News from the Society
Events & Programmes.
The society is conducting its annual Harihara Dasa
Aradhana on the 20th February 2005. Mrs Ratna Vamanamurthy is the Coordinator
of
the function. Those who wish to participate, please contact her -09-6306294
Overseas
Artiste Concert
Kadri Gopalnath performs for NZCMS in Auckland!
Kadri Gopalnath, the scintillating saxophone artist from India will be performing in Auckland next month.
Kadri Gopalnath was born in Panemangalore, in Dakshina
Kannada district (Karnataka, South India) in 1950. He acquired a taste for
music from his father, Thaniappa who was a nagaswaram vidwan. Young Gopalnath
once saw the saxophone being played in the Mysore palace band set. Of course,
the band set was playing a western tune. Thrilled on hearing the vibrant tone
of the saxophone, Gopalnath decided to master it. It took him nearly 20 years
for him to conquer the complex western wind instrument and he was eventually
crowned as the "Saxophone Chakravarthy". His achievement is
especially laudatory, as Gopalnath had to make certain improvisations to the
conventional Saxophone instrument in order to play Carnatic music. So perfect
has this adaptation been that no less a musician than Shemmangudi Srinivasa
Iyer, the doyen of Indian Music, has acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath as a true
Carnatic music genius.
His maiden performance was for the Chembai Memorial Trust.
It was a roaring success. 1980: Jazz festival, Bombay was a turning point for
Gopalnath. At the festival was present John Handy, a famous Jazz musician from
California. Hearing Gopalnath play, Handy asked if he could go on stage and
perform alongside with him. So good did the two artists synchronize on stage,
Handy in the Jazz style and Gopalnath in the Carnatic style, that it became an
instant hit with the audience. And thus was born, fusion music on the
Saxophone! Gopalnath has participated in the Jazz Festival in Prague, Berlin
Jazz Festival, International Cervantino Festival in Mexico, Music
Halle Festival in Paris, the BBC Promenade concert in 1994 at London and
has toured extensively all over the world, performing in all prestigious music
venues in India and abroad.
A Kanyakumari is a veteran violinist
and has been performing for more than 30 years. Her association with ML
Vasanthakumari brought her into the limelight and since then she has occupied
the top slot among violinists.
Ghatam Karthick is among the leading
Ghatam Vidwans today and is most sought after by a number of leading artists
for his accompaniment.
Thirupangoor G Muthukumaraswamy is a top thavil artiste and
is certainly worth listening to as not many thavil vidwans will be seen
performing here in New Zealand.
News
from overseas
Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi passes away
The doyen of Carnatic
music Smt M S Subbulakshmi passed away in Chennai on Saturday, December 11,
2004 after a brief illness. She was eighty-eight.
Smt. M S Subbulakshmi,
popularly known as MS, was born in Madurai on September 16, 1916. Having grown
up in a musical environment, she is said to have absorbed a wealth of knowledge
by listening and humming with the veena. She rendered rare ‘gamakas’ and
‘prayogas’ of both the veena and the nadaswaram. The talented MS recorded her
first disc when she was ten. Since then she has continued to perform in
innumerable music concerts.
A vocalist par
excellence, with a rich and melodious golden voice, she immortalised many songs
of many great composers of Carnatic music. This included the famous Vaishnava Janatho,
a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi, Meera bhajans, Annamacharya kirthanas as well.
Her music is soulful and divine and leads one to spirituality.
Smt. M S Subbulakshmi was invited to perform before the
United Nations General Assembly in 1966. She was the first woman to be awarded
the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' by the Madras Music Academy. She was honoured with the
Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974. She was conferred India's highest civilian
honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1996.
The President of India,
in his poetic tribute said: “MS was born to music, she lived for music and now
she has fused with the eternal music. And the greatest good she has done to the
country is in ennobling us all through her music.”
The music of MS is cherished
by one and all and is immortalised in our hearts forever.
Homage to Late Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
A
special homage was paid to late Sri
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the doyen of Carnatic music, at Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan in Chennai on October 31, 2004 to mark his first anniversary.
Students of Semmangudi gave a musical homage to their guru
on this occasion.
Sangeet Natak Akademi awards
Veteran
music critic P.V. Subramaniam, known popularly as "Subbudu", has been
conferred with the Sangeet Natak Academy award for his overall contribution to
the cause of performing arts.
The President of India distributed the Sangeet Natak Academy
awards in New Delhi in October. The award has been in vogue since 1952. It
carries a cash prize of Rs.50000 besides a certificate of honour and a shawl.
The award symbolizes the highest standard of excellence and achievement of an
artiste at national level in varied art fields.
The Sangeet Natak awards are conferred upon artistes in the
fields of dance, drama and music.
The award winners among Carnatic musicians include Trichur
Vaidyanatha Ramachandran, Mandayam Annadorai Narasimhachar, Avarsarala
Kanyakumari (violin) and Kadri Gopalnath (Saxophone).
Annual General Body Meeting ( AGM)
The Annual General Body meeting is to be held this
month. Members would have received a separate itimation by email regarding the
date and venue for the AGM.