During our recent Europe tour, we performed at the Indian Summer festival in Paris, to a huge, appreciative audience. The Hindu recently carried a report on the Indian Summer, with a mention of our performance. Here it is:

'Indian Summer’ in Paris comes to an end

Two-month-long festival of Indian cinema and dance a huge success

Aim was to show films that have never been screened in France before: Martine Armand

Festival ran to full houses; ended with Paresh Mokashi’s Harishchandrachi Factory

PARIS: The sixth edition of ‘Indian Summer,’ the two-month-long festival of Indian film and dance held by the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts here, came to a triumphant end with the screening of Paresh Mokashi’s Oscar-nominated Harishchandrachi Factory. The film received a standing ovation from the jam-packed house.

“We opened the festival with Dadasaheb Phalke’s 1936 epic Sant Tukaram, the first Indian film to be shown in an international festival [Venice in 1937] and, coming full circle, we ended our cycle of Marathi and Malayalam cinema with a biopic on the father of Indian cinema, Paresh Mokashi’s Harishchandrachi Factory,” Martine Armand, who did the programming for the festival, told The Hindu.

Even though the French subtitles left much to be desired, the film, made like a silent movie, had the audience in splits. “I just loved it. It’s fun, it is moving and very inventive. Congratulations to the director,” exclaimed Janine Krause, an avid cine-goer who admits she knows little about Indian cinema with the exception of Satyajit Ray. “We never get to see such films here. This was a treat.”

The festival — which ran to full houses, with many persons having to be turned away because the auditorium could accommodate only 300 persons per showing — concentrated on Marathi and Malayalam cinema d’auteur, 15 films in all, including classics like Jabbar Patel’s Umbartha, V. Shantaram’s 1937 classic Kunku, Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Kathapurushan, Anantaram and Vidheyan, or John Abraham’s Amma Ariyan. Noted Marathi stage and screen actor Mohan Agashe presented Umesh Kulkarni’s Valu, which deals with a sacred bull gone berserk.

“The films I saw were rich, strong, varied, so very different from the sugary sweet Bollywood cinema that we get to see here. I know India and have been going to Pune and other cities for the past two years, and despite that, this festival was a genuine voyage of discovery. It was a delight,” said Catherine Metais, who first went to Pune as a young exchange student nearly 30 years ago.

Hubert Laot, head of programming at the Musée Guimet, said it was unusual for the museum to hold a festival dominated by film, music and dance. “The museum’s public is a specific one. Many of them are deeply interested in Asian culture and we regularly hold conferences by academics, photographers and archaeologists. This was something quite different and generated huge enthusiasm,” Mr. Laot told The Hindu.

During the two months of the festival, the museum also held music and dance performances. Dipanwita Roy and her daughter Priyadarshani gave an Odissi recital, with the mother wowing audiences with the strength of her abhinaya. Maria Kiron for Bharatanatyam, and the brothers K.N. Shashikiran and P. Ganesh with Carnatic music, also drew record crowds. For Sharmila Sharma’s Kathak recital on November 19, there is not a ticket to be had.

“I am always struck by the strength of the women from Kerala and Maharashtra, and that was one of the aspects of the programming. Kunku, Umbartha and Chitra Palekar’s Maati May have very strong female characters and deal with women’s issues. As far as Malayalam cinema went, the common thread running through the programming was the history of India and of communism in Kerala, as well as what happened during the Emergency. Our aim was to show films that have never been screened or distributed in France before. We chose Harishchandrachi Factory long before it was nominated as India’s official entry for the Oscars and I feel gratified by that. What was attractive about juxtaposing Marathi and Malayalam films was the fact that both States have very strong theatrical traditions and the films balanced each other out, both in terms of their strong content and their extraordinary quality,” Ms. Armand said.

