam - ata - harikesanallur muthiah bhagavathar
swaminatha - nattai - adi - muthuswami dhikshitar (s)
marivere - anandabairavi - misra chapu - shyama shastri (r,s)
varanarada - vijaysri - adi - thyagaraja
endhukupedhala - sankarabharanam - adi - thyagaraja (r,n,s,t)
kanavendamo - sriranjani - tisra nadai ekam - papanasam sivan

Myself accompanied by Avaneeswaram Vinu, Srimushnam Rajarao, and N Guruprasad

I'm not sure where to begin with my thoughts on this concert. It's always a different, and special experience to be on stage with some of the field's most leading artists such as Srimushnam Sri Rajarao Sir. Having known him since I was a kid, there usually is a very casual relationship between us, but I still get nervous sitting next to him on stage. No matter how casual, jovial, and encouraging he is, he's also one of the best and most experienced mrudangam vidwans. When I called him a few days ago to confirm the sruthi and main item for the day, he was happy and just said "All the best, sing well." I knew he was very busy with his season concerts and didn't want to take up his time, but that was all I needed to hear. His encouragement continued last night on stage as well with his playing and lifting of the songs and concert. I can rest assured that if I ever forget a sangathi, or a line to a song, he will remind me... Not by telling me, but by showing me on his mrudangam! The tani avarthanam between Rajarao Mama and Sri Guruprasad was mind blowing. We couldn't tell the time had gone by so quickly. The audience's continuous applause for their tani showed their appreciation of these great artists, as they applauded for nearly 2 minutes after the tani finished.

Avaneeswaram Sri S.R. Vinu is another artist who I love to sing with but don't get the chance often as he is busy year round, and stays in Kerala most of the time. I'll share a couple things here which I told him last night. One was that his support, especially when I sang raga alapanais, was outstanding. At some times it was as if he could read my mind, playing where I really wanted him to help fill in some gaps, and supporting however appropriate in that moment. His own alapanais and kalpanaswarams were a great complement to whatever I was trying, and his sankarabharanam especially was a favorite of mine. Another thing is that I really hope to perform more with him in the future. Artists of his calibre and humility are something I really admire and strive to achieve.

Thanks to the Charsur team as always, and the overwhelming support of the rasikas :).

December 19, 2012 - Parthasarathy Swami Sabha

violin - m rajeev
mrudangam - nirmal narayan
ghatam - h sivaramakrishnan

2-4pm

dhayajoo - gaanavaaridhi - adi - thyagaraja (s)
kalayaami - kannada - misra chapu - swathi thirunal (r)
aananda natam aaduvaar - purvikalyani - rupakam - neelakanta sivan (r,n,s)
naagagaandhari - naagagaandhari - adi - muthuswami dikshitar
sukhi yevaro - kaanada - adi - thyagaraja (r,s,t)
thillana - sindhubairavi - adi - oothukaadu venkata kavi

A few people told me after this concert that they had not heard kaanada ragam sang elaborately in many years, or ever. But I am not doing anything new, just a small fraction of what great artists have already done before me. As many of you must know, I am a big fan of Sri T.N. Seshagopalan, and a student of Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan. I learned Sukhi Yevaro from both of their recordings, combining their sangathis and styles. In fact, the krithi in Ganavaridhi and the OVK thillana are both compositions I learned from recordings of Sri TNS Sir. Kalayaami in kannada is a krithi sung by my guru Sri Sanjay Sir, that I learned recently and have recorded on Charsur's album, Hey Krsna.

Good to see several artists (senior, junior, local and from abroad) in the audience yesterday.

The Hindu : Arts / Music : Putting on a good show

The Hindu : Arts / Music : Putting on a good show

December 13, 2012 - Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, Vani Mahal

violin - parur ananthakrishnan
mrudangam - nc bharadvaj
ghatam - n rajaraman

4-6pm

1. varnam - kalyani - adi - ramnad srinivasa iyengar
2. evarikai - devamanohari - misra chapu - thyagaraja (s)
3. amba neelambari - neelambari - adi - ponniah pillai (r)
4. palaya deva - bairavi - rupakam - swathi thirunal (r,n)
5. mohana rama - mohanam - adi - thyagaraja (r,s,t)
6. vetta veli - cenjurutti - misra chapu - kudhambai sidhar

This was my first time singing in Vani Mahal in about seven years. I can't remember exactly actually, but I think it's been that long! It was nice to get on that stage again. I've felt that Vani Mahal has one of the city's better mini halls ever since they did major renovations about a decade ago. A decent sound system, a pretty big hall (for mini hall standards), and usually a good crowd make this place one of the better venues over all. I'm seeing more NRIs in the audiences, which means that season is full-swing, and once a few more sabhas have their inaugurations, Mylapore and T. Nagar will start to feel even smaller, and see more Indian kids talking in American accents (like me!). I enjoyed today's concert for the reasons above, but also because I revived an old song (Amba Neelambari) that I don't remember having sung in several years. I also sang this krithi in bhairavi which I learned a few months ago for a recently released Charsur album. It is the first time I was singing it live in concert. I hope to continue mixing old and new for the remainder of the season.

Sabhas seem to have a recurring theme this year -- they're all freezing! I actually asked the audio engineer to reduce to the AC during the main item, and he shut it off. It was much more pleasant for the remainder of the concert. I've noticed a lot of sabhas are cold in the audience, and many people are draped in shawls/socks/etc, but I was actually cold ON stage today, which is probably a first. I don't know who designs the air conditioning systems for these auditoriums but they need to take a better look next time. I know of a popular sabha in the city (won't mention it's name here), with an AC that has two options: ON and OFF. What's worse is that once it is turned off, it can not be turned back on for 30 minutes. I wish I was making this up, but sadly I am not so clever. This was told to me by the sabha secretary after I complained to him that everyone sitting inside was frozen.

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.