CHENNAI, India -- Come December, almost every street in Chennai hums Carnatic music, thanks to the deluge of music festivals organised by various sabhas in the city. Amidst these traditional festivals, the two day performance and interactive workshop festival titled SaMaaGaMa provided a breath of fresh air to music lovers, literally! That’s because the event was held at one of Chennai’s oldest and greenest havens- the Nageshwara Rao Park in Mylapore and was also refreshing in its diversity of performances and interactive workshops encompassing various genres.
SaMaaGaMa was organised by reputed artistic couple and T V Ramprasadh and Indira Kadambi, under the aegis of their music and dance school, Ambalam Arts and Culture Pvt.Ltd started in 1989. T V Ramprasadh is among the prominent Carnatic vocalists in Chennai. Having had tutelage under stalwarts like P S Narayanaswami and T V Goplakrishnan, Ramprasadh has developed his own unique style and an uncompromising adherence to tradition. An authority on Dasar Padhas, Ramprasadh has toured across the globe giving vocal recitals and conducting workshops. On the other hand, Ramprasadh’s wife, Indira Kadambi has over two and half decades of performing experience, and she has carved a niche for herself in the sphere of Bharatanatyam. Indira has shared stage with stalwarts like Kelucharan Mahopatra, Birju Maharaj, Amjad Ali Khan and Zakir Hussain and has performed in several national and international festivals. She is also an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Just a glance of the itinerary is enough to provide an idea of the meticulousness with which the various genres and art forms were chosen to be a part of the event. The first day of the two day festival kicked off on Saturday, December 17 with a soothing yet punchy Carnatic vocal recital by G Madhavan who managed to get even the joggers out on their morning routine, stop jogging and enjoy the concert. It was followed by an interactive workshop by Mridangam Vidwan Srimushnam Raja Rao, who with his uncanny sense of humour enlightened the participants on how they could fine tune their concerts. Next was a lecture demonstration on popular Hindustani ragas and their treatment by Sanhita Nandi, a noted Hindustani classical vocalist. Even as these events unfolded on premise 1, premise 2 witnessed a creative dance movements workshop by Sangeetha Isvaran who involved participants across ages to dance to peppy African tunes. This was followed by a workshop on elements of folk dance by C H Jaya Rao who delved into the pattern of the energetic steps in the folk dance genre, Thappattam.
Mridangam Vidwan Mannargudi Easwaran covered the nuances of Ragam Tanam Pallavi along with T V Ramprasad on vocals which was followed by an insightful workshop on melodic approaches in western music by Oliver Fox, a noted German saxophone artist. Yesteryear concerts were screened in the afternoon, giving an opportunity for youngsters to cherish the music of stalwarts. After some nostaligia, it was the turn of young Carnatic vocalist, Sunil Gargyan to perform. A student of the veteran musician and teacher, P S Narayanaswamy, Sunil exhibited the maturity of an experienced performer.
In the evening, young dance duo Vijna and Rengith Vasudevan, gave an intense dance recital presenting the Dasavataram as depicted by Jayadeva, the Sanskrit poet. This was followed by Sanhita Nandi’s Hindustani vocal recital which was a treat to the audience who enjoyed the music amidst the cozy ambience of the park. Later, eminent Bharatanatyam dancer and Padma Bhushan awardee C V Chandrasekhar enthralled the audience with his exhilarating Bharatanatyam performance.
The second day of the festival started on a unique note with a vocal rendition of Kabir Dohas by Vedant Bharadwaj and Bindumalini. Even as the audience came out wishing for an encore, a crowd had quickly assembled for a workshop on ‘Manodharma’ or artistic imagination in Carnatic singing, by veteran musician P S Narayanaswamy. It was clear that the vidwan had the complete attention of the participants because some were seen taking notes meticulously. This was followed by a workshop on treatment of Telugu compositions by senior violin vidwan T V Ramanujacharyulu. It was an interactive session, with the artiste encouraging youngsters to sing Telugu compositions and correcting their mistakes. Later, as C V Chandrasekhar play-acted many traditional and modern games through dance movements at the chess square, Ghatam V Suresh with his team of international artistes conducted a workshop called Joy of Rhythm under a canopy of trees. This was followed by two workshops, one on the efficacy of mime by Yogesh and the other on Rasa and its deeper implications by Dr Shilpa Pandit.
The grand finale started on the evening of the second day with an electrifying performance by Chennai based fusion band, Karmic Blues followed by a mature Bharatanatyam performance by Komala Kumari Mayshark. The trio of D A Srinivas, Punya Srinivas and Naveen Iyer also swayed the audience to their fusion numbers. Last but not the least, talented youngster Praveen Kumar gave a fitting conclusion to the festival with his Bharatanatyam performance. With that, the first edition of SaMaaGaMa came to an end with the artists, participants and audience wishing for a similar, rejuvenating and enlightening experience in the next edition as well.
By Vijay Natesan, Soundbox
Visit www.eambalam.com/samaagama/ to know more about SaMaaGaMa
