VEENAVAADHINI Music and Festivals

On 20th April we celebrated Rama Navami through music. There were four mini-concerts, the details of which are as follows:

1. Kum Kamakshi and Kum Meenakshi - Veena Duet
Starting with the Nagaswarali Varnam Sakethanagara Rama, the sisters went on to play a brief alapana of Hamsadhwani, followed by the Thyagaraja kriti Raghunayaka, suffixed with a few swarams. Thavadasoham was neatly played thereafter. They concluded the concert with Rama Janardhana, a nottuswara sahityam of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

2. Kum Bhuvana - Vocal
Ramachandrasya Dasoham in Dhamavathi gave a good beginning to Bhuvana's recital. Raga Alapana of Mohanam was competently sung as a prefix to Rararajeevalochana, a beautiful krithi of Mysore Vasudevachar. She concluded her recital with Maasil Ayodhiyil, a ragamalika composition of Neela Ramamurthy. Bhuvana was ably accompanied on the violin by Kum Priyamvada.

3. Kum Priyamvada - Violin Solo
Priyamvada gave an impressive violin recital, showing a lot of maturity for her age. Amongst the items presented included the Thyagaraja Kriti in Jhankaradhwani, Phanipati Sayee, and Brovabarama (Bahudari).

4. Sri J Thyagarajan - Vocal
An old timer who has acquired his musical knowledge primarily by listening to live concerts of masters from the days of yore, took the audience back to the golden age by presenting some gems like Ramachandraya Namasthe, Mamavapattabhirama, and Pavanatmajaagaccha. His Thodi alapana was testimony to his understanding of music, proving how "Kelvi Gnanam" plays a very important role in musical growth. He was accompanied on the violin by Smt Syamala Thyagarajan.

Sri Venkataraman, grandson of Chittoor Subramanya Pillai played mridangam beautifully for all the above concerts.