The bright and beautiful fall evening of September 26th was made infinitely brighter and more beautiful by the enthralling debut Carnatic vocal performance presented by Shwetha Sundar – disciple of Guru Smt. Geetha Murali of Saikripa School of Music. The Arangetram, or ascension to stage, is a very important milestone in the lifelong musical journey of a musician. The event is when the years of hard work and effort are presented in a full length concert form to discerning audience. Right from the beginning of the concert it felt like we were listening to a seasoned artist, not a budding performer doing her Arangetram. With such poise, control, graceful stage presence and brilliant music it is no wonder Shwetha held her house full audience spell bound for three and a half hours at the lovely Sharon Middle School auditorium. 

On this evening, Shwetha was accompanied by a group of repute artists - Kum. Rasika Murali on Violin, Shri Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan (Mali) on Mridangam and Shri Ravi Balasubramaniam on Ghatam. The concert was a grand success thanks to the extensive chaste training provided by Guru Smt. Geetha Murali, fabulous selection of songs filled with devotion, and the whole hearted effort by Shwetha.

Shwetha started her concert with the brilliant Valachi raga varnam composed by Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. The composition’s beautiful melodic phrases and the way Shwetha presented them set the stage for rest of evening. Invoking Lord Ganesha with the Gaurishankar Stapathi’s brisk krithi “Guruvarulum Thiruvarulum” in raga Abhogi, Shwetha sang some beautiful Kalpana swarams.  Following  Papanasam Sivan’s  rare Sanskrit krithi Shri Valli Devasenapathe in Natabhairavi, Shwetha presented the Lathangi krithi Venkataramana, another Sivan masterpiece, where she skillfully presented improvisational aspects. The terrific alapana and the engaging duet of neraval and swarams by Shwetha and Rasika elevated the mood of the evening. This was followed by a rhythmic pattern laced fast krithi, G.N Balasubramaniam’s “Ranjani Niranjani” enhanced by crisp support of percussionists Mali and Ravi. 

The center piece of the concert was “Evarimata Vinnavo”, the magnum opus of Saint Thyagaraja. Shwetha did complete justice to the krithi – both the sahithya bhavam– as envisioned by the composer and her own manodharmam. The neraval at “Bhaktha Paraadhinuda nuchu” was very moving. Rasika Murali supported the rendering so beautifully on the violin while Mali and Ravi completed the experience with a scintillating percussion duet. Shwetha continued the concert with the all-time favorite, Saint Thyagaraja’s “Nagumomu” in Abheri, captivating the audience.

Shwetha next presented the most complex and complete form of the Carnatic concert platform – the Ragam Thanam Pallavi, a.k.a. RTP. The RTP was in ragam Shanmukhapriya. The lyrics of the pallavi seemed specially written - both to celebrate Shwetha and to salute the divine mother. The ragamalika portion of the RTP was very innovative with Neelambari, Bhageshree and Vagadheeswari – all divine ragams, with their names nicely interwoven in the most appropriate place within the structure of the Pallavi, greatly appreciated by the audience.

The final section of the concert were lined  with Madurai Srinivasan’s “Karunai Deivame Karpagame”, “Kesha Pasha” a beautiful section from Narayaneeyam and a lovely Lalgudi Tillana in Kapi. The Sai Bhajan “Prem Se Gao Mangal Naam” brought the audience to a complete state of ecstasy and tears. Shwetha concluded the concert with the traditional mangalam and the swasthi shloka praying for the peace and well being of every being in the universe.

As Guru Smt. Geetha Murali pointed out at the beginning of the concert, when the singer soulfully presents the devotional aspect of the music and elegantly combines it with the technical artistry, this music can take the singer and the listener to a state of divine bliss. Indeed, with her elegance, poise and devotion, Shwetha’s music took us all to such a blissful state. The audience left the concert wanting more of Shwetha’s music and wishing her continued success in her musical journey.