(http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/08/stories/2009110852191800.htm)

December:
3rd - Krishna Gana Sabha - 6:30 pm
5th - Jaya TV's Margazhi Maha Utsavam -Kumararaja Muthiah Hall - 5:00pm
5th - Nalinakanthi - MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science - 6:30pm
8th - Bharat Kalachar - 4:00pm
9th - Sri Ragam Fine Arts - Govt. Music College - 11:30am
12th - Naada Inbam - 6:00pm
13th - Narada Gana Sabha Awards Function
16th - Music Academy - 1:45pm
17th - Meenakshi College - 11:45am
17th - Nanganallur Aanjaneya Temple (Chitravina Concert by Ganesh) - 6:30pm
18th - Mylapore Fine Arts Club - 4:00pm
18th - Launch of Carnatica's Samarpanam Festival - MGR Janaki College - 5:00pm
19th - Kalarasana (Isai Tamizh Vizha Inaugural concert) - 4:00pm
21st - K.N. Shashikiran & Kirnavali VIdyashankar Duet - Sringara Rasa Thematic concert - MGR Janaki College - 10:45am
21st - Karthik Fine Arts - 4:30pm
22nd - Panchamukha Aanjaneya Festival - P.K Mahal, Mylapore - 7:30pm
23rd - Chennaiyil Thriruvaiyaru - Kamaraj Memorial Hall - 2:00pm
24th - Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha (Sri Venkatesa Vaibhavam Thematic Concert)- 4:00pm
27th - Indian Fine Arts Society - 9:30am
27th - Madipakkam Papanasam Sivan Sabha - 6:30 pm
28th - Carnatica's December Festival Samarpanam - MGR Janaki COllege
29th - Sriranjani Fine Arts - R.K Swamy Auditorium, Mylapore - 6:30pm
30th - Narada Gana Sabha - 7:00 pm
31st - Rama Bhaktha Jana Sabha - 7:00pm
31st - Carnatica's Eastern Ethnic Eve (New year celebrations) - Music Academy - 10:30 pm

January:
1st - Rasika Fine Arts - Jaigopal Garodia School - 9:00am
3rd - Morning Ragas - Chamber Concert - 5:00am
6th - Naadhasudha-Velachery - 6:00pm
15th - Bangalore

February:
17th - Hyderabad Music Festival
19th - Chembur Fine Arts - Mumbai

March - May - USA tour
June - Australia tour

Musically,
K.N. Shashikiran

13th Nov - Kalpathi Sangeethotsavam - Annamacharya Music Festival (Palghat)
18th Nov - Tirupati
19th & 20th Nov - Coimbatore
21st Nov - Cochin
22nd Nov - Palght Fine Arts

Musically,
K.N. Shashikiran

Ganesh and I performed a 24-hour concert on September 9th and 10th, 2006, as a prayer for world peace and harmony. We did not take a single break during the entire concert and survived mainly on fluids, which we drank between songs! I remember that we sang over a hundred songs and were fortunate to have some great accompanists during the concert. The Limca Book of Records has now recognized the concert as a national record. Here's the certificate we've received:



Oh, and btw, the video in the Video Bar at the bottom of this page was recorded on the morning of September 10th, 2006, about 23 hours after we started the concert.

In concert at the Amman Temple in La Chappel

In concert at the Theater Du Paris

That's Ganesh. Whoever said striking a pose for the camera aint easy?!

Trying hard to look cool! ;)

Seeing through you!

The Mona Lisa and I smile :)

In concert in France

The Team - Ganesh, Murugabhoopathy (Mridangam), Rupi Sivarajaiyar (Violin), Herbert Lang (Kanjira) and I

Do I look like one of them?!

The Austrian Parliament

The Munich Museum

My spice chai and I

Thanks to Rupi for the photos. More later!

The Europe tour has been amazing so far! The response we've received for our concerts has been overwhelming! Our concert at the South Asian Arts Museum in France was an unforgettable experience. The audience first wanted an encore and then, in the end, they all rose in unison and gave us a standing ovation - a wonderful moment that I will cherish for a long time to come!

The Munich concert was equally memorable. It was covered by the German National Radio and they also did an interview with me - it was fun! We stayed at the Indian Counsel General's house and I had a great time teaching there!

I've also been having fun composing Pallavis in French, German and also one about the Eiffel Tower, in Tamil!

The Tamil pallavi goes like this in bilahari: paarinil unak eederillai paris nagar tower eiffel! (There is no equal to you in the world, O Eiffel Tower of Paris!)

