Sunday, May 17, 2020
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Virtual Event
Live Streaming

Event Highlight

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Performers:
Advika Anand (student of IAIM)
Anagha Balaji - veena (student of Sri Srikanth Chary)
Anish Anand (student of Sri Paduka Academy)

Mythri Sekar-violin (student of Sri Saravanapriyan Sriraman)
Nitika Pande-keyboard (student of Keyboard Sri Sathyanarayanan)
Nitya Jayaprakash (student of Sri Paduka Academy)
Prisha Balan (student of IAIM)
Santhosh Ravindrabharathy (student of Ranjani Ravindrabharathy)
Veena Krishnan (student of Sri Aneesh Bhat/Smt.Sandhya Srinath)

Vidushee Bala (student of IAIM)
Vishak S Iyer -Veena (student of Smt.Anuradha Sundar)

Tanisha Srivatsa violin solo (student of Smt Charumathy Raghuram)
String/Keyboard accompanists:
Ranjani Ravindrabharathy (student of Sri Delhi Sunderrajan)
Sanika Pande (student of Keyboard Sri Satyanarayanan) Veena Krishnan (student of Smt.Sandhya Srinath)
Mrudangam accompanists:
Akshay Suresh (student of Sri Gopi Lakshminarayanan)
Raghav Iyer (student of Sri Natarajan Srinivasan)
Rajeev Devanath (student of Sri Ramesh Srinivasan & Sri Chennai Thyagarajan)
Sachin Venkat (student of Sri KV Gopalakrishnan)
Varchas Bharadwaj (student of Sri Trivandrum Balaji)

Dear members,

Yesterday’s CCC event was such a gratifying one as it enabled the 250+ families who tuned in, to a wonderful afternoon, taking their mind off COVID-19! We showcased 18 of our young talents to our encouraging audience who cheered them all with equal enthusiasm. Our students put in a lot of effort and hard work into their performance for CCC and when it is received with this kind of appreciation, it definitely helps them to strive harder the next time thus the cycle continues. Grateful to all the gurus for helping students deliver their best and also for joining the show to bless our performers! It was truly inspiring to watch the gurus comment after student performances, Thank you! 

Hearty congratulations to all our intro performers Santhosh (vocal), Nitika (keyboard), Vidushee (vocal), Anish (vocal), Vishak (veena), Nitya (vocal), Veena (vocal), and Anagha (veena) on their stellar debut performances and kudos to Advika, Mythri and Prisha for presenting their pieces neatly, showcasing their progress since last time. It is heart-warming to see our young students from group OM (Dasha Tarangini) taking center stage to perform their solos now. Accompanists Ranjani, Sanika, Rajeev, Raghav, Sachin, Akshay and Varchas did a great job in their respective roles and compared to our April virtual event, this event was grander because of their support. Each of the performances were unique and special in their own way. Many thanks to Sri Ravindrabharathy Sridharan for accompanying one of our performers (Santhosh).

We are extremely grateful to our resident gurus Sri Shivkumar Bhat and Smt Kasthuri Shivakumar for presenting such valuable pointers and practical, easy to follow tips on voice culture as part of our feature-a-guru series. We truly appreciate their time and efforts in to this presentation which covered a wide range of voice issues and how to help correct them. Hope all students picked up tips specific to their voice issues to implement in their daily practice sessions. We will be adding this segment video to our existing precious collection on our website shortly.

Our sincere thanks to our video team Vidya Anand, Suresh Parameswaran, R Krishnan, Ratna Malladi and Siva Balan who helped with editing all the raw videos. Immensely grateful to Namdev Nayak for his able guidance towards all technical aspects and the glitch-free streaming. Hope you watched us switch from Recorded to LIVE modes in between, which was really fun.

I’d like to acknowledge our core team volunteers who continue to do their respective tasks with regard to attendance, powerpoint slides, photography, website, social media, and young authors write up and keep CCC running smoothly.

Here are the pics from the event (courtesy of the parents and our wonderful audience who sent their pics), and our sincere thanks to Vidya Raj (our photo team volunteer) for consolidating them all quickly for sharing. You’re welcome to add to our audience pics if you remembered to take any while watching our event.

If you missed watching our event live, a recording is available on our CCC YouTube Channel.

Please save June 14th Sunday (2-5pm) for our next (virtual) event.

Until then stay safe and be well!

