Thursday 12 April 2012

Venu, veena, violin concert / Sree Ramaseva Mandali







Concerts at Sri Jayarama Seva Mandali







M S Sheela Concert in Jaya Nagar

Reported by Anjali Sriram

Ganakalaashree Vid.M.S.Sheela performed on 5th April 2012 at Jayarama Seva Mandali in Jayanagar Bangalore,on the occasion of the annual Ramanavami celebrations.

The Kacheri began at 6.45 pm with the brisk Navaraagamalika varna. The program continued with 'Raghunayaka' in raga Hamsadhwani with a wonderful swaraprasthaara followed by the krithi 'Lavanya Raama' in the raaga poornashadja composed by Thyagaraja.

Moving on, she next rendered the beautiful krithi 'Raama ika nannu brova raada' in the raaga Shahana with a brief alaapana and swaraprasthaara and then sang the popular krithi 'Marugelara' in the raaga jayantashree.

Next in line was 'Jnaanamosagarada' in Poorvikalyani with nerval and swarakalpana followed by 'Oorajupu' in the raga KannadagouLa creating a wonderful ambiance.

She next rendered the main item for the day 'Kaddanuvaariki' in the raaga ThoDi with a detailed alaapana nerval and swarakalpana followed by a high spirited Thani avartha.

The concert concluded with 4 devaranamas 'Rama govinda' in raaga Maand,'Thirupathi venkata ramana' in raaga Chandrakauns,'Jagadodhaarana' and 'Tha Tha thadimi' and the Mangala.

Vid.M.S.Sheela was accompanied by Vid.Nalina Mohan on the violin,Vid.Tumkur.B.Ravishankar on mridanga and Vid.Sukanya Ramgopal on ghata.
 

 

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Community bonds off Mysore Road

Covering music festivals held across Bangalore city calls for a cool temperament.
The vagaries of the city's traffic and the far-flung colonies stretch your energy.

We were headed to Raja Rajeswari Nagar, a  sprawling green colony located off the Mysore Road.
From Jayanagar to this place is a good 45 minutes by a smart auto in the peak hour time.'
That was nicely done. But locating the venue of the annual Sri Ramanavami Music Fest here took some turns.

In the open air stage and ground here of the BEML Colony, is a huge pandal and a garish stage.
Its is 8 pm and violinist Jyotsna Srikanth stands and plays the violin to lead an ensemble of some form of fusion music for this occasion.

The pandal is fairly full. Clearly, the residents here have a nice wash after work, enjoy the tiffin and stroll down for the concerts. They seem to like their music and they support the hosts well.

After all, staging a nine day music fest for Sri Ramanavami costs close to a few lakhs of rupees and the attendance is what makes sponsors loosen their purse strings.

Outside the pandal, we meet up with a few members of the Raja Rajeswari Nagar Cultural Association - H R Radhakrishna, president,  AR Shiva Swamy, secretary, Brinda Madhusudan, adviser and dancer Padmini Sreedhar.

This fest is their big one; they host concerts in the colony every month and have mini fests at times like Navaratri.

They work alongside the Sree Ramaseva Mandali opf Chamarajpet ( " to adjust the dates of travelling artistes so they perform one evening at the Fort School and come to the colony the next evening") and they seriously look to host big names if they can afford them.

The Fest closes on Tuesday, April 10 with a dance feature based on 'Ramayana'.
And Padmini tells us dance gets a bigger audience. "They like the drama, story and spectacle,"she says.

Contacts - Radhakrishna - 28600215; Shiva Swami - 9901773400.

Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth at Rajarajeswarinagar Sangeethotsava

On the evening of April 9, 2012, the young team led by Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth on the violin performs at the Ramanavami Sangeethotsava. Accompanying her are Shadrah Solomon and Roshan on the Keyboard, Prasanna Kumar on Morsing, Kanjira and rhythm pad, Manjunath on the drums and Karthik Mani on the global percussion.


Monday 9 April 2012

How the Seshadripuram fest runs . . .


Putting a festival together takes time.

Revathi Tarakaram is aware of this.