One of the French Pallavis I composed is in Mohanam and the lyric goes like this: Salut Paris, ville de la beauté et de la culture! (Salutations Paris, O city of beauty and culture!)

We're having a great time and looking forward to the rest of the tour!

Musically,
K.N.Shashikiran

Performed in clermont ferrand in france, the first concert in the tour was well received, the we created a pallavi in french in raga abheri which went well with the crowd and we found it interesting. Anyways we will have more to come.... an interesting workshop preceded the concert... so a good start to this tour.... and looking forward to the rest of the tour...

musically, K.N. Shashikiran

We're on a tour of Europe now. Here's a rough schedule of our concerts:

Sept 18th to 26th - Paris, Clermont-Ferrand (4 concerts)

Sept 27th - Luxembourg

Sept 29th - Munich

Oct 2nd - Vienna

Oct 4th - Frankfurt

Oct 8th - Bielefleld

Oct10th - Geneva

Oct 11th - Nancy/Strasbourg

Oct 13th - Lille



We'll report from some of these places as the tour progresses! :)

Musically, K.N.Shashikiran

We're back in the US now after a tour of Australia, New Zealand and a 20-day halt in good ol' Chennai! After a couple of months of teaching - workshops and camps, and concerts here, we'll be heading to Europe.

Check out our schedule for the next three months on the right side of this page. Our December schedule is also almost finalized, so we'll put that up too in a few days!

We're looking forward to the next three months! :)

Musically,
Shashi & Ganesh

I have had the privelege of learning from some of the greatest musicians and the finest teachers that Carnatic music has ever seen - my father Chitravina Narasimhan, my brother Chitravina Ravikiran, Brindamma, T.Viswanathan and Calcutta K.S.Krishnamurthy (KSK mama). My gurus have, each in their own way, nurtured and moulded me into the person I am today, musically and otherwise.

This month, it is ten years since KSK mama left for his heavenly abode. As my tribute to my guru, I've organised 'Guru Vandanam - A Tribute to Calcutta K.S.Krishnamurthy' at Raga Sudha Hall, Mylapore, today and tomorrow (23rd and 24th of May).

Here's the program schedule:

May 23rd:

4:00 pm: K.P.Nandini - vocal (Daughter of Uma of Mayavaram Sisters, disciples of Shri KSK)
K.P.Haricharan - violin
Kumbakonam Swaminathan - mridangam

5:00 pm: V.K.Manimaran - vocal
M.A.Sundareswaran - violin
Srimushnam Raja Rao - mridangam
E.M.Subramaniam - Ghatam

6:30 pm: Tribute to Shri KSK.
Chief Guest: Shri P.S.Narayanaswamy

7:00 pm: Suguna Varadachari - vocal
M.A.Krishnaswami - violin
Mannarkoil Balaji - mridangam

May 24th:

3:00 pm: Subha Ganesan - vocalM.A.Krishnaswami - violin
Mannarkoil Balaji - mridangam

5:00 pm - Carnatica Brothers (K.N.Shashikiran & P.Ganesh) - vocalM.A.Sundareswaran - violin
Srimushnam Raja Rao - mridangam
E.M.Subramaniam - ghatam

7:00 pm - Sangita Kalanidhi R.Vedavalli - vocal
M.A.Krishnaswami - violin
Arun Prakash - mridangam

Two years after KSK mama's passing, I wrote this article - my tribute to KSK mama -for the magazine Sruti:
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Calcutta Krishnamurti was an ideal teacher, a real friend, philosopher and guide. My first experience with him was as a BA (Music) student attending a special contact class for the correspondence programme of the Madras University. I am afraid that, at that stage, I did not know who or how great a teacher he was. At the end of the class, I ventured to ask him a couple of questions and, after answering them, he enquired whether I hailed from a musical family. He was thrilled when I told him that I indeed belong to a family of vidwans.

While he was about to leave, I asked him rather sheepishly what his name was. Without batting an eyelid, he humbly answered that he was Calcutta Krishnamurti. I was speechless.

