We have come to the end of festival 2009. Thank you all so much for coming and supporting us!

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

No words can express the feeling of the audience! It was indeed a mesmerizing performance by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his two sons. He started the concert in such an informative way by showing examples about how he learnt to play the Sarod. Thereafter two of his new raagas Kamal Shree and Ganesh Kalyan were purely melodious and beautiful combination of notes. Then he played very famous and two of very popular compositions Vaishnav jan and Raghupati which invoked inner spirit of the audience. Second segment was played by his two sons where they started with Raaga Desh and they literally stole the hearts of the audience with beautiful rhythmic compositions. Lastly they concluded the concert with beautiful Raag Maala starting with Kirvani where the entire team got together and two of the tabla players also rocked the house when they all played Sawaal Jawaab. The concert itself was more than enough to forget about our routine rituals and took us all to heaven - Amit Dhamelia

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan started the programme with two melodious ragas founded by himself. First raag Kamal Shree was based on chaptaal (10 beats) and second raag Ganesh Kalyan based on ektaal (12 beats). Then he played two popular bhajans Vaishnav Jan and Raghupathi in kamaj and misra ghaara respectively. The performance was so excellent that it caught the attention of the entire audience. In the second part Ayaan and Amaan Ali played raag Desh starting with Auchar followed by two compositions based in Madhyalaya jaap taal and drut teentaal. Then Ustadji played a raagamaala, compositions in different raags and taals such as Kirvani, Baghyesri, Kausick Kanada, Abhogi etc with his two sons. The compositions were also based on different rare taalas such Panchamswari, 12.5 beats and 11 beats. Concluding the programme with Sawaal and Jawaab was very good. Mr. Tanmoy Bose and Mr. Mithilesh Kumar Jha accompanied them very well. Singapore is very proud and happy to welcome such great artistes. - Guru Chandranath Bhattacharya (Sitar and Harmonium tutor)

27th March

Concert review for T.V.Shankaranarayanan

There is a saying in Chennai. TVS means quality and quality means TVS. While people there referred to the TVS industry, one has to musically paraphrase the saying as follows: TVS means Paaramparia and it means TVS. Yesterday's concert by Shri TV Sankaranarayanan and Co. was amazing. The music deluge never stopped for close to three hours. If Bhuvaneshwariya in Mohanakalyani was divine, then in Sankarabharanam, TVS paid rich homage to his illustrious uncle Sri Madurai Mani Iyer through the unique paani of swaraprasthaarams made popular by the great man. In between there was the classic half-way starting in the Hindolam piece - Ramanukku mannan mudi thariththaaney!

The RTP in Brindavana Saaranga was interesting with shades of Hindustani music flirting in. And we learnt a new Raaga today - Vandanadhaarini during the Raagamalika that followed the RTP. While the crowd pleasers of 'Eppo Varuvaro' and English Notes met the expectations, what stole the evening in my opinion was the Virutham + 'Srinivasa Thiruvengadamudaiyaan' set in Hamsanandi. This piece was definitely steeped in all the virtues that one can expect from a maestro like TVS - Bhaava, Bhakthi, Vidwat, Innovation and Tradition.

The accompanying artistes - Shri Mahadevan Sankaranarayana (an able vocal foil to his father!) Shri Raghavendra Rao (he followed the vocalists like a shadow - never missing a note or sangathi); Shri Neyveli Narayanan (what a great differentiation that he was able to show between Smt Aruna Sairam's concert and today's concert - dipping us in the rhythmic bliss throughout); Shri TR Sundaresan on Morsing (our beloved SIFAS teacher) was in his elements during the concert and his thani performance was something that was worth waiting for 2 hours!

All in all a traditional & fulfilling evening.
Sri Ganesh

For me the experience was akin to a high school student being given an opportunity to sit in a University class with a very experienced Mathematics Professor effortlessly teaching Differential Equations and Fourier Transforms. Throughout the concert of Sri TVS this evening I was in total awe of this Maestro. At times I even felt like standing up reverentially to listen to his music as if sitting down and listening was a show of disrespect. Such was the mastery and purity of his rendering. It was an out and out purists’ delight. From the very first words that he rendered “Sudaroliye potri” he was fully into it with an unbelievable gusto and energy. It lasted all the way through the next nearly three hours till his final western waltz notes based on Sankarabharanam swaras and through the customary mangalam. It was unbelievable that even as late as at 10pm he was still into a superb exposition of raga alapana & neraval.

