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Devika Tamil Isai Vizha
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FROM THE EDITOR
The grand carnival of the classical arts is on in Chennai. You can listen to Carnatic music to the point of saturation and some Hindustani music too. In dance you get to see a variety of classical forms—a lot of Bharatanatyam, and some programmes of Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak, Kathakali, Mohini Attam and Sattriya. The audience for music and dance is quite different. If you want to know what the season was like 75 years ago, we have an interesting description of the 1944 December season written by popular raconteur Sriram V.
There are many kinds of rasikas ranging from the single-minded one-sabha rasika to constant sabha hoppers. You can easily listen to over 60 different musicians during the season or simply follow your favourite musician to all the 20-plus concerts! In the audience you will find talkers and sing-along types, some young and many middle-aged folks busy clicking and posting on Instagram and Facebook—we sincerely hope you are not one of them! There will be others googling or frantically turning the pages of the raga-ready reckoner to identify the raga, song and composer being rendered by the artist on stage.
The number of vocal recitals far outnumbers instrumental concerts. Although both vocal and instrumental music have coexisted for long, the latter has not received due patronage from organisers and rasikas. It is a vicious circle—organisers arrange only a few instrumental concerts citing lack of audience interest, while the audience attendance is poor because the number of instrumental concerts is less! Could the high importance accorded to kritis and their lyrics in Carnatic music be a cause for this? What could be the reasons for the greater popularity of vocal over instrumental music? What is it that the audience is looking for? It has nothing to do with quality alone as there are several excellent instrumentalists in the field. In this issue, one of our senior writers, vainika T.T. Narendran, raises questions and offers insights into the status of instrumental music today.
Our Chennai correspondent V. Karpagalakshmi interviewed a few instrumentalists (posted on the Sruti blog), most of whom remarked that instrumental music was better appreciated outside Chennai! They also expressed their disappointment with the rotation system of allocating limited performing slots for a wide range of instruments. Instrumentalists have appealed for at least 25% representation during the season.
Can anything be done to help the cause of instrumentalists? The musicians themselves have been experimenting and collaborating in different ways to try and popularise instrumental music. Last season, Abhishek Raghuram presented a vocal concert with young flautist J.B. Sruthi Sagar as accompanist at the Narada Gana Sabha. This year, Ramakrishnan Murthy and young Ramana Balachandran are presenting a vocal-veena duet at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. Most of the musicians interviewed have suggested that lecdems and workshops should be organised to explain the intricacies and the effort that goes into playing any instrument. With this in view, Sruti and Music Forum present Vadya Sammelan on 7 and 8 December—a series comprising lecdems by top artists, which promises to provide insights into the origin, history, styles and intricacies of the tavil, nagaswaram, mridangam, violin, veena, ghatam, khanjira and morsing. The entire Lec Dem Mela, including an interesting panel discussion on the ‘State of Instrumental music’ will hopefully give a boost to Carnatic instrumental music in Chennai.
You will be happy to note that Sruti recently launched its YouTube channel. Stay in tune with us for news and views updates in the world of performing arts.
S. JANAKI
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Is there a bias against Instrumental music?
Interview by V. Karpagalakshmi
VIOLIN
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| Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, daughter and disciple of Lalgudi Jayaraman |
Do you feel there is a good response for Instrumental music? How do you approach a concert?
I feel there is more appreciation for instrumental music in other states compared to our own Tamil Nadu. Audience response is as good as for vocal music in Kerala and particularly in Karnataka. I wish the Chennai audience would learn to appreciate instrumental music better. It is also a vicious circle-- organisers arrange only a few instrumental concerts citing lack of crowd and because of less number of instrumental concerts the audience attendance is poor; even in a series, maximum concerts are vocal.
When we (my brother GJR Krishnan and I) approach music, we are very conscious that we are expressing music through an instrument and that it should reach the audience and make them enjoy it without the lyrics. We are mindful when we select the compositions we choose to play. The nuances such as anuswaras and intonations can be heard more clearly and sharply in an instrument than in vocal music.
As far as creating pure music without lyrics, I feel it would certainly have 100% response. People do enjoy a tillana which has minimal lyrics and is mainly only a tune; there can be pure music compositions as part of a programme but the quality of music should not be diluted.
Do you think there is parity when it comes to instrumental concerts?
In vocal music even when it is an unknown song in an unfamiliar language, the audience seems to enjoy it, but when it comes to instruments it has to be a well-known kriti. The mindset appears to be anchored on the lyrics to be able to appreciate the music!
If we play a rare kriti repeatedly whenever there is an opportunity, am sure it would become familiar to the listeners. In fact, there are compositions which are heard more often and also more suitable to instruments than vocal. The audience too should make an effort to listen to instruments more; they don’t realise that they are missing out on a lot of great music. If they listen to instrumental music, then they will understand that there are as many nuances as in vocal music. It is enough to keep your ears and mind open and listen to realise there is more pure music beyond lyrics.