Within a couple of years of this incident, I had the great fortune of having him attend a concert of mine for YACM. It was then that he called up my father to say that he was impressed with my performance and that he was interested in imparting some of his knowledge to me. I thought that it was a great day because till then I had only heard a lot about his musical prowess.

I was nervous on the first day of my class. I was also determined to win his goodwill, which was my father's wish too. I was wondering what he would teach me.

He started with a masterpiece of Syama Sastri in a raga many believe is bound to break, rather cement, the relationship between teacher and learner. As you may have already guessed, the raga was Varali and the composition, Karuna joodavamma, which I had never heard before. The sangati-s were quite different from the usual pattern and I tried hard to reproduce them. But when I sang the full composition the next day, KSK was highly pleased and, after blessing me, joked that in his case, Varali had helped to create a bond between him and me! I was amazed to learn later that his repertoire consisted of some 2500 to 3000 songs.

KSK was different, in more ways than one, from many conventional teachers. He never imposed his style on his students and taught them each in a manner that would suit his or her own endowments. He believed that music should have spontaneity and originality, and his method of teaching was calculated to nurture these attributes.

He was a very innovative and creative person and this was obvious when he sang during classes. He never considered a student arrogant if he questioned him. In fact, he welcomed questions and discussions. His raga gnana was very special. He would be able to bring out the subtle differences between allied ragas like Nayaki and Darbar; Anandabhairavi and Reetigowla; Kannada, Begada and Sankarabharanam very precisely. He was sure of the gamaka-s that would go well with particular phrases of a raga. As a teacher, he was so committed that he never thought of time as a barrier. He was available at any time of the day for tutoring or clarifying doubts. Music was life for him. I have never heard him shout at his students when they made mistakes. Instead, he had the knack of making them strive for better results each time. He himself strove for perfection and on more occassions than one, had the large heart to correct himself or accept a better musical expression. I had the great privilege of giving vocal support to him in some of his concerts. And he treated me more as his son as a student.

KSK was a traditional musician but knew where and how to blend in innovation. He encouraged youngsters a lot and was not a person who thought that music had gone with the past generations.

---

Salutations to all my gurus.

Musically,
KNS

We've had a wonderful time in the US for the past two months. It's been very hectic - we'v been running from one airport to another, hopping from one city to the next, performing back-to-back concerts, teaching our students online whenever we found the time, collaborating with musicians in the US, sleeping about 3 hours every day on an average, meeting people and making friends - and it was great fun! Thanks to all our hosts, the organizers, the rasikas, our fans and well-wishers for making our tour memorable! We'll be back again in the US later this year! :)

In this post, we're going to let the rasikas do the talking. Here's some feedback we received from a couple of organizers. We'll put up more as and when we receive them.

28th March, Corvallis:

Corvallis Aaradhana and Music Festival (2009) organized by the Corvallis Aaradhana Committee, in Coravallis OR, was a day of superior music. Led by the legendary Mridangam Vidwan Sri. Guruvayur Dorai and the very talented Carnatica brothers (KN Shashi Kiran and Ganesh Sudarshan), the Pancharatna kritis were rendered in good unison. This was followed by many music enthusiasts paying their homage to great composers like Sri Thyagaraja, Sri Purandara Dasa, and Maharaja Sri Swati Thirunal. The real treat for the locals was the rarity of Sri Dorai voicing the Pancharatnas, rather than drumming to them.



The three-part homage concluded with a feast from Carnatica Brothers accompanied by Sri. Raman Iyer on Violin and Kalaimamani. Sri. Guruvayur Dorai. It was truly a one-of-its-kind concert for two reasons: first, the brothers made it a very interactive concert for the public, singing to most of their choices; second, they stuck to the authentic, traditional style of rendition, which the audience was looking forward to.



Starting off with a well-paced “Sri Vigna Rajam Bhaje”, in Gambheera Nattai by Oothukaddu Venkata Subbaiyer, the brothers then sang “Theliya leru Raama” in Dhenuka, followed by raagam, neraval and swarams for Thyagaraja keerthana “Rama Nee Samanamevaru” in KaraharaPriya. Then the Khamas raagam, requested by the audience was painted beautifully leading to a very bhava-bharita rendition of the keertana “Brochevaarevarura”.

