anniversary - rasikapriya fine arts academy · rasikapriya is a prati madhyama raga and the ... the...

AnniversaryVol. 1

Mesmerizing ConcertsCelebrating 1 year of

MessageTrustees...from the

Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy Trust

Sometime ago, a group of friends got together and the discussion veered to music, dance and arts. Why do we need to go so far to listen to good artists? Thus began Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy (Rasikapriya), with the dream of hosting high quality artists in “new Chennai” – OMR & ECR. We wanted to provide artistic extravaganza in fantastic ambience to one and all – Audience, Artists and the Organizers.

Why did we name ourselves Rasikapriya? Rasikapriya is a prati madhyama raga and the last among the 72 melakartas, which are the parent scales of Carnatic music. Being the last in the melakarta classification, all its swaras take their highest value. The swaras have high notes symbolising happiness. You may have seen this in concerts where the music reaches the crescendo. Rasikapriya strives to fill you

Website: www.rasikapriyafinearts.orgEmail: [email protected]

Phone: +91 91768 61616

with vibrations so, when you leave a concert, you will leave on a high note - full of energy and happiness.

Today is historic, as we celebrate one year of doing just this. The objectives of Rasikapriya are to hold regular performances for local residents; to encourage and help artists by bringing them to public attention; to encourage young talent so that we can take our music to the next generation. We have had an eventful year – bringing 15 performances ranging from Instrumental to Jugalbandhi, Carnatic to Hindustani, Dance to Choirs. We couldn’t have done this without the support of our Rasikas, Artists and our Sponsors.

Rasikapriya is an infant taking baby steps. Let us walk together keeping our ideals vibrant under this symbolic roof, while singing and dancing to the rhythms of a beautiful musical world!

– Shri. P. S. Narayanasamy

ForewordFar from the hustle & bustle of the city in OMR, a group of music lovers have come together and set up Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy Trust. Last year, I attended one of their events and was extremely pleased with the professional touch which they brought to their event. The team was extremely cordial to the artists of the evening and took care of their requirements very well. In today’s world where it is both expensive as well as time consuming for a family to travel large distances to attend concerts in the city, this is a welcome initiative and indeed a boon to residents staying in these new developing areas.

It was also very heartening to see so many young enthusiasts in these areas working towards promoting arts and culture in their respective communities. Children are the future torch bearers of our culture. I was very glad to note that a lot of children here are undergoing training in the Classical Arts under trained teachers living in their neighbourhood. Rasikapriya offers such a wonderful opportunity for these children to have access to live concerts by accomplished musicians. There cannot be a greater medium of learning music as, the more you listen, the more you learn. Senior citizens too find it extremely convenient to be able to attend these concerts on a regular basis without any hassles of travel.

It would be great if other communities too follow this model and work towards promoting the field of Fine Arts in their respective localities. Rasikapriya has been doing a great service in bringing quality events to the residents of OMR. I wish them a great future.

5

Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy

6


Trustees of

Ramkey is a Global Gypsy who grew up listening to Carnatic at home, Ilaiyaraja at

college and then Operas, jazz and rock while living

abroad. He is also an avid traveler, foodie, golfer and a doting

family man with 3 kids.

A Web developer by profession, Rajeswari Harish runs her own

web design company. Trained in Carnatic music

and Bharatnatyam, she appreciates all forms of art. She loves to explore and is always game for

new challenges.

Shivram hails from a family of rich musical

lineage. He was a student of SIOWM -

Shrinivas Institute of World Musique and

currently training under Shri U. Rajesh. He is

proud to be part of the Rasikapriya team.

Back Row Left to Right : Shivram, Julian, Sairam, Ramakrishnan, Subramanian

Front Row Left to Right : Rajeswari, Sujatha, Vibha, Rajeshwari, Seethalakshmi

Members not in the Picture : Lavanya, Kalpana, and Lavanya

Shivram

Sai works for a multinational bank

and has an unbridled passion for music and fine arts. From serving

the Pondicherry chapter of SPIC MACAY while in college to joining hands recently with friends to form Rasikapriya, life has come a full circle,

feels Sai.

A passionate home maker with a flair for baking, Rajeshwari

Subramanian (Bindu) is a person of few words and more skills. Her love for music both Western and Carnatic has motivated

her to be part of this musical endeavour.

Rajeswari

Ramakrishnan

7


Sairam

Rajeshwari

ExecutiveCommittee of

7

Four Corners A series of four concerts in different genres of music was held during November and December of 2014 in different venues across the stretch of OMR.

