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…
In December 2019, violinist A. Kanyakumari began showcasing Thyagaraja’s Ekaika rAga kriti-s (only a single kriti in that rAgam) on the violin, releasing one every Friday on her Facebook handle (for more detail on this project and a full list of the 100 kriti-s showcased so far, with links, please…
In 1952, Y.G. Parthasarathy (YGP) and N. Padmanabhan founded United Amateur Artistes (UAA), branching off from Suguna Vilasa Sabha. Y. Gee. Mahendra, son of YGP, says, “It was chaste, literary Tamil in theatres then. To reach the common man, they wanted to create plays in normal spoken Tamil, with an…
Theatre Nisha’s play Margazhi is a candid portrayal of the people and situations a Bharatanatyam artiste encounters Theatre Nisha’s online play, Margazhi, portrays chapters from a dancer’s journey through learning, recognition, stage performances, compliments and criticism, struggles and compromise. Though the protagonist is a Bharatanatyam artiste, Margazhi could be the story of any…
Veteran violinist Sikkil R. Bhaskaran passed away on 20 July 2021. Dedicated exclusively to accompaniment, the artists he shared the stage with straddle generations and read like a who’s who of Carnatic music—from Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, K.B. Sundarambal and M.M. Dandapani Desigar to Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar, N. Vijay Siva and…