The main item was the Rangam Taanam Pallavi, “Shobhillu Saptaswara”, in JaganMohini (raagam chosen by the audience). With an Anagatha Eduppu and extremely good timing on the Anulomam and the Pratilomam, the brothers showed their command over the Raagam, Taalam and the theory of Pallavi Singing. The Raagamalika Pallavi was well-supported on the Violin by Sri. Raman Iyer from Seattle. The audience then got their cream on the pudding when they watched Mridangam make divine music, during Sri. Dorai’s Tani-Avarthanam. The concert concluded with Tukkdas including “Bho Shambo” in Revati and a “Kaavadi Chindu”. Overall, the brothers demonstrated their exemplary knowledge of technique, variety, and clarity of diction. Between the two, the brothers can fully scale three octaves. They have well comprehended their strong points and support each other extremely well, something that other duos do not necessarily do. The able accompanists further elevated the concert experience. There were many “Aha” moments in the concert, with a very good balance of Manodharma and Janaranjaka pieces.

Though the acoustics of the hall was not ideal for a concert, the Corvallis Aaradhana Committee did a great job in managing the event logistics. What started off as a cold rainy day and a long drive for some, ended as a warm, satisfying evening; a wedding feast if you might say, nothing that you would want to change.

March 15th, New York:

Song List

1. Varnam: Chalamela, Natakurinji
2. Devadeva Kalayami, Mayamalavagowla, Swati Tirunal
3. Sarasiruhasana priye, Naata, Puliyoor (Pallavi) Duraiswamy Iyer
4. Amba Kamakshi, Yadukula Kambhoji, Shyama Sastry
5. Niravadi sukhada, Ravichandrika, Thyagaraja
6. Narayana ninna naamada, Suddha Dhanyasi, Purandaradasa
7. Kapali, Mohanam, Papanasam Sivan
8. RTP Saraswathi Pallavi: Shruti Laya Nivasini Saraswathi Shaarade Vidyaprade
9. Sree varalakshmi namastubhyam, Sreeragam, Dikshitar
10.Alaipaayude, Kanada, Oothukadu
11.Ranjani mridu pankajalochani, Ranjani ragamalika, Thanjavur Shankara Iyer
12.English note, Harikeshanallur Mutayyah Bhagavatar
13.Mangalam

Shruti Laya opened its 2009 season with a grand concert by the Carnatica Brothers Sri. Shashikiran and Sri.Ganesh, accompanied by Sri.Jayshankar Balan on the Violin, and Sri.Guruvayur Durai on the Mridangam.

The brothers' interactive concert style grabbed the audience's attention right from the beginning. Most unusually for musicians at their level,they encourage the audience to submit requests! They then asked the audience to vote for the varnam to start with, and started with the popular favourite, Natakurinji! This was followed by Swati Tirunal's "Deva Deva kalayami" in Mayamalavagowla. During the swarakalpana phase of this kriti, Ganesh sang all the sarali varisai to keep the youngsters hooked.

The unique feature of this concert was that every single song rendered was from a different composer (see song list). Sri.Shashi Kiran and Sri.Ganesh took care to bring out the special flavour of each composer. From the gentle unhurried notes of "Amba Kaamakshi" (Yadukula Kambhoji, Shyama Sastri), each phrase dripping with bhakti, to the highly energetic Niravadi Sukhada (Ravichandrika, Thyagaraja), the audience was mesmerized at every turn. The main ragam for the evening was Mohanam, with an elaborate aalapana. Just when everyone was expecting a Tanam to follow, Shashikiran took a vote between the requests he got for this ragam, and went with the audience choice of Kapali (Papanasam Sivan). The Tani that followed showed everyone again why Sri.Guruvayur Durai is held in such high regard. It was a virtuoso display of percussion fireworks that had the entire audience cheering.

The RTP which followed was a special treat - a pallavi composed specially for Shruti Laya in Ragam Saraswathi: "Shruti Laya Nivasini Saraswathi Shaarade Vidyaprade". They brought out the lush beauty of this ragam, following with swaras in Saraswathi Manohari and Manohari.

