Agam set the field ablaze when they arrived over ten years ago as the pioneer of what Rolling Stones magazine called Carnatic Progressive Rock. Leading classical musicians like Aruna Sairam, Ranjani and Gayatri and Kaushiki Chakraborty have since collaborated with them. Agam has a cult following ranging from children to…
Classical music the world over has always been a niche field. Indian Classical Music, thanks to the geographical stamp, has an even smaller following. Many construe it as rather exclusive and inaccessible to the layperson with its staid and prim and proper image and a perception of rigid rules for…
Though more women than men learn and teach music, they are heavily underrepresented in all other aspects such as composing, organising and producing. In fact, a 2017 report said that only 1.8 percent of the music programmed by major orchestras in the United States was written by women. These statistics…
Besides being a celebrated violinist, Lalgudi Jayaraman was a reputed composer. After Veena Seshanna, he was probably the only prolific instrumental performer who also actively composed. Notably, Jayaraman’s pieces were widely performed in his own lifetime not just by stalwart musicians like Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, D.K. Jayaraman, Voleti Venkateswarlu and M.L.…
On January 11th 2022, The Hindu newspaper had an article that said that the Corporation of Chennai would come to citizens’ homes to administer COVID booster vaccines to those over 60 with comorbidities. The next evening, I called the 2nd number listed in that article. The phone was picked up…
Despite the world of the arts being severely impacted, Jayalakshmi Balakrishnan and Arkay Ramakrishnan each organised hundreds of concerts throughout the pandemic, all free to rasikas, for their respective non-profit organisations Naada Inbam and Madhuradhwani. A mechanical engineer with a degree in Indian music as well, Jayalakshmi Balakrishnan took…
Sruti Magazine January 2022 Cover Story (Note: The following is only an excerpt. To read the full article, subscribe to Sruti.) How Sikkil C. Gurucharan became a vocalist is itself curious — even to him! Born in Chennai on 21 June 1982 to V. Chandrasekaran and Mythili (daughter of Sikkil Kunjumani, the elder of the Sikkil Sisters flautist-duo), he recollects his grandmothers testing the blowing ability of prospective flute students by asking…
Known for nuanced and sensitive accompaniment, veteran mridangist and academic Sangita Kalanidhi Trichy Sankaran has played for Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Ramnad Krishnan, Madurai Mani Iyer, G.N. Balasubramaniam, M.D. Ramanathan, K.V. Narayanaswamy, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Flute Mali and many others across generations. “I jokingly say…
The strummed tambura wafts in through arresting scenery, the sounds of birds, critters and water, as musicians perform in carefully curated natural, outdoor settings. Filmed across India, First Edition Arts’(FEA) Blue Planet series, launching today evening, hopes to highlight the connections between the living ecology of the planet and the…
R. Lakshminarayanan, R. Vaidhyanathan, Latha Venkataraman and Kalyani Viswanathan have been on the most prominent of Carnatic concert stages for 15-50 years. Yet, most readers would not know who they are. They are tambura players – unknown, unnoticed and mostly uncredited. Vocalist Nisha Rajagopalan cannot imagine performing on stage without…