featuring several young students of vocal and veena music, where the youngsters showcased their
talent and skills developed over years of practice and hard work. Melodious young voices were
interspersed with soothing strains of the veena.
The performers, Aditya, Mythri, Aparna, Monica and Harini performed songs such as Ananda
Amritakarshini, Maha Ganapate, Sundarataradeham, Siva Siva Siva, and Sabhapatikku. This was
followed by a brief performance by Dr Latha Parameswaran, the host, which showed as much
verve and energy as the blooming young students. She presented Deva Deva Jagadhishwara in Purvikalyani and Kaliyuga Varadhan in Brindavani.
The longest performance of the day belonged to Kamakshi and Meenakshi, who gave
an hour-long concert on compositions of Sri Tyagaraja on gods other than Lord Rama. They provided succinct explanation on the meaning of the songs, and sang with feeling. Many of the
kritis covered were rare and not heard very often, so it was a treat for the listeners who were in
rapture. The songs featured were Sri Gananatham (Kanakangi), Varashikhi Vahana (Supradeepam), Ee Vasudha (Sahana), Narada Ganalola (Atana), Haridasulu (Yaman Kalyani), Gandhamu Puyyaruga (Punnagavarali), Vinayakuni (Madhyamavathi).
The compact crowd left pleased. The tasty prasadam at the end was also a factor, but the music was
the star of the day. The evening gave a small glimpse of the future of Carnatic music, in our school
and otherwise.
Report by Aparna Shankar
