S A
H A N A
The Newsletter from the New Zealand Carnatic Music Society
Issue – 21 Mar-
Apr 2005
q News from the Society
New Zealand Carnatic Music Society is proud to present
its annual Thyagaraja Aradhana for
the year 2005.
Society members interested in performing for the aradhana are requested
to contact Sam Swaminathan on (09) 625 2930.
Membership Renewal:
NZCMS sincerely wishes to
thank those who have already renewed their membership for the year 2005-06.
Please remember to collect
your new (orange) membership cards on the aradhana day.
A friendly reminder to all
other members to renew membership with the society at the earliest.
If you
have friends who would be interested in joining the society, please provide
their details to any of the committee members and we shall forward them the
application form. Payment can
be made through cash, cheque or direct debit. If payment is by
direct debit, kindly inform us, so we can give you the relevant details.
If payment is by cheque, make
it payable to: ‘NEW ZEALAND
CARNATIC MUSIC SOCIETY’ and mail it to:
The Treasurer
PO Box 96-260
Balmoral
Auckland
Thanks for your continued support.
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Forthcoming events
The Theory Exam is on 23
April 2005 and practical exams are scheduled to start from 16 April 2005.
For details about the exams,
contact:
Yogini Ratnasabapathy:
(09) 529 2514
R Ragavan: (09) 629 5405
the very best for
the exams!!!
§
May - Monthly Musical Evening
22nd
May 2005
Time: 3 –30 pm
Venue:
Fickling Convention Centre,
Three
Kings.
The main performers are:
Mrs.Mala
Nataraj & Mr.M.D.Diwakar
Please pass on the details
to all your friends who are interested in music and encourage the local talent.
*** Further information on our website ***
NZCMS is glad to advise you all of another Overseas Artiste Concert
Classical
Vocal Concert by
Malladi Brothers
12
June 2005 SUNDAY
The
Malladi Brothers have carved a niche for themselves as successful concert
performers singing with perfect unison of sruthi, presenting melodious music,
possessing rich voice and musical capabilities appreciated by music lovers all
over the world.
Malladi Sree Rama Prasad was born on 20th June 1973
and his brother Malladi Ravi Kumar was born on 5th April 1974. Both the brothers
hold Post-Graduate Degrees in Music from the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.
The brothers are A-Grade Artistes performing for All India
Radio and Doordarshan since the early 1990s. They have also been presenting
numerous concerts, workshops, and lecture-demonstrations all over the world.
The Malladi Brothers were born with a legacy and rich tradition acquired
through their grand father late Sri Malladi Srirama Murthy of Andhra Pradesh
who was an accomplished Classical Musician & Harikatha exponent.
The brothers received musical training from their father Sri
Malladi Suri Babu a great musician
highly respected for his traditional, soulful, sruthi soaked presentation of classical
music. Sri Malladi Suri Babu is an illustrious disciple of the musical legend,
late Sri Voleti Venkateswarlu.
The Malladi Brothers obtained for themselves a sustained
interest for chaste, lucid and a perfectly classical presentation of Carnatic
Musical Compositions.
They received advanced training from Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri
Nedunuri Krishna Murthy and Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. Sri Pada Pinakapani a great
musician who is the guru of Sri Voleti & Sri Nedunuri.
So remember the
date – Do NOT miss it and please inform all your friends regarding this
concert.
News flash
from overseas:
Women
composers in Carnatic Classical music:
‘
Stree Gaanam' was premiered on the eve
of International Women’s Day on March 7 in Mumbai at the Mysore Association.
This project was supported by the Department of Culture, Government of India.
Stree Gaanam was a research-oriented
presentation on women composers in Carnatic classical music by Vasumathi
Badrinathan, a performer of music and dance in Mumbai.
It
was a classical event in Carnatic music style and was an attempt to present the
works of several women composers spanning the gamut of six centuries from the
12th century to the present day.
To
mark the International Women's Day, some of the women achievers from different
walks of life were honored. Some of the present-day women composers from
Chennai were also present on the
occasion and they were felicitated during the event.
Vasumathi Badrinathan ( Vocal )
Vasumathi
is an accomplished vocalist of Carnatic music. She was initiated into this art
at a very young age by her mother, late Padma Seshadri, who was a talented
singer. Subsequently, Vasumathi learnt music from T R Balamani, the reputed
music guru.
Coming
from a family with an intense musical background, Vasumathi has always been
deeply inclined towards the arts.
Her distinct
style, which stands for undiluted classicism, reveals itself in her rendition
of kritis, raga contours and niraval passages. Endowed with a rich bass voice,
Vasumathi uses it to explore the profound melodies of Carnatic music.
Vasumathi
has been performing widely within and outside the country for several years and
has toured extensively in Europe and Asia-Pacific countries. Apart from her
concerts, her skill in presenting lecture-demonstrations and workshops has been
well appreciated.
Vasumathi
is a recipient of the junior fellowship for music from the Ministry of Human
Resource and Development, Government of India, awarded to outstanding young
artistes.
Vasumathi
is the recipient of the title 'Sur Mani' for her proficiency in music by the
Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai. Her music is often broadcast over All India Radio,
one of India’s strongest upholders of classical music.
Haricharan and Nandini
Students of Vidya Mandir - Hari in Standard 12 and Nandini in 9 -
they had the time of their lives in the Carnatic season. The two were the
most sought-after going by the invitations from the leading sabhas. The brother-sister team
has carved a niche for itself - violinists good enough to hold fort for a
four-hour concert. Children of the famed
Carnatic vocalist - Mayavaram sister Uma - Hari and Nandini took to violin
at the rather tender age of nine and eight respectively. Both are disciples
of Lalitha Raghavan, a top grade artiste attached to the All India Radio.