The first was a Mandolin concert by Balaji, a disciple of Mandolin Maestro Sri. U.Srinivas. The venue was the Hiranandani community hall, which was filled to capacity by the enthusiastic rasikas spanning the various communities from the IT Corridor. The introductory concert treated the OMR residents with many of their favourite compositions like Endaro Mahanubhavulu and Raguvamsa Sudha.

The second concert by the winner of the first ever Carnatic Music Idol Bharat Sundar set the tone for the subsequent concerts in the series. A disciple of Sri P.S. Narayanaswamy, Bharat’s concert was held at a packed venue in the City Club of DLF Garden City.

Kriyates, an open air theatre, was the venue for a Fusion music programme by Drums Murali with his band Jus Drums. The threat of rains did not deter the artists and audience as they were enthralled by the performance.

The grand finale of the series, a Carnatic and Hindustani jugalbandi held in the grounds of Hiranandani Upscale was an enchanting evening of music by Arvind Bhargav on Mandolin and Rohan Dasgupta on Sitar.

8

Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy From the

of INDIA Saint TyagarajaThyagaraja Aradhana 2015 held at the beginning of the year, fittingly became Rasikapriya’s inaugural prayer held at the Subramanya Swamy Temple in Shollinganallur. The students of EMDEEYES School of music led by their Guru Smt. Subhasri Mani rendered the Pancharathna Kritis. It was inspiring to see the children render the challenging kritis in perfect unison. The Aradhana brought together the music teachers, students and rasikas of OMR to pay their homage to Thygaraja Swamy.

9

Rasikapriya Fine Arts AcademyRasikapriya’s ode to


Melody Master The

takes the stageCrowning Glory indeed!!! Vidwan T.M.Krishna accompanied by B.U.Ganesh Prasad on the violin, Ganapati Ram on the Mridangam and Guruprasad on the Ghatam was held at Club Opal. The excitement was palpable, understandably so, because we could safely say that it was the first time that such concerts were being held in OMR. Meditative, the concert was like a conversation between the art and the artist and the audience was privy to it!! From Bhairavi and Todi to the Bengali composition in the end, the audience took home the music to stay with them for a long time to come!!!

1110


Artists's SpeakBharat Sundar

Arvind Bhargav

Sandeep Narayan

Nisha P. Rajagopal

Ramakrishna Moorthy

Shijith Nambiar

J.B. Sruthi Sagar

Rohan Dasgupta

Murali Krishnan

T.M. Krishna


14 15


16

RaagasA bouquet of

The songs of Nisha Rajagopal and team at the Banquet hall of Hiranandani was a like a breath of fresh air in a warm summer evening. It was lucidly planned and the audience was able to relish the melodies of varied composers. M.Rajeev on the violin and Guru Raghavendra on the Mridangam enhanced the experience.

Further down OMR, Akshaya Adora hosted the evergreen concert of Sri Ramakrishna Murthy accompanied by Charumathi Raghuraman on the violin and Vijay Natesan on the Mridangam. The audience relished everything from a ragam tanam pallavi to a navavarnam.

The banquet hall of Club Opal, treated rasikas ears to the songs of J.B.Keertana while her brother J.B.Srutisagar played the flute. Accompanied by K.J.Dileep on the violin, N.C.Bharadwaj on the Mridangam and Nerkunam Sankar on the Kanjira, it was a vibrant team making the evening a brilliant one. One could not infer if time stood still or flew by.

17

Rasikapriya Fine Arts AcademyRasikapriya Fine Arts Academy

Our Roots Remembering

Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy organized a choir for children with the objective of encouraging them to learn their mother tongue. Appropriately called ‘Mathrubhasha Choir’, about 60 children from ages 4 to14 entertained the packed hall at Narada Gana Sabha on Sunday, 16th Aug to songs from different Indian languages. Starting with the National Song Vande Mataram, they easily switched over to Bharathiar’s “Senthamizh Nadenum Podhinile” and to other tongues – Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengali song, capping off with a patriotic Hindi song. The children’s pronunciation and intonation showed the months of training by the volunteers of Rasikapriya. The fusion music concert by Jus Drums Murali and group was a fitting finale to the nearly three hours of entertainment. Piano maestro Anil Srinivasan and Musician Dr Sudha Raja presided over the function and congratulated the children on their accomplishment. The Guests of Honour stressed the need for parents talking to their kids in their Mathrubhasha. It was a proud day for the nascent Rasikapriya to have set its foot on the temple town of Music from within eight months of its birth.