What do you think can be done to kindle interest in people and change this mindset towards instrumental music?
I think we should educate the listeners on how to enjoy instruments through workshops and lecture demonstrations which could improve attendance at concerts.
There are a lot of talented young instrumental musicians. Special festivals are being organised for instruments. That alone may not be enough to popularise instruments. During the season at least 25% of concerts should be allotted to instruments.
Violinists get opportunities as accompanists; but many of them, in spite of being good artists, do not get centrestage. For instance, in the US and particularly in Europe, they appreciate instruments much more than vocal. They enjoy the tone and timbre of the instruments be it a violin, veena or percussion instruments. That, in my opinion, is the highest form of recognition and appreciation.
What is your opinion on webcasting or live streaming of concerts?
Live streaming of music is useful for elderly people who can listen from the comfort of their homes. Otherwise an attitude of ‘we can watch any time we like’ comes in. But some organisations webstream in such a way that only people living outside the country of the concert venue can view it.
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Is there a bias against Instrumental music?
A series of Interviews by V. Karpagalakshmi
VIOLIN
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| Akkarai Subbulakshmi and Akkarai Sornalatha |
Popular duo (violin and vocal) Akkarai Subbulakshmi and Sornalatha agree on most of the issues raised by Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi (see blog) such as the lack of response for instrumental music in Chennai.
Do you feel there is a good response for Instrumental music? How do you approach a concert?
Instrumental music is treated equally with vocal in other states like Karnataka and Kerala and the response is overwhelming among the Western audience. While performing abroad, we have observed that when the audience comes for a concert they stay till the end; be it vocal or instrumental. Perhaps they are more attuned to instrumental music and enjoy it better.
The Chennai audience is not able to relate to the music if they can’t hear the words. When we perform a rare kriti, one of us usually sings it while the other plays it on the violin to familiarise the audience with the piece. We have heard that in those days people listened patiently even for over three hours to concerts by Lalgudi Jayaraman or Flute Mali.
Do you think there is parity when it comes to instrumental concerts?
Though our music is based mainly on vocal style, there could be some pieces to demonstrate the virtuosity of the instruments. If the tune is catchy and interesting it would be accepted but it depends upon how the musician presents it. For instance, a varnam can be played in five speeds on instruments; the same is not possible in vocal. But if an artist needs to get a command over the instrument he or she should to able to play in five speeds, but that would demand enormous amount of practice. Artists must select a raga which would be interesting to listen to even in five speeds, and must also plan the concert in a balanced manner without compromising the greatness of our music. The entire concert need not be planned with abstract tunes; that will not work under the kutcheri formula, we need to adhere to the paddhati. In the ragam-tanam-pallavi for instance, the tanam is very suitable to show the virtuosity of the instrument and it is also quite abstract.
What do you think can be done to kindle interest in people and change this mindset towards instrumental music?
Workshops and lec-dems could be organised to make the audience understand what goes into playing instruments. But one has to make sure that people attend such programmes. Also, during the season there are not enough opportunities for instrumentalists. Any good artist should be given a chance; rotation should not be the norm. We have discussed this issue with a number of instrumentalists and they all feel rather dejected about the poor response in Chennai. Some seniors get to perform every year while the younger talented generation misses out due to the limited opportunity and rotation system, which leads to their frustration. There are five slots in a day during the season and young talented musicians can be accommodated. At least 25% of the total concerts need to be set aside for instruments.
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Notations in Carnatic music -- Then and Now
By S Sivaramakrishnan
Recently, I came across a few senior artists reminiscing about their student days when their gurus would chide them for noting down the notation, not to say the sahitya! This set me thinking.
The celebrated Brinda-Mukta school considered the tendency for classroom notation a serious handicap on the part of the disciple. Many gurus were even unpredictable for their flow of sangatis because subsequent sessions would render the available notation rather 'outdated'! Thus it was actually a way of noting down the 'varnamettu' after the classes were over without the knowledge of the teacher! This could be a reason why many kritis acquired multiple sangatis (or pathantara) as teaching sessions progressed.
At the same time, we had gurus who insisted on notations and meticulously checked and corrected the notes of their students. They constitute the 'lenient majority' of gurus. Nowadays, notation has become supplementary to classroom recordings in state-of-the-art gadgets--to the extent that some artists today keep notations in front of them even in concerts!
Music was part of our family routine; my mother would sing along with the veena in the evenings with my sisters joining in. (For this, she had to tune the veena to a high pitch of not less than 4.5 kattai that lent an oriental charm to the recitals). My brother used to accompany them on the mridangam. No notations were available, but the lyrics were noted down in a book. 'Kelvignanam' (learning by listening) was the only asset we had.