This was followed by a smorgasboard of beautiful pieces, notably the Ranjanimalika krithi "Ranjani mridu pankajalochani", and even the famous "English note". The concert came to an auspicious conclusion with an uncommon mangalam "Makutake mangalam".

Sri.Jayshankar Balan ably supported the vocalists with his crisp and quick responses and showed his own mettle in the alapana segments. Of special pride to Shruti Laya is the fact that he is a US resident, but a graded AIR artist in his own right.

Smt.Sharada Chityala, Director of Shruti Laya, introduced the artists and briefly spoke of their accomplishments. Sri. Sreenadh Jonnavithula, Director of Shruti Laya, thanked the artists for this wonderful concert, and for the special pallavi composed for Shruti Laya. Following Shruti Laya tradition, a senior member of the audience, Sri. Balachandran was invited to give a musical appreciation. Members Sri. P.S.Ramesh, Smt. Meena Mani, Sri.Chidambaran and Director Smt. Sumathi Sumangali honored the artists with shawls.

Shruti Laya would like to thank State Bank of India, whose generous sponsorship helped us stage this program. We also thank our tireless volunteers Subu, Ashok, Mani, Sundar, Abhinav and Vamsi for help with setting up the hall, and Sanjay, Ishwarya, Saipriya, Gautham for manning the front desk. And of course, we thank our members and rasikas, whose support and encouragement made Shruti Laya possible.

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Thanks to all rasikas who attended our concerts and gave us their feedback. We look forward to performing for you again! :)

Musically,
Shashikiran & Ganesh

Here are our latest photos, taken a few days ago in New York and Philadelphia.

Pink In Philadelphia!

With Ganesh, Kirana and her baby :)

Ganesh with the baby

With Ganesh, Jayshankar Balan and Guruvayur Dorai sir after the concert for Shruti Laya, New York, on March 15th




Grinning away!

Musically,
Shashikiran

My second book, Sangita Lipi, will be released on Monday, the 23rd of February, at the Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall, Alwarpet, Chennai. Sangita Lipi is the first book that gives a standardized and easy-to-understand-and-use format for writing notations. The art of notation-writing is, unfortunately, becoming defunct these days and Sangita Lipi is an effort to revive this art.

Here's the press release for Sangita Lipi:

For the first ever time in the history of Carnatic music, the art of writing notation has been given a standardized, easy-to-understand-and-use format. Authored by musician and researcher Vidwan Shri K.N.Shashikiran, the Carnatic notation workbook 'Sangita Lipi' aims to revive the art of notation-writing. With mp3 recorders becoming ubiquitous, students record compositions with them, making the concept of notating compositions virtually defunct. But digitally recorded music cannot possibly used for reference in the middle of a practice session or performance. This is where Sangita Lipi will come in handy for both students and performers.

Notation is a way of documenting songs for posterity. It will help in analyzing how ragas and compositions have evolved over the years and how they vary from one school of music to another.

Besides, many songs contain numerous variations (sangathis) which one may forget over time. A book that has all the compositions one has learnt, all notated in a systematic manner, would be the best memory aid!

Notation-writing helps a student learn faster. It improves one's swara-gnana, helps identify rhythmic intricacies and understand gamakas better. It is for these purposes that Sangita Lipi was conceptualized.

Sangita Lipi contains notation templates for all the commonly used talas – Adi (1 kalai, 2 kalai and tisra nadai), Rupaka, Misra Chapu, Khanda Chapu and the Suladi Sapta talas. Each song has a label, where the name of the song, the composer, the raga and its scale, the tala, the date and pitch can be written. The notation template is easy to understand and use – there are distinct markings at the end of each count, tala-component and tala-cycle, making the art of notation-writing an easy and enjoyable exercise!

The book also contains detailed explanations about notation, the various symbols used and how to notate. There is a guide to six language scripts that can be used to notate - Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English. The book also explains the various talas, the popular gamakas and the notation symbols used for them. There is a list of popular varnams and kritis, which can be used for reference.

