Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 20.11.1942 |
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Uma Sharma
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Bhajan Sopori
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 22.11.1948 |
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Embar S. Vijayaraghavachaiar
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 24.11.1909 - 02.06.1991 |
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11th Year Deiva Tamizh Isai Vizha
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Justice T L Venkatarama Iyer
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Tiruvarur P Bhaktavatsalam
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 25.11.1956 |
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T. T. Krishnamachari
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari was born on 26 November 1899. Graduating from Madras Christian College, TTK began his life as a businessman and went on to lay the foundation of the hugely successful firm T.T. Krishnamachari & Co. in 1928 in Chennai. Later, TTK felt there were issues in the arena of politics and that he should turn his attention to it. He was initially elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly as an independent member; later he joined the Congress. In 1946 he was made a member of the Constituent Assembly at the Centre.
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| 27.11.1899 - 1974 |
TTK started taking interest in the affairs of the Music Academy by enrolling himself as a patron in 1936. However, it appears he kept himself away from it from 1942 for personal reasons. He returned to it in 1950, and was elected as its Vice President. Next year he presided over the sadas of the music conference.
From its inception in 1927 the Academy had been holding its annual music conferences and concerts in specially erected pandals or halls available in the city. It had acquired a plot on Mowbrays Road to construct its own building. However no progress could be made for want of funds. The building project gathered momentum after the Academy invited TTK, then Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, to inaugurate its Music Conference in 1954. TTK “pulled off a coup” and got Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to lay the foundation stone on 5 October 1955. M.S. Subbulakshmi gave a grand benefit concert to raise funds for the building; the Prime Minister sat through the concert till the end. MS presented a series of concerts for the purpose in the coming days.
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T. Rukmini
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 27.11.1936 |
T. Rukmini has been one of the most preferred violin accompanists in the Carnatic music scene for years. The reasons are not far to seek: her decided skill with the instrument, deep knowledge of the lakshana of raga-s, adeptness in quickly grasping what the main performer is doing, and willingness to follow the main performer as a true accompanist should. Not for her an overbearing attitude and one-upmanship. Her views on the role of an accompanist are clear and firm and she strives to play this role wholeheartedly and succeeds admirably. In her career, spanning decades, she has played as accompanist to stalwarts as well as upand- coming musicians of many generations. audiences not only with her vidwat and the way she has played her part as an accompanist, but with her stage presence and the pleasantness which always seems to surround her.
Rukmini's first performance as accompanist in a proper recital hall— and for her the most memorable and significant one— was at the Town Hall in Bangalore when she was just 16 years old. She accompanied T.R. Mahalingam (Flute Mali) in a benefit programme. By then she had already taken part in some concerts presented by the same organisers and earned a name as a competent accompanist. She had also attended many of Mali's concerts and longed for an opportunity to play with him, As for Mali, apparently he had heard about Rukmini as a talented violinist but had not himself heard her perform. In the event, he agreed to have her accompany him in the concert after she played one song for him, a sampler.
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Latchappa Pillai
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Amubi Singh
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 28.11.1881 - 29.06.1972 |
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Parassala B. Ponnammal
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Veteran singer Parassala Ponnammal rose to stardom after her maiden concert at the historic, hallowed Navaratri Mandapam at Tiruvanathapuram in 2006, when she was well into her eighties. (The place is by now globally talked about as a ‘made-for-music venue’ with its special indigenous acoustic set up. Her guru Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer created a record of sorts by performing there for about 60 years).
Veteran singer Parassala Ponnammal rose to stardom after her maiden concert at the historic, hallowed Navaratri Mandapam at Tiruvanathapuram in 2006, when she was well into her eighties. (The place is by now globally talked about as a ‘made-for-music venue’ with its special indigenous acoustic set up. Her guru Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer created a record of sorts by performing there for about 60 years).At her maiden Chennai concert a few years ago, Ponnammal sang Irayimman Thampi’s pada varnam Amba Gauri (Arabhi) raga with such ease that many a rasika found it difficult to believe that it was in tisra triputa tala. When she sang Sreepatey Sreenarayana of Keerikattuthopil Gopala Pillai, another in the audience exclaimed he was listening to ‘Mukhari of a lifetime’! Dayapayonidhey in Jaganmohini.
When Parassala B. Ponnammal – ‘the grandma of Gaanakairali’ – rose to receive the prestigious T.T.K. award at the Madras Music Academy on New Year’s.