For, as treasurer of the Sree Seshadripuram Ramaseva Samithi (Regd). she and her team has been doing this for many years.

"We give ourselves at least 4 months," she tells me on the sidelines of a concert by Srevalson Menon at the Seshadripuram College in this quiet colony.

This is the second oldest Sri Ramanavami music fest in Bangalore and Revathi has a history to protect and take along.

Her husband V. Tarakaram, a senior advocate is the secretary and he keeps a close watch on the goings-on every evening.

"Ours is a small team and we don't sell tickets not have membership," he adds.

It is his father who was part of the founders of the Mandali. They recall the services of one Gopal Iyengar who literally went door to door seeking donations.

This is the 64th edition of the fest and it attracts a sizable audience.

People can either sit on jamakalams or in chairs and enjoy two concerts, the first being for young talent.

"The first slot is for Bangaloreans but we get requests from seniors too to perform because they say it is their form of sea,"says Revathi. "For the main concerts all the accompanists are local artistes and we have lots of good ones."

Revathi says the Mandali has a nice bunch of sponsors which has made things easy for the organizers.

"The challenge is in putting together the concerts' artistes," she says."E-mails and calls go back and forth before a concert is frozen."

The fest here closes on April 22 with a Laksharchana till 10 am, a discourse and a musical feature by the popular Rasadhuni Friends Group on 'Jagatrayapavani' a 6.30 pm.

The address - 4, Railway Parallel Road, Kumara Park East, Bangalore 560001. Ph; 2226 3530.

Sunday 8 April 2012

M.S.Sheela's concert at Bashaveshwara Nagar

At the Vani Education Centre, M.S. Sheela performs for a large gathering.


M.S. Sheela in concert



Writer, critic Mysore V. Subramanya speaks at the concert


Prasadam ready for distribution after the concert

Srivalson Menon performs at Seshadripuram Ramaseva Samithi


Sanjay Subrahmanyam performs at Fort High School

Another full house evening at the Fort High School grounds.
People hurriedly finish their hot cup of tea at the canteen put up by Arusuvai and enter the pandal.
"We should occupy our seats early. We could not get a nice place in Aruna Sairam's concert yesterday; it was also houseful," says a senior rasika at the canteen.
After a varnam and short piece, Dikshitar's Mamava pattabhirama in Manirangu gently fills the air.

Here is a short video that will give you a feel of the evening:

Saturday 7 April 2012

Young artiste G. Ravi Kiran Performs at Sri Jayarama Seva Mandali, Jayanagar

Today's event at Sri Jayarama Seva Mandali is sponsored by Percussive Arts Centre, Bangalore.
And young singer G. Ravikiran performs with senior accompanists C.N. Chandrasekharan on the violin, C. Cheluvaraju on the mridangam and B. Rajasekar on the morsing.


A software engineer by profession, Ravi Kiran travels a lot to perform music concerts.
Today, when he alternates a brisk-tempo song in Jonpuri with a slow pace in Yadukulakambhoji, the audience appreciates and acknowledges with generous applause.

After the Seetha Kalyana and a Ganapathi pooja on April 8 and 9, the festival here continues with stalwarts like R.K. Padmanabha, Kalavathy Avadhooth, Prince Rama Varma, Ranjani-Gayathri and is on till April 15.

Concerts of Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Arvind Bhargav




IPL and music, this Saturday in Bangalore

Bangalore is muggy today, Saturday, April 7.
There were a few showers this past week; it could rain later tonight.

The cricket fans would not want the skies open to soon. Bangalore's Royal Challengers are facing Delhi Dare Devils here in their opening match in the IPL T20 tourney. And its their opening match. When we close the TV to leave for the Sri Ramanavami Music Fests, Bangalore does not have a great score.

At the Fort High School grounds, in a rather darkish shamiana Arvind Bhargav S. is into the fag end of his mandolin concert. 

Arvind is from Chennai, has been learning music for over 15 years and on stage for about 2 years now. His guru is obviously, Mandolin U Shrinivas.

