Remembering MSG

Remembering MSG

The birth anniversary of violin maestro M.S. Gopalakrishnan falls on 10 June, while 3 January 2021 marked the ninth death anniversary of the violin vidwan popularly known as MSG. It has been my good luck to have known him for a long time.
Veena Doreswamy Iyengar

Veena Doreswamy Iyengar memorial fest

As part of International Women’s Day celebrations, ‘Veena’ Doreswamy Iyengar Memorial Trust had organised a three-day music festival 6 to 8 March in Bengaluru, featuring eminent women vocalists. The festival was inaugurated by the Jeeyar of the Yathiraj Mutt, who also extended his blessings to the festival by providing use of the auditorium.
Tyagaraja aradhana in Bengaluru

Tyagaraja aradhana in Bengaluru

Music lovers of Bengaluru heaved a sigh of relief when they were informed of the five-day live music festival, from 29 January 2021. Sangeeta rasikas of the city were bored without in-person concerts due to the pandemic, and the announcement…
The ragamalikas of Subbarama Dikshitar

The ragamalikas of Subbarama Dikshitar

Among the various compositions notated in the Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarsini, the ragamalikas are interesting and intriguing. Among the composers belonging to the family of Ramaswami Dikshitar, Subbarama Dikshitar has employed this musical form extensively.
Sow a seed of music

Sow a seed of music

The Oppilal School of Music and Fine Arts in Chennai presented a three-day festival of concerts and other events on the occasion of Kandhar Shashti Vizha in 2020. It featured performances by their students, and others. There was vocal and instrumental music, talks and short concerts by senior musicians.
The singer twins: B.V. Raman & B.V. Lakshmanan

The singer twins: B.V. Raman & B.V. Lakshmanan

When we are gratefully celebrating the birth centenary of vidwans B.V. Raman and B.V. Lakshmanan, I join the host of their fortunate disciples in paying my humble pranams to them. I was privileged to be a student of B.V. Lakshmanan for about five years when I was doing my B.A., followed by two years of Masters in Music.
Tiruvaiyaru Tyagaraja aradhana 2021 - A lifetime experience

Tiruvaiyaru Tyagaraja aradhana 2021 - A lifetime experience

Certain things in life, while they begin as a one-off activity, become a part of yourself and your life by design. That is what my annual visit to Tiruvaiyaru has become -- a design and strong pattern that shines through over three decades of my life.
Enjoyable instrumental fare at the Academy

Enjoyable instrumental fare at the Academy

The Music Academy had allocated two slots for violin concerts (A. Kanyakumari, Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi), three for veena (Jayanthi Kumaresh, N. Ananthanarayanan, Ramana Balachandran) and one for flute (J.B. Sruthi Sagar) in the instrumental music category.
Chitravina Ravikiran

Chitravina N Ravikiran as composer

Ravikiran is among the more prolific composers in Indian Music with over 800 compositions to his credit. About half of these are traditional classical pieces which include about 400 krtis, 30 varnams, 35 tillans besides javalis, padams, pushpanjalis, kavittuvams, shabdam, bhajans, chindus etc. Several of Ravikiran’s works have been presented by leading musicians and dancers.
Merging parallels

Merging parallels

Every country, sometimes every region in a country, has its own style of music. Such exposure to varied genres of music during her Masters and Post Masters Fellowship studies at Berklee College of Music, led to the growth of Apoorva Krishna’s fascination for the concept of chords and the realm of harmonies in Western music.
Margazhi and Andal - global outreach of Tiruppavai

Margazhi and Andal - global outreach of Tiruppavai

Andal came in myriad forms in music, dance and discourse in solo and group presentations. YouTube buzzed with song and dance too numerous to keep track of. There was even a choral singing by film and TV stars like Suhasini Maniratnam, Anu Hasan, Revathi and others with abhinaya by Shobana.
Sruti Magazine Covers - 2021

Sruti Magazine Covers - 2021

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