20


21


24


Concertby Sandeep Narayanan

Crowning Glory indeed!!! Sri T.M.Krishna accompanied by Sri B.U.Ganesh Prasad on the violin, Sri GanapatiRam on the Mridangam and Sri Guruprasad on the Ghatam was held at the indoor stadium of Club Opaline. The excitement was palpable, understandably so, because we could safely say that it was the first time that such concerts were held in OMR. Meditative, the concert was like a conversation between the art and the artist and the

audience was privy to it!! From Bairavi and Todi to the Bengali composition in the end, the audience took home the music to

stay with them for a long time to come!!! The excitement was palpable, understandably so, because we could

safely say that it was the first time that such concerts were held in OMR.

A Charming Evening

with Sandeep NarayananBollineni Hill Side Park was the apt place for a charming evening

with Sandeep Narayan and his beautiful ragas. Accompanied with S P Ananthapadmanabha on the violin and Tanjore

Praveen Kumar on the Mridangam, the concert became one of Rasikapriya’s favourites. The nuances of varied

ragas stuck with the residents of OMR and all were deeply enthralled by the absolutely

stunning performance.

25

A different experience this time for Rasikas. The concert by Anahita & Apoorva took the rasikas on a musical - spriritual pilgrimage. Based on the theme of Oothukaadu Kshetra kritis, the sisters presented some very rare & beautiful compositions of Sri Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi. The spiritual importance of each of these kshetras, interesting stories about the

presiding deity, the literary and poetic significance of the composition were beautifully elucidated before

presenting each composition. A very informative concert presented neatly by the artistes.

ApoorvamAn

HitA and


Year Book ‘15Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy

26 27

DivinityExperiencing with style, grace & delightRasikapriya hosted its first ever Bharatanatyam dance performance by Samradhaya Dance Academy in the month of June 2015 at HUS school grounds. Shijith Nambiar & Parvathy Menon, along with their students put up a beautiful dance presentation named ANUBHAVA for the rasikas of OMR. Style, grace and perfect coordination between all the dancers were the highlights of the evening making it a grand audio visual treat for everyone.

Deepu Nair for vocal support, Girish Madhu on the Nattuvangam, Sivaprasad on the Mridangam and T Sasidhar on the flute gave brilliant audio support. Starting with an invocation dance, they went on to present solo as well as group presentations keeping the audience well engaged. The highlight of the evening was a beautiful Ashtapadi presentation by Shijith Nambiar and Parvathy Menon.

27


MandolinThe mood of the Mandolin U Rajesh and team presented a blissful and soulful performance on Aug 22 at Club Opal, Navalur. Mandolin holds a very special place in our hearts. Rajesh’s skillful presentation of popular compositions like Tulasidala in Mayamalavagowla, Pakala Nilabadi in Karaharapriya, Samajavaragamana in Hindolam, Thaye Yashoda in Thodi, Enna Thavam Seythanai in Kapi only reiterated our affinity for the instrument.

The percussionists Madhirimangalam Swaminathan on the Mridangam and Trichy Murali on the Ghatam displayed immense energy and wonderful chemistry. The Thani Aavartanam was definitely a highlight for the evening. Mandolin Rajesh was also accompanied by Balaji on the Mandolin and Sridhar on the violin.

28


Highly impressed with the presentation of Mathrubhasha Choir, Classical Pianist Anil Srinivasan and vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan set the stage for collaboration with the children. Remembering the maestro Mandolin U Shrinivas, this concert was dedicated to the memory of the great legend. Sri N.Balasubramanian, President, Nada Sudha and Secretary, Brahma Gana Sabha & Smt. Mallika Ravi, CEO, Lancor Holdings Ltd were the guests of honour for the occasion.

Commencing the performance with the students of the choir with Asathoma Sadgamaya, both Anil and Sikkil Gurucharan mesmerized the audience with their performance. The rasikas were treated with soulful music as the concert moved towards Pibare Ramarasam, couple of compositions of Mandolin U. Shrinivas and a Sai bhajan. The popular notuswaram Kamalasana Vandita performed by them especially for the kids was thoroughly enjoyed by one and all.

29

Rasikapriya Fine Arts AcademySwaram, Layam Magicand

It is heartening to note that Rasikapriya with its able team is completing one year. The organisation has been rendering yeoman service to all music lovers in this part of the city by organising excellent music programmes at different venues convenient for rasikas to attend and enjoy. We wish the organisation good luck in it’s future endeavours. May it rise to greater heights and keep entertaining all music lovers.