My mother also used to give some interesting tests by asking me to sit a distance away from her and to identify the notes or kriti passages which she would play on the veena with rather 'muted pluckings'! I had to keenly watch the placements and movement of her left-hand fingers to ascertain the swarasthanas and give the answer! It was indeed challenging yet exciting! I feel notations are a must to preserve sangatis.
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Kadamba flowers again
By Buzybee
Senior Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher Priya Murle curates ‘Kadamba’ (the flowering path) for the second year as part of the Natya Darshan conference hosted by Kartik Fine Arts at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore from 20 to 22 December 2019. Priya says, “Kadamba started early this year in August with several pre-events including a movie screening, academic and storytelling sessions, workshops and a lot more. This year the conference focuses on the physical, emotional and spiritual impact of natyam. As we explore the layers of poetry through sangeetam and natyam, the ability to comprehend the intellectual and metaphysical state of mind increases. All the sessions in Kadamba have been carefully crafted to deepen the consciousness and sensitivity towards the art form.”
The conference has some unique sessions like ‘Viewpoint’ wherein dancers young and old will speak briefly about why each of them is pursuing dance even though other career options are available. The session ‘Interactive Adavus’ could be interesting for onlookers where specific adavus of different banis will be demonstrated and dancers in the audience can learn and try them too! The evening performances reflect the topic of the conference presented as solos, duets and groups.
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Natya Kala Conference 2019
By Buzybee
The 39th edition of the Natya Kala Conference (NKC) titled ‘Nirikshana’ (Bharatanatyam: Under the Magnifying Glass), presented by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, is being convened by Delhi-based senior Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher Rama Vaidyanathan. “It seeks to examine, probe and assess Bharatanatyam as it is today,” says Rama. What transitions has it gone through over the years, and what can be done better in the process of continuity. Through dialogue the conference aims to address some pressing issues of today. Through lecdems we propose to place several creative endeavours under the magnifying glass to get a closer in-depth perspective. Through full length performances we look forward to showcasing the best in tradition and its continuation, so that the ‘nireekshana’ of Bharatanatyam comes a full circle.”
“I wish to project a wider vision through many eyes—rasikas, critics, scholars and organizers. I want everyone to take a look at Bharatanatyam through two different lenses: one, a concave lens through which we delve into the depths of an aspect of the dance form with a microscopic vision, and second with a convex lens where we expand our minds with a macroscopic vision. An amalgamation of both sides of the spectrum, could give us a holistic understanding. And last but not the least, this conference also endeavours to celebrate the ageless tradition as well as embrace the progression of Bharatanatyam”.
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FROM THE EDITOR
Happy New Year 2020! “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything,” said Plato. For the past month and more, sangeetam did just that as it pervaded the Chennai metropolis.
Rasikas and artists must have had their fill of music over the past one month and more. Every day was hectic during the ‘season’ with artistic activity all day long. Morning: Some groups came forward to conduct the Margazhi bhajanai around the Mada streets of Mylapore. Devotional music and discourses were presented inside the sabhas early morning, followed by lecture demonstration sessions on music and dance ranging from the simple to the complex. We listened to kutcheris by veterans in some venues, and by youngsters in some others. Noon: There were music and dance kutcheris at noon and after—allocated to talented juniors and sub-senior artists of any age. Evening: Star artists were reserved for the evening ticketed slots which hopefully brought in considerable revenue for the sabha. There were some sold-out concerts too. Traffic jams, parking problems, commuting and change in eating habits, predominance of old people in the audience, have all advanced the finishing time of night concerts to a little over 9 pm. Rare now are the midnight concerts by Hindustani stalwarts, though all-night variety Carnatic programmes are organised by musicians to herald the New Year.
November-December saw two eminent personalities in the arts stepping into their 80th year—the Delhi-based veteran classical dancer Yamini Krishnamurti, and the popular arts patron and industrialist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti. Sruti salutes these two achievers through interesting articles and some outstanding photographs. Our Roving Critic Sunil Kothari and senior Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidyanathan recall their association with Yamini.
The 173rd annual Tyagaraja aradhana falls on 15 January this year. Tyagaraja attained mukti on Pushya Bahula Panchami in the Prabhava year on 6 January 1847. Though he lived only about 170 years ago, we do not have a very authentic account of the full details of his life though we have anecdotes and stories aplenty. Two of Tyagaraja’s disciples—Walajapet Venkataramana Bhagavatar and Manambuchavadi Venkatasubba Iyer—have composed mangalams which provide many details about their guru. In this issue, musician and researcher T.R. Aravind attempts to analyse what these mangalams have to unfold about the bard.