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V Govindasamy Naicker centenary celebrations
By S. Sivaramakrishnan
The birth centenary of violin vidwan V. Govindasamy Naicker was celebrated at P.S. School, Mylapore, Chennai on 18 November 2017. The chief guest Sangita Kalanidhi A.K.C. Natarajan recalled his long association with the violin maestro, and spoke about the gurukula system and the music of yesteryear. Srimushnam Rajarao and Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram also offered their felicitations.. A vocal concert by the talented great-granddaughters of Govindasamy Naicker--Srutipriya and Neehaara--was widely appreciated.
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One more feather in his cap
By S. Sivaramakrishnan
The title Chitravina Nada Jnana Mani was conferred on vidwan N. Ravikiran by violin maestro Sangita Kalanidhi M. Chandrasekharan, on behalf of Charubala Mohan Trust on 19 November 2017 in Chennai. Narasimhan, President of Asthika Samajan, Thiruvanmiyur presided over the function. It was followed by a grand chitraveena concert by Sangita Kalanidhi designate N.Ravikiran.
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Sriram Parasuram
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Asad Ali Khan
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Asad Ali Khan was born in 1937 in Alwar. His ancestors were royal musicians in the courts of Rampur and Jaipur in the 18th century. His great-grandfather was the famous Rajab Ali Khan – head of the court musicians in Jaipur. He learnt vocal music for 15 years. Asad Ali Khan was among the few musicians who played the Rudra veena and the last master of the Khandar school of dhrupad.
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| 1.12.1937 - 14.6.2011 |
Asad Ali Khan was born in 1937 in Alwar. His ancestors were royal musicians in the courts of Rampur and Jaipur in the 18th century. His great-grandfather was the famous Rajab Ali Khan – head of the court musicians in Jaipur. He learnt vocal music for 15 years. Asad Ali Khan was among the few musicians who played the Rudra veena and the last master of the Khandar school of dhrupad.
He was associated with All India Radio. He performed in many countries like Afghanistan, the U.S.A., in Australia, Europe, and conducted music workshops in the United States. He taught the sitar in the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts at the University of Delhi for 17 years, and continued to train students privately after his retirement. He had a number of foreign students. Asad Ali Khan received several national awards, including the prestigious Padma Bhushan (2008) and the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1977).
To read full story, visit sruti.com and buy Sruti 323
To read full story, visit sruti.com and buy Sruti 323
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Ramana Balachandhran
Young Voices
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Young Voices - Ramana Balachandhran - Veena Artiste
By Mannarkoil Balaji
Ramana Balachandhran, a young veena prodigy from Bengaluru, has performed far and wide in India. During a freewheeling conversation with Sruti, Ramana is level headed and mature in his replies to our questions.
Tell us about your gurus.
I initially learnt vocal music from my mother Smt Sharanya Balachandhran, a disciple of Mythili Jagannathan and Mythili Kannan. I also started learning mridangam at the age of four with Sri Satyakumar. My mother used to learn the laya exercises herself to teach me since I was too young to read . My mridangam training continued for a short while under Sri Nagendra and later Sri Ranganatha Chakravarthy with whom I enjoy a wonderful relationship. He makes sure that I understand the need for a fine balance between complexity and saukhyam.
My veena training started with vidushi B Nagalakshmi, a granddaughter of Karaikudi Subbarama Iyer (brother of Karaikudi Sambashiva Iyer) quite unexpectedly. My mother's guru she moved from Trichy to Bangalore. My mother took me to her when she thought she noticed a certain flair for the instrument in me. The training with her exposed me to a gayaki style of playing the instrument. Sahitya was always a primary concern. She was both a guru and an affectionate senior. I learnt from her for a period of three years.
Three years ago, I started learning vocal music from Smt Neela Ramgopal. She is not only a wonderful teacher, but inspires her students with a work ethic that's unparalleled. Most of us would be proud of ourselves if we had a fraction of her energy levels, intensity and commitment.
My father, a musician himself, stayed away from music due to his work and other pursuits. My music grew in intensity when he started to work with me seriously. He has insights into how complex manodharma aspects may be built incrementally. Once specifically called out it becomes much easier to focus on the same and contemplate extensions, which is what we do at home. He is a taskmaster and is usually dissatisfied with whatever I play or claim to have practised. He is a very patient teacher.
Please tell us about your learning methods.
All my gurus laid emphasis on artha bhava and sahitya bhava. It took me a while to realize that it also formed a shortcut to remembering the kriti well. During the sessions with the guru, as also at home, we constantly work on the presentation aspects of compositions. At times we find that the sangatis which sound good vocally may not sound good on the veena. Hence we always try to work on bringing out the best of vocal expression to its nearest perfection in veena too.