His majestic treatment of Hamsadhwani (Sri Raghukula), the presentation of Sudhdha danyasi (Sri Parthasarathy), his enchanting elaboration of Mohana Kalyani (Bhuvaneswari), his toying with Hindolam in the Arunachala Kavirayar sahityam (Ramanukku mannan mudi) , the outstanding raga alapana and delightful neraval in Sankarabharanam (Sarojadhalanetri Himagiriputri) ..... each one was a masterpiece in its own right. But my personal pick was the Brindavana saranga alapana and the way he moved effortlessly into different ragas vandanadharini & sindhubhairavi during this krithi “Brindavana saranga hari ranga panduranga”. His rendering of Papanasam Sivan’s Srinivasa Thiruvengada Udaya was a moving experience bringing tears to one’s eyes.

Another highlight was the superb level of vidvat of the accompanying artists and the excellent chemistry between the Master Vocalist and the accompanists. If Sri Raghavendra Rao with his violin was in an inspired mood ably tracing and following TVS in his journey of musical exploration with aplomb, the mridangam vidwan Sri Narayanan and our own Morsing expert Sri Sundaresan were a fantastic duo adding beautiful dimensions to the concert. TVS’ son Sri Mahadevan provided admirable back up to his father and gave signs of doing more than adequate justice to the great musical lineage of the family he belongs to. I am sure the young student (Rajath?) on Thambura would have been greatly benefited by being among this august pantheon of artistes.

On the whole it was an enchanting evening with the Maestro inspiring his accompanying artistes and elevating the entire audience to a different plane.
-V.Prabhakar Rao

26th March

Aruna Sairam

It was an excellent performance. She has a powerful voice. The sruthi and laya was very good. Shanmugapriya raga alapana was amazing. Total Performance was very tremendous. -Guru Anupama

It was a very enjoyable performance. Aruna Sairam’s rendition of ‘Enta muddo’ and ‘Sabhapathikku’ were well received by the audience. Khambhoji alapana was very pleasing and was followed by a rare krithi, ‘Koniyadina’. Shanmugapriya Ragam Thanam Pallavi was very well handled.Her ‘Karvai Sugam’ gave good scope for pure notes. She also readily obliged to sing the songs that the audience requested. She blended Hindustani style suitably with the Carnatic system without the Carnatic music style being affected. She was very well accompanied by Sri. Ragavendra Rao and Sri.Neyveli Narayanan. -Guru Poorna Pragna Rao

25th March

Alumni Program

-The vocal segment in the Alumni Program was an enjoyable opening. The accompanists Viknash and Akilesh provided good support on the Mridangam and Ghatam respectively. Govindarajalu Naidu’s flute recital was soothing to the ears. The main piece with swaram, korappu and thaniaavarthanam was outstanding. The dance segment was exciting and enthralling with all the dancers delivering a great performance. The support from Smt. Bhagyamurthy (Vocal), Ranjani Rangan (Nattuvangam), Govind (Flute) and Ramanan (Mridangam) was solid and consistent throughout.

(Sai Vigneshwar)

It was a fantastic idea to form an alumni group and to perform as well. The songs rendered in the beginning brought joy to everyone listening to them.

(Mrs Savithri)

Pleasant evening with melodious traditional compositions! Akilandeshwari in Dvijavanthi raagam was rendered brilliantly. The Pullanguzhal by Sri Govind was soothing. Devathideva in Sunathavinodini raga was fabulous.

(Mrs Bhagyamurthy)

24th March

King Brothers (Violin)

“Marukelara” was rendered effortlessly in a short and crisp way. Anish appears to have mastered violin at a young age – L.R.S. Mani

I have seen the brothers playing violin for many years. The bowing technique has improved a lot. Their success can be attributed to their strong grip on talam and good coordination of fingers – Mr. Satyalingam

Guru Mangalam Shankar (Carnatic vocal)

Mangalam teacher’s rendition of heavy raga krithis displayed her versatility and was a refreshing change. The nuances of Pantuvarali and Kalyani were brought out in a detailed manner.Sivaraman Sir and Sundaresan Sir provided excellent support. Overall, the choice of ragas and adept style of rendering the krithis made the concert enriching and enjoyable indeed! – Lavanya Ramesh

A wonderful concert in all. Mrs. Mangalam displayed her mastery in music. The accompanists were great to hear. I have no words to describe the experience of listening to the artist - Rajaraman

Todi raga varnam in 2 kalaas, kalpana swaras of ataana raga kriti and neraval of pantuvarali were rendered very efficiently – Guru Padmalingam

22nd March

Mitali Sadan Mukerjee

Excellent performance with graceful moves. Mitali had a great sense of balance and very expressive eyes. – Juliana.