One of the great music composers who belongs to the guru-sishya lineage of Tyagaraja was Ramanathapuram “Poochi” Srinivasa Iyengar. To commemorate his death centenary, we publish articles by Sriram V and vidushi R. Vedavalli about this lakshana vidwan.
In this age when students flit from teacher to teacher and learn from YouTube and the Internet, it is heartening to find artists who have remained with their guru for several decades. Ghatam S. Karthick is one such—he has been a dedicated student of the ghatam and his guru Vikku Vinayakram for forty years. Writer Sivapriya Krishnan provides interesting insights into the life and achievements of this multifaceted artist.
We have our usual coverage of organisations and events which also includes the silver jubilee celebrations of Mudhra in Chennai. The Music Academy Dance Festival begins in January with dance programmes scheduled from morning to night. Most sabhas have a long line-up of young and senior dancers who are featured from January to almost March. All of us at Sruti are busy attending lecdems and concerts at various venues and we hope to present our season roundup in the February issue.
S. JANAKI
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Snapshorts - Foto news
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LALGUDI G J R KRISHNAN’S VIOLIN CONCERT AT BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN, LONDON
Among the team of overseas teachers for our annual 3-week Summer School, was the renowned Lalgudi GJR Krishnan, son of the late and renowned Carnatic violinist, Lalgudi G Jayaraman.
I had the occasion to sit in on one of GJR Krishnan’s violin classes: his empathy and strong communication with us all was palpable. Furthermore, at The Bhavan on 4 August 2019, we were privileged to hear his impressive solo performance. Accompanied by Bhavan’s resident percussion teacher, M Balachandar (mridangam), and Pirashanna Thevarajah (ghatam), Krishnan enthralled us all with his brilliant and sensitive playing.
He began the concert with a varnam in Nalinakanti – a composition of his father and guru, the late Lalgudi Jayaraman. He briskly followed this with Tyagaraja’s Ennadu jutuno in Kalavati– a rare raga beautifully rendered. One of the Tiruvottiyur Pancharatna kritis of Tyagaraja, Evasudha, ensued in which his scintillating swara passages thrilled us all.
A complete contrast in mood was the next item, Muthuswami Dikshitar’s, Sri Rangapuravihara (Brindavana Saaranga). In the stately vilambita laya, Krishnan’s lyrical playing bewitched us all
Followed next was the ragam-tanam-pallavi. Krishnan had chosen the 56thMelakarta, Shanmukhapriya, and treated us to an elaborate alapana; he then executed a fine tri-kala tanam. Krishnan demonstrated his utter felicity with bowing and string techniques such as glissando and pizzicato. The pallavi that followed was in the 9-beat Khanda Triputa tala, each beat taken in two rhythms, first quadruple, then triple –Chatursra and Trisra gati/nadai.
Lighter pieces then followed, such as Manasa sancharare(Sama) by Sadasiva Brahmendra and Chinnanchiru kiliye of Subramanya Bharati. Lalgudi Krishnan concluded his evening with a Lalgudi tillana in Sindhu Bhairavi.
Review by
Dr. John R Marr.
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V.R.Devika
Birthdays & Anniversaries
A short introduction
Dr.V. R. Devika, Founder and Managing trustee of The Aseema Trust, a nonprofit organization for linking traditional performing arts and education and Mahatma Gandhi and education, is a well-known cultural activist who has a passion for performing arts and education.
Devika’s PhD thesis is on “Gandhian communication for transformation: Philosophical issues and dimensions” at the Department of Philosophy, University of Madras. She conducts regular workshops on Charkha-spinning, peace education and communication skills for students and teachers.
Among the awards she has received are a women’s’ day honour from Brew Magazine, a certificate of honorary citizenship from the Governor of Maryland during her participation in the US state department’s International Visitor Leadership programme, British Council’s Charles Wallace Award for Arts in Education in UK, Goethe Institute’s cultural multiplicator fellowship to Germany, Alliance Francaise and ICCR fellowship to Montpellier(South France) dance festival as a speaker, Kalasevabharathi award from Bharath Kalachar for contributions to arts and education, the Gnanasamudhra award from Samudhra magazine, Satya Vimarshaka Sundaram from Natyanjali, a lifetime achievement award from the Amir Khusro music academy, a woman’s day honour from Jaycees, a best lecture demonstration award from the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and vocational excellence awards from Rotary clubs, Karnataka Rajyothsava award from Kannada Sanghas of Chennai, Manitaneya Panpaalar from lioness’ club.
She has extensively travelled for conferences and lectures in Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA.
