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.
CHRISTOPHER GURUSAMY
Australian born and raised Christopher Gurusamy is an upcoming Soloist of Bharathanatyam. He has travelled extensively as a dancer and as a member of Leela Samson’s Spanda Dance Company, he is regarded as a front line dancer of his generation performing in the Madras Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha and many other prestigious venues. He was named as the top performances in the New York Times 2017 by Alastair Mcaulay. He has also been a recipient of the Kalavaahini Choreography fellowship and an arts development grant from Australian Arts Council
VIGNESH ISHWAR
Vignesh Ishwar is one of the leading young Carnatic musicians today. Endowed with a sonorous and malleable voice his music is fresh, energetic and full of ideas. His uniqueness as a musician stems from an individuality rooted in discipline, creativity and perfect sruti. His foundational training in Mumbai was with Palakkad TS Anantharama Bhagwathar. Since 2008 Vignesh has trained with TM Krishna. A sought after musician in his generation in India and overseas Vignesh has received prestigious awards including the Best Concert award in 2019, Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani Award by Shanmukhananda and Sangeetha Sabha Mumbai in the same year and the Dr Vasantrao Deshpande Yuva Sangeet Puraskar to name a few. Holding a masters degree in sound and music technology, he has always desired to contribute to the world of art through the amalgamation of music and technology. Vignesh is also a volunteer and an integral part of many initiatives such as Svanubhava, Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha to name a few.
SUMESH NARAYANAN
One of the most gifted and sought after Carnatic percussionists of the current generation, Sumesh Narayanan has trained with Mridangam Maestro Dr Thiruvaarur Bakhtavathsalam for two decades and continues to learn from him. Sumesh is a rare combination of a musician who has mastered the traditional corpus of the mridangam in the Carnatic style while retaining an open and larger world view which allows him to be part of many innovative and cross disciplinary ventures. He is a vital contributor to these and much admired for his musical ideas and energetic playing
SAYEE RAKSHIT
An exceptionally gifted violinist in the Carnatic tradition, Sayee has been playing in stage concerts since he was ten. He has given many duet concerts with Guru Sangeetha Kalanidhi Padmashree Awardee A Kanyakumari and has also been part of various ensembles conducted by her. A widely travelled musician Sayee has also been part of Staccato since 2018 and has collaborated with various prominent musicians in the Carnatic and film industry and has arranged music in various ventures.
SRI SUDARSHINI
Sri Sudarshini, is the great granddaughter of Kaviyogi Shuddananda Bharathiyar. Sudarshini’s desire to learn dance led her to Kalakshetra in Chennai. For six years Sudarshini studied, performed and was an active member of the repertory company there, securing a first class.
Sudarshini continues to study with Smt Bragha Bessell exploring abhinaya and is known for her expressive dance, showing a deep knowledge of allied arts. Developing her Carnatic vocal skill, she has been under the tutelage of Prof. P P Ramakrishnan for the past 10 years. Sudarshini is an accomplished Nattuvangam Artist and has accompanied many dancers in the field of Bharatanatyam.i
February 27, 2022 8:30 AM EST
