After having performed concerts for many years, the 24-year-old student approached the new Guru. “You should not touch the mridangam for five years. I have to teach you new fingering.” G. Guru Prasanna, whose musical trajectory has seen him play multiple instruments initially, before settling on the kanjira, says, “I…
Most know Anantha R. Krishnan (Anantharaman Krishnan) as a skilled mridangist and the grandson of Sangita Kalanidhi Palghat R. Raghu. However, the Ivy League educated Anantha cannot be encapsulated in a single sentence. He is an artiste who looks at art itself with broad horizons – well beyond the mridangam…
Giridhar Udupa literally grew up surrounded by percussion as his father Ullur Nagendra Udupa was a mridangist who taught extensively. At age 4, he started learning mridangam and learned that exclusively until the age of 9. Then, at a concert organized by his father, Giridhar was roped in to play…
50 uniformed children, ages 5-10, happily clap their hands and recite konakkol phrases to a refrain of simple instrumental music from a cell phone. Just some twenty minutes earlier, their master of ceremonies had gently introduced the word ‘rhythm’ and got the children to chip in, conveying the message that…
“I feel that teaching makes you learn twice. So, I teach lots. And I teach everybody who wants to learn tabla. “ – Sanju Sahai London-based tabla exponent Sri. Sanju Sahai shares his thoughts with us in this episode. Sri Sanju is a scion of the Benares style of tabla…
In this episode of Quarantunes, we hear from young mridangist and percussionist Sri. Sumesh Narayanan. He is known for his vibrant accompaniment in Carnatic concerts where he plays for leading artistes. This podcast is part of the Quarantunes series, featuring Indian Classical Musicians, recorded during the worldwide shutdown resulting…
This episode of Quarantunes features Ghatam exponent Sri. Giridhar Udupa. Sri. Udupa expresses his concern for artistes heavily dependent on concerts for survival. He talks about deciding to broadcast, for a fee, 6 concerts of the Udupa Festival that he curates, proceeds of which would benefit such artistes…. He mentions…
Sri. KV Gopalakrishnan, kanjira exponent, is probably one of the busiest percussionists in Carnatic music today. He explains how he has confined himself in Chicago as he is concerned about infecting older and younger members of his family in Chennai. This podcast is part of the Quarantunes series, featuring Indian…
Sri. N Guruprasad is a prolific percussionist, specialising in the ghatam. He is known for his unobtrusive but highly supportive playing that accents the overall music on stage. He had his initial training under his father Sri. K Nagaraja Rao, and later from Shri T.H. Vinayakram. He received subsequent training…
In this episode, Sri. B Shree Sundarkumar, kanjira exponent, is forthright about his many emotions at the present time and juxtaposes his personal situation against the world at large. “When the whole world is suffering, I alone am not unique.” This podcast is part of the Quarantunes series, featuring Indian…