My practice also includes various exercises in laya like singing a varnam or chittaswaram in various speeds and gatis. My father has taught me to be open minded and pick up interesting ideas from other vidwans and attempt extensions and variations.
A word about your technique?
The need to be close to vocal music has helped me to discover some specific fingering techniques, which I diligently practise. There is some phraesology around sahitya where instrument specific variations represent a richer picture; one has to constantly look out for such and adapt accordingly. For instance, there are subtle differences between producing the same gamaka across frets and within a fret. There are also trade-offs between split finger and fluid finger movement techniques that are specific to certain phrases. I prefer building these on fluid and gamaka-laden lines.
Any style that makes it possible for a musician to be equally comfortable playing a gati pallavi as well as bhava-laden sahitya, playing a ghana raga with deep visranti, an impactful tukkada, a complex kuraippu as well as free-flowing and spontaenous swaraprasthara suits me.
It is interesting to discover anuswaram-based phrases even in scalar ragams and I immensely enjoy manodharma that gives the raga swaroopa primacy among all aspects of creativity
Do you enjoy ragam-tanam-pallavi?
Pallavis always fascinate me. I look for interesting ideas there. Exercises around pallavis are necessary to establish your grip over laya. I always try to fit in a pallavi in any normal-length concert unless it seems out-of-place in the setting.
The role of your gurus and parents in your career?
What I am today is because of my parents’ full support and the blessings of my gurus. Their frequent monitoring and mentoring help me to stay on track. I am lucky to have my father as my guru who guides me on various aspects of my music.
Are you going to be a full time musician?
I tend to lose myself in music and would always love to be associated with it all waking hours. However, the implications of the choice are beyond me at this point as I just turned sixteen. My academic pursuits have shaped up well enough for me to be a fence-sitter, but eventually I hope music chooses me full-time! I am being homeschooled and hence I have the opportunity to consider my pursuits in unhurried fashion and immerse myself in whatever I do, be it music, academics or other interests. Incidentally, my “other interests” include science experiments, paper plane design and magic.
Your favourite ragas and kritis?
Sahana, Rasali, Ahiri, Saurashtram, Sankarabharanam and Kanada are some of my all-time favourite ragas. The list of favorite compositions is large but still these are the few I can list now: Kamakshi swarajat's, navavaranam, the padam Alarshara paritapam, Emanadichevo (Sahana), Navasiddhi petralum (Kharaharapriya) and Aparadhamulanorva (Rasali).
How do you link practice and on-stage performance?
Though practice is very important, equally important is a musician's ability to trust his instinct on stage. I am learning that as well. My father always says that I should find some spontaneous moments of freedom in every concert. He believes “That which doesn't touch the musician’s heart doesn't touch the listener’s heart too”. I try to keep all these aspects in mind while practising and while on stage. The concert stage becomes a medium for me to express, not just the technical aspects of music, but also my freedom, explorations and instinct. Learning and assimilation are a major aspect of my practice, whereas spontaneity and fluidity forms the core of my performances.
Awards and recognition
Recipient of CCRT national level scholarship for veena
Pratibha Puraskar, Bangalore
Invited to perform at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi .
Awarded “Smt Lalitha Padmanabhan Endowment” award for Veena by Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai
Awarded “Prof G T Narayana Rao” award instituted by Bhramara Trust of Y T and Madhuri Thathachari, Mysore
Granted age waiver by Prasar Bharati and Director General of AIR for Audition appearance in AIR.
Honoured as “Kalavanta 2016” for winning the concert competition series
Awarded “Raga Laya Prabha” by Sri Rama Lalitha Kalamandira, Bangalore
Awarded “Emani Sankara Sastri Sashtiyapthapoorthi Award” by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai Awarded “Dr. M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship grant” by Shanmukhananda Sabha, Mumbai
Awarded “Annapurna Ravindran Endowment Award” by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai .
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Fifteenth anniversary of Samudhra
By C. Ramakrishnan
Mudhra celebrated the 15th anniversary of Samudhra magazine and 250 weeks of Paalam Free Webcast on 19 November 2017 at the Infosys Hall on Bazulla Road in Chennai. Sudharani Raghupathy, veteran Bharatanatyam dancer-guru inaugurated the function and Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, chief patron presided over the proceedings. The highlight was the conferring of the title of Gnana Samudhra on Rama Kausalya, for her outstanding contribution as a musician and musicologist, and presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Yoga, for his contribution as a photographer in the arts field. The much sought after Music Planner cum Directory 2018 was also released on the occasion.
