Description
December 17, 2021 6:00 PM EST
Ramakrishnan Murthy – Vocals
RK Shriramkumar – Violin
NC Bharadwaj – Mridangam
N Guruprasad – Ghatam
ANJUNA TIDE POOLS, GOA
Ramakrishnan Murthy’s two-hour-long Carnatic vocal concert with his Guru, the respected violin Vidwan RK Shriramkumar, N Guruprasad on ghatam and NC Bharadwaj with Harshali Pednekar on tanpura, was filmed in a deserted section of Anjuna beach in Goa, next to tide pools rich in marine life. Ramakrishnan Murthy is widely recognized as one of the most talented Karnatik musicians of his generation and has been trained by Gurus Padma Kutty, Delhi P Sundar Rajan and RK Shriramkumar.
An early morning concert with the incoming tide rising and retreating as the clouds changed from dark grey to bright blue provided a natural canvas for the musicians to present a sweeping range of composers from the Trinity to Purandaradasa to Swati Tirunal and Andal. Beginning with Shayma Sastri’s Pahi Sri Girijasuthe, by the close of two hours, Ram sang an exquisite Saagara Sayano Vibho by MD Ramanathan before bringing the concert to a close.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Blue Planet is a four-month-long digital festival of Indian Classical Music featuring 21 Carnatic and Hindustani musicians. The festival will consist of several concerts and events being made available on the Dhvani website each month. A $200 value, this set of programs and concerts will be included at no additional cost in the 2022 annual Dhvani membership. Some concerts will be released in December will also be available to those who have renewed their 2022 membership. Please renew your Dhvani membership today and don’t miss out on any of these very special programs.

Concept
The festival seeks to invoke the Living Ecology of our Planet and its beautiful but fragile natural resources. It hopes to draw analogies between the Natural World and the Ecosystem of the Arts. It seeks to suggest that both ecosystems need to be cared for, understood and respected. In harming them we only harm ourselves.
Concerts under the Sky
Each concert and performance will be set in natural, outdoor settings in carefully chosen locations in the midst of mountains, sacred groves, mangroves, forests, river banks, beaches and in some of India’s endangered biodiversity zones. Guided by environmental groups and organisations working for social justice in different parts of the country, we hope to initiate preliminary conversations and meetings with artists and these groups to point at issues related to Climate Change, sustainability practices and Climate justice, which underpin the efforts of all peoples’ movements.
We have taken great care to ensure that we are not merely using Nature as a pretty backdrop; we are trying to include the spirit of local and regional conservation and sustainability practices and ideas so that they reflect in subtle ways in the films as we explore the links between Indian Classical Music and contemporary discourses on Ecology and Conservation.