She is a visiting faculty at Pathashaala, KFI, Vallipuram and has also taught at SS Jain college and VIT,Chennai on culture. She has served as cultural coordinator for Prakriti Foundation (1998 – 2008), as Director for Education and Culture of the Madras Craft Foundation and its project Dakshinachitra. (1985 – 96) and a school teacher (P.S.Senior Secondary School, Chennai 1976 - 85), she is known for her use of elements of traditional performing arts as a teaching tool. She is on the board of International Partnership Network, Sarvodaya International (TN), Citizens Run Trust and Avvai Home.
She is trained in Bharathanatyam classical dance under The Dhananjayans and has researched folk forms. She gives lectures on the theory and practice of the dance and culture of India. She is a well-known storyteller has authored the coffee table book “Ward 10 – Remembering Rangabashyam” and has contributed to several national and international journals on art and philosophy.
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Gajananrao Joshi
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 30.1.1911 - 28.6.1987 |
Gajananrao became a highly skilled violin player by the time he turned 20 and, by virtue of accompanying stalwarts from different gharana-s, he developed a natural instinct of absorbing the best from everyone. This broadminded attitude made him a scholar of music. With tireless perseverance, he also overcame the handicap with his throat and took lessons from great masters like Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan of the Agra gharana, Ramkrishnabua Vaze of the Gwalior school and Bhurji Khan of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. Gajananrao was initiated in the gayaki of Gwalior gharana by his father but his quest for more took him to other musicians and he assimilated other styles in his music. He also learnt table under the guidance of Pandit Vinayakrao Ghangrekar. His parallel career was the result of a lifelong association with violin-playing and singing.
To read full story, visit sruti.com and buy Sruti 317
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Mohan Maharishi
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 30.1.1940 |
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Atul Desai
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 31.1.1934 - 20.01.2013 |
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FROM THE EDITOR
Come February, and as promised, we offer you a sumptuous fare of reviews of concerts held during the season. It is only this month and the next that we concentrate on individual reviews of music and dance, so that our readers too can savour the season—those who could not attend can get a good update, while those who did can relive it and compare notes.
There were concerts aplenty, and our correspondents were busy attending kutcheris and lecdems, taking notes in order to recreate the 2019-20 season for you. This time, however, we are not writing about the regular lecdems because many sabhas have posted them online for public viewing. Our critic C. Ramakrishnan who almost touched the century mark in attending concerts, takes you on a musical sojourn at the Music Academy as he diligently describes the rare kritis and the ragam-tanam-pallavi suite presented by several artists. S. Sivaramakrishnan, one of our earliest subscribers and a vainika himself, comments on several concerts held at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in T. Nagar. They have together also covered the Lec Dem Mela focusing on musical instruments, held in the first week of December. Around the same time was organised a dance conference called Navadhisha—on the syntax and semantics of dance; we present an overview. Just as the flavour of the season lingers on, so will our coverage of it: a lot more on dance conferences and programmes will be published in the next issue.
The Carnatic musicians who drew a full house in most venues were Sanjay Subrahmanyan and the RaGa Sisters Ranjani-Gayatri. It is interesting to watch their large fan-following not only in Chennai but also in foreign countries and on social media. Next in the race in ticket sales and in attracting audiences in major sabhas like Narada Gana Sabha were Bombay Jayashri, Abhishek Raghuram, Trichur Brothers and Ramakrishnan Murthy. On the whole, the audience turnout this season seemed to have improved not only in numbers but also in drawing more youngsters. Bodes well for Carnatic music!
An analysis of season concerts over the years will reveal that instrumental music hardly gets its due—with all the solo instrumentalists competing for only 25 per cent of the total slots. Our ‘spotlight’ highlights the voices of some popular instrumentalists.
A peep into the past reveals interesting information about the famous MKT’s less known Carnatic concert career. Our News & Notes section has an interesting mix of events in India and abroad: a cultural concourse organised by the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, a round up from Down Under, as well as the golden jubilee celebration of Priyamvada Sankar’s Bharatanatyam school in Quebec where she is disseminating the legacy of her guru T. Balasaraswati.
You will be happy to read about the new initiative launched by the Greater Chennai Corporation under the UCCN umbrella—the Chennai UNESCO Creative Cities Network—to take the arts to the people in public spaces. S. Natarajan who heads Aanmajothi – Cultural Wing of Saraswathi Vidyalaya, along with other members of the UCCN Committee (including Sruti represented by Sukanya Sankar), makes sure that Chennai lives up to its description of “cultural capital”. The committee members will also be involved in exchange programmes in other “classical cities of music” in India and abroad.