Mitali’s dance showed maturity beyond her age. She had complete control over her movements. Mitali has a great future in store in the field of Kathak – Mrs Bhuvaneshwari Sri Ganesh.

Sambhavi Rajangam

Sambhavi was very energetic and could express abhinaya very well. She showed lots of confidence. – Guru Anjum Bharti

The energy was well captured in Sambhavi’s moves as she gracefully glided across the stage – Aarthi Singaravelu

Aarthi Devarajan

Aarthi began her presentation with a beautiful “Todayamangalam” and did full justice to the item. Very neat adavus and crisp footwork. She showed subtle abhinaya and brisk nritta with a pleasing countenance and sincere portrayal. She is a promising dancer. – Renuka Vaidhyanathan.

Aarthi’s bhavam was clearly expressed and movements were very graceful. It was an enjoyable performance which captivated the audience.

- Haritha Ramesh

Aparna Premkumar

A cute and charming performance by Aparna. Her Padam was the best while the natabhairavi Thillana was performed with lot of confidence. She has great potential and the ability to express more in future. – Guru Girish Kumar Panicker.

Aparna looks professional in her costume. She showed good enthusiasm and energy during the dance recital. Good maiden start – Supraja

Percussion Group

The percussion ensemble was a beautiful collaboration, given the taste of both north and south Indian drumming. Overall, a wonderful time spent on a rainy evening.- Mr.Vignesh

Ganesh & Sriram

Ganesh and Sriram’s performance was remarkable. It was clear that they put great effort into making this concert a success. –Sridhar

Varnam Bhairavi was sung excellently. Need to concentrate more on the Akshara Spashtam (words)

– Music well Wisher.

Aishwarya R & Sriram

Nattaikurunji varnam was well played and so was Suddha Dhanyasi. The concert was very energetic and it was well-coordinated by both of them.- Achintyan Gangadharan

Aishwarya and Sriram are talented young artists with immense potential. Adherence to sruthi stood out as their strong point from the beginning of the concert. A lively kala pramanam ensured that the concert was an engaging one. Both of them had an excellent control over the instrument and a great bowing technique which reflects a lot of practice.” Subramanyina” of Dikshidhar was the crown piece and it was majestic. An excellent concert over all – V. Shankarnaraynan (Carnatic vocalist)

S Akshayaa

Akshayaa’s rendition of the Keeravani ragam was very beautiful and bold. The concert ended with a sweet and melodious thillana. – Srividya Govindan

Akshayaa has a magnetic voice which attracts the rasika pretty quickly. Her rendition of ‘Aananda Nadamaduran’ in Poorvikalyani was noteworthy. The thillana in Desh was a special effort.

–Sri Ganesh

Rajam Iyer Bhavana

Bhavana has a good voice range and clarity. She has the potential to develop further with practice and guidance. She was well supported by her accompaniments. –Mr.Ravi

Bhavana has an honest voice which will go places with continued practice. Special mention goes to the piece in Rasikapriya. Executed a rare raga well.- Bhargav

Priyadarshini & Sharanya

All the songs were well played and pleasant to listen - Sunil

Simendramadyamam ragam played alternately was excellent and swaras in second speed was well-coordinated. They were ably supported by the ghatam. A well excecuted concert.- Venkatramony

Aarthi Devarajan

Aarthi has a sweet voice. Her main piece Kamboji was superb with nice Raga Bhavam. Excellent accompaniments Altogether, a satisfying concert.- Srividya Govindan

It was great concert to listen and she maintained the tempo and the sruthi throughout the concert.

“Pramadhamana Katcheri” – Guru Meenakshi Somasundaram.

Nishanth Thiagarajan

Nishanth has a very enchanting voice, effortlessly scaling through both lower and higher octaves. He was ably supported by his accompanists. In all, it was excellent way to go for his debut concert. –Sriram

Starting with a varnam in Suddhadhanyasi, Nishanth gave a brilliant beginning to his debut. Though only 45 minutes, his concert had us all in trance. –Varsha