Regards,

Padma

Other Events

Tips on voice culture for Carnatic Music students

Sunday, May 17, 2020

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm


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  • Carnatic Chamber Concerts — May 2020 Event
    Authored By: Anirudh Ramadurai, Shreya Virunchipuram, Mahathi Shankarram, Pranav Satyadeep, Prahlad Saravanapriyan, Urmika Balaji, and Adithya Narayanan

    Starting the virtual May CCC event was a vocal performance by Santhosh Ravindrabharathy. Santhosh was accompanied on violin by Ranjani Ravindrabharathy and the mridangam by Vid. Sri Ravindrabharathy Sridharan. Santhosh started aptly with Ninnu Kori, a varnam in ragam Vasantha, composed by Tacchur Singaaraachari, set to Adi thalam. He executed the varnam in a brisk kala pramanam, complemented by Ravi Sir’s fitting mridangam support. Ranjani followed Santhosh’s rendition of each chittaswaram very carefully and provided a lovely melodic backing. After his performance of the varnam, Santhosh sang Mutthuswami Dikshithar’s krithi, Marakatha Valleem, in ragam Kamboji, set to Retta Kalai Adhi Thalam. The team delivered each sangathi tunefully and with bhavam. In addition to sama kaalam chatusram, Santhosh added sparkle to his rendition by presenting the chittaswaram in tisram and mel kalam tisram, followed by mel kalam chatusram. Overall, the team contributed a lilting start to this month’s event.

    Following Santhosh was a stellar vocal concert by Advika Anand. She started with Rama Ramana Rara, a composition of Saint Thyagaraja, in ragam Shankarabharanam. Her sweet, pleasant voice was well paired with the melodious tune of the song. She maintained good “shruthi-suddham” throughout the entire rendition. Following this was Bhajana Seyaradha in ragam Dharmavathi. The rendition of the krithi was soulful and accentuated the elegance of the krithi. Overall, the two krithis were rendered excellently and a pleasure to listen to.

    Next was a keyboard performance by Nitika Pande, supported by her sister Sanika Pande on the keyboard. Nitika began with a pleasant rendition of the Shri Papanasam Sivan’s Krithi, Devi Neeye Tunai, in the ragam Keeravani, set to Adi Thalam. She followed up with another delightful rendition. This time, she presented Ninnu Vina Namanendu, a composition of Saint Thyagaraja, in the ragam Navarasa Kannada, set to Rupaka talam. Nitika played with great ease and confidence throughout, making it a delightful performance for the audience to listen. Sanika’s chord support added a unique flavor and enhanced this performance.

    Following Nitika was a 5-minute debut vocal performance by Vidushee Bala. Vidushee presented the krithi, “Akhilandeshwari,” in ragam Dwijavanthi, set to Adi Thalam, composed by Mutthuswami Dikshithar. She sang this krithi in a very leisurely and fitting kala pramanam, which allowed the listeners to appreciate the many swaraksharams and elegance of the krithi. Each sangathi was rendered splendidly by Vidushee’s sweet and mature voice. Overall, Vidushee gave an excellent rendition of this krithi, an outstanding addition to this month’s event.

    Following Vidushee Bala was a Feature-A-Guru session by Sri. Shivkumar Bhat and Smt. Kasthuri Shivkumar. The topic was “Voice Culture,” with details of its essential aspects. They mentioned that voice culture is all about achieving shruthi-shuddham, laya-shuddham, bhavam, voice modulation, perfection in pronunciation, managing facial expressions, range and volume, which are essential for the voice and its growth and maintenance. Producing the right kind of voice is very important. They said that straining the voice is unnecessary to reach higher and lower octaves and that moving and shaking the head too much is also not necessary. Akarams in different kala pramanams, singing janta varisais as akarams, and breath control were all mentioned to build voice stamina.

    Following the first part of the Feature-A-Guru, Anish Anand performed vocal recital, accompanied by Rajeev Devanath. Anish briskly started with the Varali krithi “nE pogada kuntE,” set to Kanda Chapu thalam, composed by Sri Saint Thyagaraja. In this krithi, Saint Thyagaraja asks Lord Rama what grievance he has if he does not praise him. In the song, he sang many intricate sangathis mellifluously. Anish’s musical rendition of the krithi was enriched with bhavam, and along with Rajeev’s lively and energetic mridangam accompaniment, the presentation was overall very delightful and enjoyable.

    Subsequent to Anish’s performance ensued a veena performance by Vishak S Iyer, who was accompanied by his brother Raghav Iyer on the mridangam. Without further ado, Vishak commenced the soothing, captivating krithi “rAja rAja rAjithE” in the ragam Niroshta, set to Tisra Nadai Adi Thalam, and composed by the esteemed Sri. Harikeshanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar, who is credited with inventing the ragam. As the song progressed, Vishak suitably elaborated on the overall scope of the ragam with the appealing sangathis embedded in the following lines. Along the way, Raghav supplanted the much-needed aspect of percussive accompaniment through interweaving the krithi’s structure with his style of playing. Later on, Vishak continued with an exquisite chittai swaram, alternating the nadais with sections of Thisram and Chatusram. Raghav finished the presentation with a concise, yet empathetic theermanam, making for a wholesome rendition.