Talking about government patronage of art and artists, the Padma Awards were announced on the eve of India’s Republic Day. The number of awards for personalities in the performing arts is less than 20 out of the 141 names released. Veteran Hindustani vocalist Chhannulal Mishra of the Banaras gharana is the sole artist among the seven Padma Vibhushan awardees, while famous Hindustani vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty bags the Padma Bhushan (among 23 awardees). There are only a few musicians, dancers and theatre personalities (out of 118) selected to receive the Padma Shri, including two Carnatic music duos—the veteran vocalists Bombay Sisters (Saroja & Lalitha), and the nagaswaram duo of Sheik Mahaboob Subani and wife Kaleeshabi Mahaboob. It is a pity that versatile Bharatanatyam artists from Tamil Nadu do not find a place in the Padma Awards list. Several points to ponder!
S. JANAKI
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Padma Awards 2020 -- for the Performing Arts
By Samudri
The Padma Awards for 2020 were declared on the eve of India’s Republic Day. Out of the 141 names announced, the number of awards for personalities in the performing arts is less than 20. Veteran Hindustani vocalist Chhannulal Mishra of the Banaras gharana is the sole artist among the seven Padma Vibhushan awardees, while famous Hindustani vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty bags the Padma Bhushan (among 23 awardees). There are only a few musicians, dancers and theatre personalities (out of 118) selected to receive the Padma Shri. Among classical musicians, octogenarian Hindustani sitarist Manilal Nag, two Carnatic music duos—veteran vocalists Bombay Sisters (Saroja & Lalitha), and the nagaswaram duo of Sheik Mahaboob Subani and wife Kaleeshabi Mahaboob, find a place. It is a pity that no classical exponents of Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Mohini Attam and Kathakali feature in the Padma awards list. Art and culture reflect the integral identity of a nation. A country as diverse as India is symbolized by the plurality of its culture. We hope that more practitioners and custodians of the arts will be recognised by the government in the years to come.
Padma Vibhushan
Channulal Mishra (H-vocal), Uttar Pradesh
Padma Bhushan
Ajoy Chakravorty (H-vocal), West Bengal
Padma Shri
C. Sarojaand C. Lalitha (Bombay Sisters) (C-vocal)
Kalee Shabi Mahaboob and Sheik Mahaboob Subani (C-nagaswaram)
Manilal Nag (H-sitar)
Indira P. P. Bora (Sattriya)
Shashadhar Acharya (Chhau)
Vajira Chitrasena (Kandyan dancer)
Ustad Anwar Khan Manganiyar (folk artist)
Mitrabhanu Gountia (lyricist, composer Sambalpuri)
Shanti Jain (folk, literature)
Madan Singh Chauhan (music teacher, sufi and ghazal)
Munna Master (bhajan)
Yadla Gopalarao (theatre artist)
Sarita Joshi (film, theatre actor)
Daya Prakash Sinha (theatre, Hindi playwright and director)
Madhu Mansuri Hasmukh (singer, song writer and activist)
Moozhikkal Pankajakshi (puppetry)
Dalavai Chalapathi Rao (puppetry)
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Remembering Rukmini Devi Festival
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Melbourne round up
NEWS & NOTES
The Australia-India bond goes beyond just the ‘cricket’ connection. As a musician living in Melbourne for more than a quarter of a century, I have seen the proliferation of Indian classical arts in this country. The arts calendar Down Under brims with activities year-round. Here is a summary of some of the events that took place in the latter half of 2019.
Conference on music therapy
The Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) hosted the 2019 National Conference in Melbourne. Alongside this conference, a special symposium focusing on ‘Music, Adolescents and Trauma’, in partnership with the University of Melbourne was held on 29 and 30 November 2019. Hosted at the beautiful and brand new Ian Potter Southbank Centre, Melbourne—the new home of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music—the theme for the symposium was ‘Changing the future - through Advocacy, Equity, and Partnership’.
After the official welcome, the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Philippa Derrington (Scotland) on working alongside a young adolescent who experienced childhood trauma. The conference acknowledged the important contribution of therapists, especially music therapists, and the future of music therapy. The ways that clients, communities, and stakeholders can access and engage with these specialised services were explored. As a non-invasive treatment with no side-effects, it was acknowledged that music therapy as a procedure should be integrated with cure and well-being of the general public. Its introduction among children has boosted kinetic energy, and in aged homes the spirited involvement has brought back pleasant memories in dementia patients.
The conference had delegates participating from around the world, and it was heartening to hear their inputs on the therapeutical facets of music.
10th Anniversary of FIMDV
The Federation of Indian Music and Dance Schools (FIMDV) is a flagship body that encompasses all the top schools of music and dance in Victoria. The Federation celebrated its tenth anniversary in August 2019 and hosted a mega event, appropriately titled, Dashavatar. Curated with an innovative approach, it encapsulated the Dasavatarams or ten incarnations; linking multimedia presentations along with dance, music, and kathakalakshepam to the theory of evolution and incorporated climate change and its impact in the Kalki avatar. The message for the fully-packed audience was to be more socially aware and be responsible for sustaining our planet for future generations. The Consul General of India, Rakesh Malhotra, and councillors from Manningham Council and Victorian Multi-Cultural Commission were among the dignitaries who attended the event.