Prasanna
Prasanna, a traditionalist and modernist and everything in-between,
continues to stun music enthusiasts with an ever-evolving palette of
vocabulary as a composer and improviser. He has been a pioneer in bringing the
electric guitar to international acclaim as a concert instrument for the
ancient Indian art form of Carnatic music and a force in the cutting edge
of Jazz, classical and world music. The stamp of authenticity that characterises his traditional
Carnatic music is a result of intensive musical training for around 20
years. With an engineering degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras, he went on to pursue his passion for music and
graduated Magna-Cum-Laude with an honours degree from the Berklee College
of Music in Boston. He has received several awards for his contributions as a guitarist
such as the 'Lifetime Achievement Award for Carnatic music for 2003', 'The
Berklee College of Music Guitar Achievement Award', 'The Berklee College of
Music Composition Achievement Award' among many others.
§
Quirks of the greats
Lives
of twenty great Carnatic musicians are etched in the book ‘’ Carnatic Summer ‘’
by V.Sriram (published by East West Books).
**Great
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, sang for an hour (in a bank) when a clerk
expressed his disappointment at having missed his Concert.
**
Take the case of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Aiyangar. Considered to be one of the greatest
vocalists, he often used his crowd pulling ability as a bargaining weapon and
threatened to boycott a sabha if it did not give his beloved student,
Dhanam, a chance.
All
these and more anecdotes are in this book and is definitely reader friendly.
The stories reveal not only the greatness of the musicians but their humanity
and weaknesses.
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Ø Back to NZCMS – Auckland
Site is under construction. Your comments and
suggestions are most welcome. If you wish to contribute article or want to
advertise your business on our website, kindly contact:
Secretary
(09) 416 0165
Ø Feedback on Overseas Artiste Concert
Kadri
Gopalnath & party performed for NZCMS in Auckland on the 4th
March 2005.
Following are reviews from our students and members .
. . .
”The
concert of Kadri Gopalnath's scintillating saxophone gave a timeless spin to
our splendid evening. There is no actual description of how entertaining and
compelling the krithis and keerthanas they played were. The entire team gave
all the students of the centre of learning an inspiration; an encouragement as
to how high our goals can be set. After that terrific concert, all us students
yearned for more and this desire was fulfilled by the informative workshop the
next day. Taken as a whole, it as a double bonus to the students and a
pleasurable evening to music lovers”.
Prathyusha Tangirala - Student Member
“Padmashri Kadri Gopalnath rendered a wonderful
Saxaphone recital at the Auckland Girls' Grammar School Auditorium on 4th
Mar.05. The whole team effort resulted in grand success. In a live
concert,normally Violin is considered to be a supportive instrument to the main
artist, thereby, the prominence of violin is not felt very much whereas in this
concert, Violin played equal role with the main artist throughout the concert.
Ms.Kanyakumari played (or swayed) on the violin, low and high depending upon
the situation. I can never imagine how she played the fast frills, so quickly
with gamakas, beating the saxaphone, may
be,she challenged it. I can make out who is playing on the violin if I
hear it on a radio as I know the style of great artists and now fully know the
great style of MS.Kanyakumari. Kadri proved his worthiness by showing his
special skills in all the languages. He is the real Indian having no aversion
to languages or the people. Unfortunately, languages play a vital role in
dividing the people but Music is the only thing which connects people and gives
feeling of oneness. Karthk's Ghatam was exactly dancing to the tunes of the
sax, like his Guru,Vikku Vinayaka Ram. Thavil by Muthukumaraswamy was also
equally good. Melody and harmony tied us from going out even after 12pm at
night. People surrender to good music and this was a rare and unforgettable
experience of a lifetime. Karthik in his demo, precisely talked about his Ghatam and the
technique of throwing the pot and catching it after a clap. We see it as
a fun but it is done with calculation. He showed his sense of humour during the
demo. Kadri and Kanyakumari took lot of effort while talking about Gamakas and
practically proved how nice the music can be, with gamakas. Kadri also
described the parts of the Saxaphone and stated that he has adjusted some keys
for his convenience. During the question hour,he answered to all the querries
both in English and Tamil. Thanks to NZCMS for arranging and organising such a
great concert in a professional manner.”
Jayashree Viswanathan –
Member
“For
the students, the workshop was a good
source of information; especially this close to the Exams, the Mirdangam
students who are writing their first Theory Exams would have found this
invaluable, and even the Senior students appreciated the workshop and the
chance to ask question to the experts.
“The concert
started with a bang and a lot of fireworks and Kadri Gopalnath showed the
audience what all he can do with his beloved saxophone. Very captivating. Then
the concert settled down to some melodious pieces particularly in the ragams
Nasikabushani and Aberi. Kanyakumari provided brilliant support and the
teamwork between Kadri, Kanyakumari and Karthik was very evident. It looked
like at times the Thavil was sort of sidelined but does not matter, the overall
effect was still good. The concert really got going in the last phase when
Kadri played the various Thukkadas. One memorable piece was Kurai Onrum
Illai We should also finish the review with the same phrase, Kurai Onrum
Illai Well done Team”
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NZCMS thanks
our members and students for the encouraging feedback.
Published by New
Zealand Carnatic Music Society for the benefit of its members and supporters.
For private circulation only. Jointly edited on behalf of the Society by
Mythili Ashok & Priya Srinivasan. New Zealand Carnatic Music Society
accepts no responsibility for the material published in the newsletter.
Comments are welcome and should be addressed to the Society PO Box 96-260 Balmoral,
Auckland.