The young artiste has a bit to his credit - a B grade AIR artiste, an album under the SaReGaMa label and concerts across the country and outside.

Arvind will stay on this Sunday - after all his guru will be performing on the same stage but at the elevated one on the right.

Friday 6 April 2012

Busy season for Bangalore's musicians

Sri Ramanavami season is doing good for all classical artistes in Bangalore and outside.
Many have a tight schedule to keep.

Mridangist V. Krishna who heads the Percussive Arts Centre ( PAC) in Bangalore ( Call - 0-9448463079) says that over the past 2 years the festivals have grown because of the growing 'Extension' areas of the city and the rising arts organisations called sabhas locally.

Krishna who is taking a 2 day break from his busy schedule says will be counting at least 12 concerts when this season ends. "There are lots of good mridangists here and all of them get booked, " he says from his home in Bangalore.

While his wife and her sister team up as the Bangalore Sisters - Harini  and Sharada -  his sister Kalvathi Avadhoot, also a vocalist performs on her own.

Days earlier, Krishna played for Mansi Prasad at a temple in Raja Rajeswari Nagar, off the Mysore Road, and on April 11th will play alongside his sister Kalavathy at Jaya Nagar 9th Block for the Sri Jayarama Seva Mandali and two days later be at Seshadripuram College for another concert.

Artistes like Krishna do not mind negotiating the peak hour traffic to criss cross the city for their evening concerts now that the invites are from far and wide.

" I think the funding and plans for Sri Rama Navami in Bangalore have grown and so have the festivals, " says Krishna, whose Percussive Arts Centre will sponsor a concert by G Ravi Kiran at Sri Jayarama Seva Mandali on April 7 evening.

Also, the profiles of the fests have gone up with top notch artistes invited to perform and they being paid and hosted well.

<< If you like to share your comments on Bangalore's season of music, please do so here! >>

Wednesday 4 April 2012

This teacher organises concerts for Sri Ramanavami at his school

On April 7, two young artistes of Bangalore will get their chance on stage for the ongoing Sri Ramanavami Fest concerts at the Sangeetotsava at the Sri Vani Education Centre school in Basaweswara Nagar campus, Bangalore.
Sameer Atreya and R. Sindhu are slotted for that day. Both learnt their music at this campus like many others who have been nurtured here.

One man who will be happy to see them on stage is Mattur Lakshmi Keshava, educationist at SVCE for many years and much decorated artiste and music director. ( photo featured here)

Keshava is an integral part of the cultural activity at Vani's institutes which have also opened up their concert series to the public. ( His school's choral troupe has won a National award).
Besides, he guides the arts program here and curates the Ramanavami fest every year.

On the sidelines of a concert this past week in Bangalore he told us how he carefully picks and chooses the best artistes as well as young stars. Backed by the school management and supported by the community of the kids who study here, the Fest has grown.

Quite evident from the packed auditorium here this past week. On April 14, the concerts are by teenage artistes - M R Aditya, Amritha Rao and Tanushree N will be part of the concerts of that evening.

The fest closes on April 21 with a concert by the famed  R Paramashivan, a state and central Akademi awardee who will present songs from old Kannada plays based on the Ramayana.

You can comtact Keshava at 97400 74875.


Tuesday 3 April 2012

Hyderabad Brothers at Seshadripuram festival





Peace, colour and music at Sri Rama Temple, Vyalikaval

Braving the evening peak hour traffic on Monday, we wove our way across to Vyalikaval and landed at one of Bangalore's most peaceful islands of residential abodes.
As we entered the main road leading to the Extension area, we chose to park afar and not let the roar of the engine spoil the colour and sounds of a festival in progress.

The avenue trees were illuminated with tiny bulbs and they led to the small but simple Sri Rama Temple here. A hall which enshrines the gods, well kept, quiet and decorated for the occasion.

At a hall alongside, a  concert by sisters N Harini and N Sharadha was in session.  They are Bangaloreans.  B Raghuram on the violin, V Krishna on the mridangam and M Gururaj on morsing.