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| Shobha Sekhar and her ensemble at FIMDV |
Apoorva and the Quintet
Ravi Ravichandhira OAM has been one of the earliest promoters of Indian classical music in Melbourne. On 27 November 2019, he curated a programme jointly presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Multicultural Arts Victoria. The event began with an interesting multi-nadai varnam by Narmatha Ravichandhira (vocal), accompanied by Apoorva Krishna (violin) and Ravi Ravichandhira (mridangam). Apoorva Krishna showcased the Lalgudi bani in the Charukesi varnam and moved on to collaborate with the Australian Sruti Laya Ensemble featuring Jonathan Dimond, Adrian Sheriff (bass trombone), Sai Nivaeithan and Sai Sarangan (mridangam), and Athavan Wijeyamanoharan (khanjira/ konnakol). The programme featured contemporary and traditional pieces—Blues Jog by Jonathan and Bahudari tillana by Apoorva. The transition created an impressive impact on the listeners.
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| Apoorva Krishna with Australian Sruti Laya Ensemble |
SHOBHA SEKHAR
Annual veena fest
The Iyer Brothers (Ramnath and Gopinath), Melbourne based vainikas, have been the forerunners of the Pichumani School of Carnatic Music in Melbourne since the 1990s. They have been instrumental in establishing the primacy of the veena Down Under. In their interest to propagate this grand instrument, the Iyer Brothers started an annual veena festival in Melbourne which is now in its third year. They have been well-supported in this endeavour by local arts bodies such as The Boite, Victorian Multicultural Commission, and established business houses.
The event held in August 2019 witnessed impressive performers ranging from an ensemble of senior students of the Pichumani School to young talent. The festival began with an invocation by vocalists from the Pichumani School—the prayer on Lord Ganesa was penned by Shoba Iyer and set to tune by R.K Shriramkumar. Malathi Vasudevan from New Zealand, a disciple of the late Mangalam Muthuswamy, treated the audience to select compositions including a less-heard raga such as Veeravasantam.Mridangam support for the festival was provided by local talents—Vignesh Ravi, Athavan Wijeyamanoharan, Nanthesh Sivarajah, and senior mridangam players Sridhar Chari and Ravi M. Ravichandhira.
The capstone event of the festival was by the Iyer Brothers. Their veenas were in synchrony as always and the brothers played with their customary gravitas and classicism.
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| Ravi M. Ravichandhira (mridangam) and Iyer Brothers (veena) |
SOUNDARAJAN IYER
(Scholar and arts aficionado)
PHOTOS BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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FROM THE EDITOR
In the March issue we bring to you some more reviews of music concerts—of established musicians, of those moving up the ladder, as well as youngsters who are making a mark in the field of Carnatic music. One of our readers has pointed out that such an issue, unlike the others published during the year, does not seem like a collector’s item. Here, I must say that Sruti is probably the only periodical that carries such detailed reviews of both music and dance, especially in the two or three months following the season. Artists too look forward to reading reviews of their concerts. We therefore offer another sumptuous slice of the season in this issue, which also includes interesting overviews of three dance conferences by three dancers.Dance concerts are now catching up in the race for time and space with music recitals. While it is somewhat easier to listen to five music kutcheris through the day (hectic indeed!) it is well nigh impossible to watch classical dance performances from morning to night as the logistics are different. The Music Academy introduced an afternoon slot this season (a total of five performances per day) to accommodate more deserving artists in its dance festival. This slot unfortunately coincided with lunch time and siesta! A senior critic jocularly remarked that the organisation will soon have to make available lunch, bed-roll and a media-room for writers to put down their thoughts from time to time without getting into a muddle!
The conceptualisation of day-long dance conferences too calls for a re-look. A multitude of talks, lecdems, discussions, and performances were all squeezed into each day. Every conference had six to seven sessions between morning and afternoon, besides the performances in the evening. You needed some stamina and fortitude to attend all the sessions on all the days and still feel fresh—quite a herculean task! In some, as the allotted time was short, the presenter could only skim the surface during the session. In others, there was hardly any discussion among the panellists as there were too many of them and there was only time for each one of them to make a studied statement! There was no time for fruitful interaction among themselves or with the curious audience. An attempt to bind at least the proceedings of each day in a common thread and journey deeper, could make such symposia more impactful.
Moving away from the season, there is an article in this edition, on vainika vidushi R.S. Jayalakshmi which attempts to throw some light on this unassuming scholar quietly working behind the scenes. We bring to you reports of the celebrations of two centenarians in Bengaluru. You can also browse through the books in the Bookshelf this time.