Multifaceted Dr. Rama Kausalya is a musician, teacher, musicologist and propagator of culture and traditional values. She devotes all her time to inspire and transform the lives in rural Tanjavur through music and other arts. She retired as the Principal of the Music College in Tiruvaiyaru and propagates music holistically through her Marabu Foundation which aims to promote peace and harmony through the fine arts, literature and traditional arts. The Marabu Foundation has been the local partner in organising the Sacred Music Festival in an aesthetic way in Tiruvaiyaru in collaboration with the Prakriti Foundation, Chennai.
Prior to the award function, Rama Kausalya presented a lecdem on the “Musical aspects in Tevaram Isai”. She dealt with the musical aspects in Tevaram and other forms of Pann Isai, and her disciple Madhuvanti rendered select tevarams melodiously. The programme was so good that Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti announced immediately that a similar programme would be arranged at Brahma Gana Sabha during the music season to ensure a better reach.
The other awardee, ace photographer Yoga has carved a niche for himself through his dedication and involvement in his chosen profession. He is noted for capturing the best moments of several artists through his lens.
It is appropriate that Samudhra has chosen the above dignitaries to receive the awards.
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Self regulation is the need of the hour
By Seetha Ratnakar
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra presents a free concert at the great lawn in the Central Park, New York which attracts more than 10,000 spectators annually. I had the opportunity to attend their concerts two years in a row and I was astounded by the behavior of the audience. Most of the people reached a couple of hours before the show to secure a good place. While they waited, they spread out tarpaulins and tablecloths and arranged an array of snacks and drinks to enjoy with family and friends. All around me I heard happy conversations and laughter and watched photo sessions in progress. I did not see any police or ushers and it looked like one big picnic spot. When the musicians came on stage to take their places a quiet hush fell across the multitude. The transformation was amazing. The audience enjoyed the outstanding concert in respectful silence breaking it only to applaud at the end of each segment. There were no distractions or disturbances through the entire show. If people arrived late, they were most unobtrusive. There was not a single discordant sound of cell phone or conversation. There was just great music and a disciplined audience who thoroughly enjoyed every nuance. At the end of the show the people cleared the trash and deposited it in trash cans and left the park as clean as before. There were no announcements or reminders. The social awareness and behavior of the audience seemed to stem from self- regulation.
The experience came quite as a shock to me as I was under the impression that I come from a country steeped in culture and therefore I have more respect for the arts than my Western counterpart. My misconception made me look at audiences anew when I attended cultural shows in Chennai--my city. I was sadly disappointed to notice that we, as an audience, are rather lackadaisical in our attitude. While we are genuinely appreciative of the art itself, we lack sensitivity when it comes to respecting the artists and the audiences during performances. It is a common sight to see people arrive late and walk nonchalantly in front of the people seated or leave in the middle of a performance. The mobile phone will surely ring sometime, somewhere and we are forced to listen to muffled conversations and even loud comments and instructions. An announcement is made at every concert, every play and every movie to remind us to keep our phones on silent mode, and yet we forget to silence them. I remember attending a play in which Jaya Bachhan played the lead role and during the intense climax scene a mobile phone rang and she became visibly upset. In an interview later, she mentioned that she missed the punchline because of the disturbance. It is frustrating for artists as all their hard work and rehearsing gets nullified by such a single transgression.
The ultimate disruption is caused by the media and it is more so at award and release functions. Media persons spring out of nowhere and block the view of the audience entirely to take those 'timely' pictures and videos as they obliterate the view for the audience which has taken the trouble to attend the show. The photographers are impervious to the anger and disappointment of family and friends who travel long distances to watch the proceedings and share the experience.
As organisations in the city are gearing up for the Chennai music and dance season this may be a good a time for us to rekindle our thoughts on how to be a more responsible audience. By and large, we are culturally aware and evolved human beings but when even one person flouts norms it can disrupt the whole show. A collective effort by each one of us to make it a habit of silencing cell phones and keeping the auditorium and washrooms clean will go a long way in showing respect and consideration to artists and fellow audiences. Organisers can help by providing designated places for videographers and photographers and invite them to take group photos after the audience witness the proceedings. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of an amazing cultural heritage, and we, the audience also have a part to play in keeping these great traditions alive. Chennai has been included in the list of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network of the world and it is our moral responsibility to keep the creative beacon shining in splendour without a blemish.
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P. R. Thilagam
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Saradchandra Arolkar
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 2.12.1912 - 3.6.1994 |
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