Outside, we chatted with the secretary of the Association which manages the temple and its properties and events, B R Purushothaman.

This is the 46th edition of the utsav, started when the temple was just a small shrine. Purushothaman says that the community here likes to have only pure classical music, not even devotional or light music during the Sri Ramanavami celebrations.

For the past Friday's concert by the Malladi Brothers, the hall was overflowing, he tells us. "Rasikas from afar also come here if they hear that great artistes are performing," he adds. "Bangaloreans love their music."

The concert series ends on April 5 with Puttur Narashima Nayak and troupe presenting Sugam Sangeeth.

We are impressed - with the atmosphere, the management and the gentleness of the festival here.

Contact - temple office - 23568796. Purushothaman - 99800 60005.

Monday 2 April 2012

Mambalam Sisters at Fort High School ground

Mambalam Sisters - Chitra and Vijayalaksmi (vocal), Jyotsna Srikanth (violin), S. Ashok (mridangam) and Sukanya Ramgopal (ghatam)

Fest in Koramangala

Sri Rama Seva Mandali in Koramangala and Indian Heritage Academy, Koramangala are jointly hosting a festival of music for the season.

It began on April 1, Sunday at the IHA hall in Koramangala and will run for 7 days, with evening concerts.

The fest opened with a vocal concert by Dr. K. Varadharajan, with B. Raghuraman on the violin, V R Chandrasekar on the mirdangam and Srihari R. on the kanjira.

On April 2 is a violin duet by the Chinkunda Brothers, April 3 has Dasavani by Puttur Narasimha Hayak, April 4 features a vocal recital by Shubha Sampath, April 5, dance by M. Ananya and group, April 6 - vocal concert by  R Raghuram and a grand finale on April 7, with Hanumathaotsava and a vocal concert by V Sankaranarayanan of Chennai.

Indian Heritage Academy is at 20th Main, 6th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore 95.
Dinakar Rao - Secretary - 94487 26726.  K R Chandrasekar - Treasurer - 99022 81585.

Disappointed fans of M S Sheela

The 6.30 pm concert today is of M. S. Sheela who is of course a huge artiste in these parts.
The stream of rasikas gets thicker as the time draws close.
And as the artistes get on to the stage, there is no sign of Sheela.

Violinist Dr Jyotsna Srikanth, percussionist Sukanya Ramgopal and mirdangist Ashok are here.
And in the middle are the Mambalam Sisters of Chennai - Chitra and Vijayalakshmi

The buzz goes around the mantap - where is Sheela?
Obviously, these are fans of the senior artiste.
Nobody has told us about the change, says a rasika.

None of the hosts make an effort to even make a feeble announcement.
Least, introduce the artistes of the evening.

We do not know if Sheela will be featured this month here?

Day 2 at the Fort School ground

This is a working day evening in Bangalore.
So you wouldn't get more than a dozen rasikas for a 5.15 pm concert.

We are reminded of the post-lunch concerts at the sabhas in Chennai during the famed December Season - when juniors get a slot and all they have in front of them are their families and relatives.

This evening, it is concert time for two brothers who play the keyboard.
R. Arjun Sambasivan and R. Narayanan from Chennai.

They have been learning under the famous Mandolin Shrinivas for two years now - and the distinctive plucking sound echoes through the mantap.

Their Dad Raman tells us that they have been trying to get a slot to play for the Sri Ramanavami fest for some years and are happy to be here this evening.

"One son is a natural and the other is hardworking, " he says trying to reason the difference in the boys' styles.

Young Sathyanarayana in Chennai has made the keyboard another trademark in classical music. Now, teens are taking after him.

You can contact the keyboard duo at 94440 39737.

Concerts schedule of Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajapet

Click on the image to view larger image.





Krishna sings for Rama

Reported by A R Venkatesh
(ar.venky@gmail.com)

It was a perfect start for Sri Ramanavami season for me. Couldn't have asked more - Krishna singing for Rama.

It was T M Krishna at Vani Vidya Mandir Sangeeta Mahotsav today.

T M K was in his elements right from the beginning, the start delayed due to inaguration by Chief Minister.