The author of the book, Vidwan K.N.Shashikiran, is a multi-faceted musician known for his innovative ideas. Besides, he is a researcher, scholar, voice culture expert, entrepreneur (being the founder of the hugely popular music organization Carnatica), columnist and guru. It is Shashikiran's desire and dream to share his learning and teaching experiences with the music world. Sangita Lipi is an effort in that direction.

Published by the College for World Music & Dance, Australia and priced at Rs. 250, the book is a must-buy for all students and performers of Carnatic music.

For copies and more details, contact carnaticabrothers@gmail.com or nivedita.narayanan@gmail.com.

---

Programme:
(23rd February, Monday, at the Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall)

5:00 - 6:30 pm: Thematic Concert of Annamayya Kritis by Jayalakshmi Sekhar (Veena), Trivandrum Vaidhyanathan (Mridangam) & Pudukkottai N.Ramachandran (Ghatam)

6:30 - 7:00 pm: Release of K.N.Shashikiran's 'Sangita Lipi'. Dr.Pappu Venugopal Rao will release, Dr.S.A.K.Durga will receive the first copy.
Release of Jayalakshmi Sekhar's Audio CD 'Kritis of Annamayya'. Cleveland V.V.Sundaram will release, Dr.Pappu Venugopal Rao will will receive the first copy.
Address by Vidushi Smt. S.Sowmya.

7:00 - 9:00 pm: Grand Mahashivarathri Special Concert by the Carnatica Brothers K.N.Shashikiran and P.Ganesh (Vocal), B.Raghavendra Rao (Violin), Arunprakash (Mridangam) and B.S.Purushottam (Khanjira).

ALL ARE WELCOME!

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Musically,
K.N.Shashikiran

There were times when Carnatic music teachers, also known as ‘paatu vadhyars’, were mostly mamas chewing betel leaves, with an old and tattered ‘jolna pai’ slung over their shoulders, house-hopping to teach students. Today, the ‘pattu vadhyars’ are tech-savvy musicians who teach shishyas from all over the world, over the internet! And, they don’t house-hop anymore, they cyber-trot! From the concept of gurukul, we have progressed to ‘guru-cool’!

Gone are the days when music as a career offered very limited choices. Today, there are a plethora of opportunities – from audio/video engineering and teaching to performing. With sabhas mushrooming in every nook and corner, most Carnatic musicians perform on an average ten concerts every month. Besides, there are TV shows, radio recordings, album recordings and several other performance opportunities. Most performers are also teachers. There are musicians like Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Sowmya, Sriram Parasuram and L.Subramaniam who have other professional degrees but they have chosen music over law, management, engineering, medicine and other fields! In fact, several Carnatic musicians, these days, fall in the higher brackets of income tax payers!

With the world becoming a global village, Carnatic music has gone global too! There are Carnatic musicians who travel abroad every year, to places like the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East. The top performers even travel abroad several times a year! On each tour, they have hectic schedules and perform about 20 concerts in various cities.

“Music is certainly a lucrative profession,” says vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan emphatically. “For a person with sound training, a good temperament towards people, the urge to innovate and a little bit of luck or God’s grace, it is a very rewarding career.”

So has Carnatic music changed over the past few decades? Well, Carnatic music has evolved over the years but the basic framework has remained the same. What has changed, however, is the way we package it, to suit audiences’ tastes and preferences. Just like fruits and vegetables that come in coloured wrappers, these days, to keep them fresh!

The late violin maestro Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan used to say that he was like a departmental store. He had different styles of music on offer. All one had to do was choose what he/she liked best! But these days, Carnatic musicians are more like mega malls than departmental stores! Choices have increased, so much so that it has become difficult for audiences to choose what they like best!

Has the media played a role in bringing about this transformation in Carnatic music? “Well, Carnatic music is featured almost every day on the TV channels. That has definitely helped,” Gurucharan acknowledges.

But all is not rosy. After retiring from their concert careers, some artistes take to other activities like teaching and composing. Yet, unlike actors, musicians do not have a common forum and no pension scheme for retired musicians. There are talented musicians who go unnoticed for want of concert opportunities. It is high time we got our act together, so that the unlucky ones don’t remain unlucky.

K.N.Shashikiran