    Following Vishak was an intro vocal performance by Nitya Jayaprakash accompanied by Sachin Venkat on the mridangam. Nitya chose to sing Sudhamayi Sudhanidhi, a composition of Shri H.N. Muthaiah Bhaagavatar, in the Ragam Amritavarshini, set to Rupaka Thalam. This pleasing composition on Goddess Lakshmi was embellished with an appealing chittaswaram. Nitya’s confident rendition was excellently supported and enhanced by Sachin’s energetic mridangam accompaniment.

    Following Nitya was a unique performance by Veena Krishnan. Veena performed a duet with herself, both singing and providing support on the violin. Veena started her performance with a raga alapana in the ragam Hindolam, singing common phrases that show the beauty of the ragam as well as highlight her bright voice. Veena shadowed herself on the violin well, mirroring the same phrases on the violin. She then played her alapana on the violin, incorporating soulful phrases of the ragam. The kriti she performed was a popular kriti by Sri. Mysore Vasudevacharya, Mamavatu Sri Saraswati. She chose to sing and play swarams at the Pallavi line “Mamavatu Sri Saraswati ” in one speed. She played swarams in the sarvalaghu style, attaching kanakku abhiprayams. Veena demonstrated great skill in both singing kalpana swarams as well as following and playing them on the violin. Veena’s realistic interaction with herself on the stage was entertaining to watch and was a treat to the ears.

    Following Veena Krishnan was the 2nd part of the Feature-A-Guru by Sri. Shivkumar Bhat and Smt. Kasthuri Shivkumar in the same topic “Voice Culture” as a continuation. They talked about the advantages of holding a long swaram for better voice control. They stated that a voice range from the mandara sthayi (lower octave) panchamam (Pa) to the thara sthayi (higher octave) panchamam (Pa) is very important, and said that one crucial voice technique would be giving more volume on the lower shadjam (Sa). They also said pushing the chest’s voice is not right in the higher octaves, and that it should come from the upper throat and the face. Another fascinating point is that a common cold/sore throat does not affect the singing voice that much, and that singing can heal it faster. But they also said you should not exert your voice too much. This session was delightful and informative to all of the young talents in CCC.

    The next slot was a violin solo by Mythri Sekar. Mythri presented a confident and robust rendering of the soulful swarajathi, Amba Kamakshi, composed by Sri Syama Sastri, in ragam Bhairavi. She played the swarajathi at a relaxed tempo, which was well suited for the intricate patterns in the chittaswarams. Each chittaswaram was rendered with strong bowing and clear swarasthanam. She did an excellent job maintaining focus and good kalapramanam during the entire duration of the swarajathi.

    After Mythri’s violin performance was a veena solo by Anagha Balaji, accompanied by Akshay Suresh on the mridangam. Anagha started her performance with an alapana in the ragam Madhyamavathi, in which she played several phrases that brought out the beauty and complexity of the ragam. She then proceeded to present St. Tyagaraja’s popular composition on Devi, vinAyakuni valenu, set to Adi Thalam. Throughout her performance, Akshay supported her with his dynamic accompaniment on the mridangam and concluded the slot with a short mohra-korvai.

    To conclude the CCC event of May 2020, was a vocal performance by Prisha Balan, accompanied by Varchas Bharadwaj on the mridangam. Further, she briskly ventured into a crisp, yet expansive ragam of Kalyani, with the initial quintessential, defining phrase, and after that, gradually building upon the ragam in a clearly structured, delineated manner, employing multiple akaarams, brigas, sancharas, and characteristic prayogas, not to mention the diverse patterns embodying Kalyani as a majestic, weighty ghana ragam. Deftly, she transitioned into the krithi “bhajarE rE chitta” in the ragam Kalyani, set to Misra Chapu Thalam, where the famed composer, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, extols the virtues and multifaceted disposition of Goddess Balambika. In the process, she interpolated many bhava-filled, engrossing sangathis, coupled with the embedded elaboration at junctures in the Anupallavi/Charanam. Along the way, Varchas was a sonorous, punctuated source of accompaniment, tailoring his playing according to the successive phrases of the vocalist. With this, Prisha unveiled an intricate first and second speed neraval, aptly interspersing a steady pace with more rapid-fire sequences, also evident in the kalpanaswarams, with the steady outpouring of sarvalaghu-styled swaras. As she finished, Varchas started a succinct, yet brisk thani replete with accentuated, alluring portions, with a korvai, and Prisha quickly segued into “Bhavamana,” the evergreen mangalam, bringing an enthralling, riveting presentation to an end.

    In Summary, we thank Padma Aunty, all the members of the video editing team who have poured in countless hours for this initiative, the staunch assistance of the audio support, the volunteers who have assured that the seamless transitions between the slides, and the content of the slides itself, are functional, fully representative, and free of any blemishes, as well as any others we have neglected to mention who have diligently strived towards collectively making this event a resounding success.

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