He started with Lekana ninnu in Asaveri, set the tone for what to come. He touched the higher octaves with ease in both alapana and asura swaraprayogam in this.

He followed with Tulsidas Sri Ramachandra Kripalu Bhajman in Neelambari. The neraval in this Krithi was beautiful. Lovely Lathangi alapana after this he sang Apradhamulanniyu took us decades back to remember legend Madurai Mani Iyer. Neraval and Swaraprayogam was good.

Vidwan H K Venkatram in violin challenged him equally during Swarakalpanas.

Srimatha writes on her concert experience

By Srimatha Ramanand

Ramanavami, the Bangalore’s own music season is the time of the year I have looked forward to since childhood.

As a child, Ramanavami music festivals consisted mainly of visits to the Seshadripuram Rama Seva Mandali and the Fort High School pendal. But the festival has grown in scale with the years, and today we have umpteen number of sabhas, temples and other organisations that conduct music festivals in the Ramanavami season.

One such temple is Vidyaganapathi temple, Vidyaranyapura.

Vidyaranyapura is a nice and green residential locality in the north Bangalore.

It also has an active music scene, with concerts happening at the famed Durgaparameshwari temple, and Sringara Sangeeta Sabha.

An addition to the list is the Vidyaganapathi temple where I got an opportunity to perform on 27th March 2012, as part of their week-long Ramanavami celebrations.

The temple is nestled in green surroundings in quite a big campus. This was the first time I sang in Vidyaranyapura and it was a lovely experience.

I had chosen most of the compositions that were on Rama, such as Brochevarevare (sriranjani), Seethapathe (Khamach), Raghuvara (Pantuvarali) etc.

Koushik (violin) and Suneel (mridangam) accompanied me with great enthusiasm, and we had a great time performing to an audience who sat through the performance (which is a rarity in temple concerts), enjoying both the manodharma and the devotional aspects of music.

Temple concerts have a beauty of their own, especially when you get to sing with the view of the diety. A senior who was helping with the audio system is himself a member of the local bhajan group, and helped me with a special 'feedback mike'!:) The people were so warm and hospitable, making me wanting to go back and sing there again.

Trichur Brothers in concert

Deccan Herald has Music Reviews in today's editiopn ( April 2). By its veteran critic Mysore V Subramanya.

He says the whole of Banglore is vibrating with music.

We cannot but agree going by our own though limited experience on Sunday - crisscrossing the city, from Chamarajpet to Rajaji Nagar - to be at two Ramanavami concerts gave us a nice feel of the atmosphere.

Subramanya reviews a concert by the Chennai-based Trichure Brothers at the Fest hosted at the local temple by the Vyalikaval Extension community. ' With more stage experience, Trichur Brothers' music can rise into an emotional and artistic experience,' he writes.

(We would like artistes and rasikas who are performing / listening here to share their comments and notes at this blog).

The Fest here closes on Thursday.

Sunday 1 April 2012

Sangeetotsava at Basaveshwara Nagar

Chief minister Sadananda Gowda inaugurated the Sri Ramanavami Sangeetotsava at Vani Vidya School in Basaveshwara Nagar.
The first concert of the season was by T.M. Krishna, with H.K. Venkatram on the violin, Arjun Kumar on the mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal on the ghatam.
The open air auditorium at the school is the venue for the concerts and it was a full house on day one. We arrived at the venue when Krishna was singing the main song - Venkatesa ninnu in Madhyamavathi and a tani avartanam followed.

Here are a few pictures.

Chief minister inaugurates the music festival at Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajapet

The chief minister of Karnataka Sadananda Gowda came in when Kadri Gopalnath and his team were presenting their concert. He travelled from Basaveshwara Nagar after inaugurating the sangeetotsava at Vani Vidya School there. Rama Seva Mandali at Fort High School ground, Chamarajapet was his next stop for the day and he inaugurated the Ramanavami music festival here too.