Good tidings for the Kalakshetra Foundation as S. Ramadorai (former vice-chairperson of TCS) has been appointed Chairperson of the governing board for a five-year term, by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He has earlier served as the Prime Minister’s advisor in the National Skill Development Council and as chief of the National Skill Development Agency. He can certainly draw upon his multifarious skills to draw up a vision for the institution’s future. The government has also appointed three artists—Sudha Ragunathan, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, and Anupama Hoskere to fill vacancies on the board. All the best to the board and the institution to play a fruitful role in the preservation and propagation of culture and heritage in the years to come.
S. JANAKI
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Bharatanatyam school celebrates 50 in Quebec
NEWS & NOTES
Being an engineering professor, I am not a music or dance critic by any standards, but I do get attracted to good music or artistic performance whenever available in the area where I live, particularly music concerts and dance performances organised by various associations, schools from the Indian diaspora.
My introduction to Bharatanatyam was from Priyamvada Sankar during the arangetram of one of her students more than four decades ago, for which her husband invited me. He was my roommate at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and in 1974, I immigrated to Canada to join as a Professor at the Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres in Quebec, Canada. Priyamvada, through her wellprepared explanations on the format of a standard Bharatanatyam, made it easy to understand this beautiful art form. Her dedication and her introduction of this art form into the Québec mosaic fifty years ago is a commendable achievement. The 50th anniversary of the Priyamvada Sankar School of Bharatanatyam was celebrated on 5 October 2019 at the College Durocher Auditorium, Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Canada. Priyamvada was one of the earliest, prime students of the illustrious guru T. Balasaraswati, about whom I have heard so much in my youth.
The impressive souvenir/ commemorative album, aptly named Natyam 50, brought out for the occasion, contained numerous meticulously preserved photos from the earliest days of Priyamvada as a child dancer as well as articles relating to her school, her awards, and on her numerous associations with various dance schools in North America and India. With her background as a Sanskrit scholar, in addition to being a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher, Priyamvada is also associated with various organisations like the Interfaith Council for several decades.
The grand event was wellcoordinated by Priyamvada’s two sons, with the assistance of a large number of students and their parents. There were speeches by invited guests and a couple of parents whose daughters were the second and third graduates of the school who had performed their arangetram more than four decades ago! These speeches were tactfully presented between two items in the programme to enable the audience to pay full attention to the details.
The evening started with a prayer to Lord Nataraja, Raksho Dakshapadambujena, composed by the late Dr. V. Raghavan, father of Priyamvada. This was rendered live by T.S. Ranganathan, a family member who came from India to participate in this celebration.
The traditional prayer songs accompanying the opening dances were offered first to Lord Ganesa and then to Lord Muruga. An interesting format of the dance repertoire was chosen for this occasion, which included traditional items such as jatiswaram, padam on Lord Nataraja, and tillana; a beautiful ashtapadi of Jayadeva on Lord Krishna was also presented. As this anniversary coincided with the auspicious Durgashtami day during the Navaratri festival, befittingly a Tamil masterpiece – Sri Chakraraja– a melodious song on Devi was chosen and performed gracefully by three senior dancers. The overall choice of songs, mostly in Sanskrit and Tamil, to suit the Navaratri celebrations, made an enjoyable impact. Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Ananda natana prakasam, which was performed by senior graduates from New York, also received good response.
The fitting finale of the celebration was the graceful abhinaya performed by Priyamvada Sankar for the famous song Maitreem bhajata, composed by Dr. V. Raghavan and blessed by the Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
Another special aspect of this celebration was the remarkable camaraderie between the students, their parents, and the appreciation and admiration for their guru Priyamvada Sankar. Their feelings were sincere and heartwarming, a
trait that is becoming rare in th present day. The fact that the idea of this celebration was initiated with enthusiasm by more than sixty past graduates and current students bears witness to the guru-sishya tradition, return in the form of gratitude, and respect as ‘dakshina’ by the disciples to the guru. The fact that many of Priyamvada’s past students who hold high positions in their professions, despite their numerous commitments, all of them found time to come from long distances for rehearsals and participate actively on the stage, is indeed most commendable.
One notable observation was the presence of ex-Provincial Minister of Health and Current MLA in our Quebec National Assembly, Dr. Gaetan Barrette, a special guest for this occasion. He witnessed his first full-fledged Bharatanatyam performance and remained appreciative till the end of the celebrations that lasted more than three hours.
‘Natyam 50’ was a spectacle that we enjoyed celebrating the remarkable milestone in Priyamvada’s artistic endeavour, in the company of an adoring audience, numerous old and new friends, family, loyal students, and committed parents. This is the legacy that Priyamvada Sankar has achieved in the past 50 years of her promotion of the Tanjavur bani of Bharatanatyam in North America.
Prof. V. RAJAGOPALAN
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