The interest shown by the organisers who

took the initiative to form the Sabha and their

efforts to collect membership, arranging

the

programmes by bringing in renowned artists

to perform is very much laudable. It has been

a blessing to the local residents who could not

travel much distance for such entertainment.

Although Rasikapriya is in an infant stage, the Sabha

has been able to achieve lovely programs in the very first

year of its inception by arranging number of concerts

of popular singers and artists. The efforts for organising

such wonderful concerts are truly appreciated. Along

with the fantastic concerts, Rasikapriya can also take

credit in arranging an excellent sound system and

sumptuous food catering services every time.

Rasika's Speak

Thanks to Rasikapriya, th

e younger ge

neration

is being introd

uced to instr

uments like the

mandolin, the sitar

and much more .A nice

mixture of bud

ding and experience

d artists have

travelled from

the city to OMR for th

e monthly

concerts and

in the future too

we are looking

forward to some varie

d performances.

30

All the concerts have

been organized well. A

great amount of planning

and commitment by the

organizers of Rasikapriya

has gone in making these

concerts successful.

We would dare not miss

even a single concert.

Wishing Rasikapriya a very

successful musical journe

y in

the years to come.

I was thinking that I would not be able to enjoy listening to

kutcheries close to home but thanks to Rasikapriya that

has brought home different forms of music and dance

for the enjoyment of all. Steadfast determination of the

organizers has reaped in dividends for the music lovers

in the form of regular monthly concerts. Variety of music

in the form of fusion, carrnatic vocal, instrumental and

bharathanatyam have been a treat.

Rasikapriya has done an excellent service to

the music lovers residing in OMR and in the

past one year, we had the opportunity to

hear and see some of the best musicians/

dancers of today that too at our door steps.

We were so thrilled on hearing about the

formation of Rasikapriya in OMR and were

eagerly waiting for the concerts to start.

31

Rasikapriya Fine Arts AcademyRasikapriya Fine Arts Academy

32

ConcertEvolutionof the

– Kalpana Ramesh

It all started as a way of expressing one’s devotion to the Lord. It poured out in the form of poetry set to a certain melody and beat. And they went around the village singing, which brought them the grains for the day’s meal. Not a grain more, not a grain less. This was called Unchavritthi. Purandaradasar did it and Tyagaraja too followed the path. Souls of exceptional devotion, life led with the thought of only the Lord..Can we call it the first format of public performance? Purandaradasar was considered the father with his Devarnamas as our beginner’s lessons. Because his compositions were mostly sung in such fashion, not much is documented. And so it was mostly in temples and homes of these saints where people flocked to hear them.

Then from temples, long duration performances moved to the Royal courts and festivals which sometimes went well into the night. The Nadaswaram performances were famous during such programmes. The four hour concerts of present day is somewhat based on such a concert, where the Varnam and the Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) were of the same ragams. Early twentieth century brought the concerts from temples and Royal courts to the Sabhas in the cities. Patronage shifted from Kings and Zamindars to the Intellectuals and now to the corporate sponsors!!!

It was Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar who drafted and popularised the Kutcheri format as it is performed today. A varnam as a tonal warm up, a krithi, kalpitham then introduces manodharmam in the form of a short alapana and neraval, and then Manodharmam takes centerstage with an elaborate raga exposition and kalpanaswaram, sometimes a RTP. The artist then gets to rest his vocal chords when tala vadyam comes into focus with their tani avarthanam. The tail end of a concert then comprises of javalis, padams, bhajans and tillana.

When the Sabha culture started it was a prescribed format of a concert. And now, well in to that culture, boundaries have opened out to jugalbandhis and fusion of various genre of music. The format has gone through a shift to explorative conversation between the Artist and the Art. Today, as we listen to more concerts at venues close to us, there is a lot to enjoy and learn for the Rasikas!!

32


ThanksRasikapriya• All sponsors and advertisers for their spontaneous response and support

• All the members, artistes and well-wishers for their co-operation and patronage

• The press for their encouragement extended to us throughout the year

• The stage set up and audio visual technicians for enhancing the performances

• The children who helped us cheerfully with various backstage activities

• All the rasikas for making Rasikapriya possible

All photographs used in this booklet are taken during actual events. Unauthorized use or duplication of this material without prior written permission from Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy Trust is strictly prohibited.

Rasikapriya Fine Arts Academy Trust

Website: www.rasikapriyafinearts.orgEmail: [email protected]

Phone: +91 91768 6161634


Idea

rt - 9

6 77

225

224

anniversary - rasikapriya fine arts academy · rasikapriya is a prati madhyama raga and the ... the...

Documents