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…
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…
For the second year in a row, the Chennai chapter of the IIT Madras Alumni Association (IITMAA) has organised an online Navaratri celebration with a program each of the nine evenings of the festival. The first day will showcase the star of the series in the headliner event – a…
V. Sai Subramaniam who (along with vocalist Palghat Dr. R. Ramprasad) is the recipient of this year’s Kalki Krishnamurthy Award, is the first morsing exponent to receive the prestigious honour in the over 25 years since its inception. According to ghatam exponent G. Chandrasekara Sharma, Sai is, in fact, the…
Indian classical music received a unique shot in the arm when leading Carnatic musician and teacher, senior violinist A. Kanyakumari, was mentioned in the United States’ Congressional Record, the official written annals of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. Raja Krishnamoorthi, of the United States’ House of…
When Jayalakshmi Balakrishnan suggested to the family of the Late Sundaravalli Ammal that some of the lady’s compositions be set to tune and performed, she also knew exactly whom to entrust the task to. Most know K. Arun Prakash as an erudite and avant-garde mridangist. However, besides percussion, he is…
A smiling young man opens the door to a beautiful house and sings 10-12 second snippets of 73 Indian classical rAga-s in quick succession when prompted, effortlessly and instantaneously, whilst casually walking around the home. The camera follows him around, shooting without any cuts, for the entire ~14 minutes. Abby…