Kadri Gopalnath 's saxophone concert

The music festival begins with the saxophone concert by Kadri Gopalnath along with A. kanyakumari on the violin. He begins the concert with a Ganapathi sthuthi - Vathapi ganapatim in Hamsadhwani and follows it up Brova bharama in the raga Bahudari. A brisk Raghuvamsa sudha in Kadanakuthuhalam takes the lead to the line up of songs on Rama.


Stage set for the music . . .


The Metro greets you in many parts of Bangalore.

The overarching arms of the rail line in the making dwarf the traffic as we hit the K R Road Cirle.

In a flash, the Bangalore Gayana Samaj hall catches our eye. Old landmarks pale as huge structures like flyovers and rail lines move in.

At this busy junction lies the Fort High School grounds.

One building of the school, with its vintage architecture stands out. It has character.

Off it, is the pandal where, this evening the Sri Ramanavami Music Fest of the Sri Rama Seva Mandali will be launched.

Sniffer dogs run around the stage and the VIP area. The state chief minister is the chief guest at today's event.

Behind the stage, a grand mantap - Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and Anjaneya. A space for guests to offer prayer and move on.

This is indeed a grand area. Plush chairs for VIPs and sponsors and guests and artistes. Massive light and audio fittings and soft decor.

After all, this is truly the biggest show at this time of the year in Bangalore as far as classical music concerts go.


Chief Minister to inaugurate two fests

This is the crazy Sunday for the Sri Rama Seva Mandali team at the Fort School campus in Chamarajpet as its gives the final touches to the launch of its month-long puja and music fest.

State chief minister Sadananda Gowda is scheduled to open this fest at 6 pm after doing a similar task at Seshadripuram, so Mandali secretary Varadharaju and his team is at the venue sweating it out in Bangalore 35 degree early summer.

Kadri Gopalnath on the saxophone and Kanyakumari on the violin will open the concert series. The concert is at 6.30 pm.

Fests in Basaveshwara Nagar, Seshadripuram

Sri Vani Vidyakendra is hosting its Sri Ramanavami fest today is by Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda at 5.45 pm.
Vocalist T M Krishna and party.
Venue: Shamavana, CA Site 1, 4th B Main Rd., 3rd Stage, Basaveshwara Nagar.

Seshadripuram Ramaseva Mandali hosts its fest from today. Opening of the music fest by dancer Vyjayanthi Kashi and by Manubaligar, Commissioner, Kannada and Culture Dept.
venue - Open air auditorium, Seshadripuram College camps.
Time - 6pm.

Saturday 31 March 2012

Flutists Anantha Ram, Amith Nadig; concert on Apl 3, Jayanagar

Flute concert, duo - B K Anantha Ram and Amith A Nadig
Venue - Sri Jayaraama Sevaa Mandali, 1st Mn, 8th Blk, Jayanagar
Date - April 3, 67.30 pm onwards
Open to all.
Contact - 080-22445232.

Saturday 24 March 2012

Festivals check list

The Sree Rama Seva Mandali in Chamarajpet. Music concerts from April 1 onwards till May 6. The shows are open to all. Call 080-26604031.

The Sri Ramaseva Mandali in Koramangala is also hosting a concert series from April 1. At the Heritage Hall.

The Sri Rama Temple in Vyalikaval, Bangalore launched concerts on March 23. Call 23568 796

The Sri Rama Bhakta Sabha which is said to have been founded in 1906 has rolled its concerts from March 23 at the Srikanteswarar Bhavana in Malleswaram's 5th Cross. On till April 1.

- Mail info of other similar feasts you may know of. Mail - kutcheribuzz@gmail.com

Coverage by the KutcheriBuzz community

For this first time, we at KutcheriBuzz will cover the famed Sri Ramanavami Music Fests in Bangalore, closely.

The idea is to post continuing reportage for a week from April 1 when the music fests start at the main venues.

This coverage will be community driven - by Bangalore rasikas, artistes and the like. Not just by the KB team.

Recently, KB ran a similar coverage at the annual Natyanjali Dance fest in Chidambaram / Thanjavur.

Those who wish to be part of this venture can mail us at - kutcheribuzz@gmail.com