The Spring concert of KHMC (Karnatic Hindustani Music Circle) blossomed on March 25, 2017 at Sumana and Anand's Rao's beautiful home in Lexington, MA. Sumana and Anand have been hosting the KHMC concerts for over 10 years and lent the musical community a welcoming home that was tastefully decorated and plans well-thought out. True to the proceeds of a typical KHMC concert, there was a blend of Hindustani and Carnatic music in the agenda.

The concert commenced with the Hindustani junior segment consisting of students of Sri Warren Senders, Arya Mohanty, Avni Kamat and Suraja Menon Roychoudhury. They were ably accompanied by Sarita Deshpande on the harmonium and Harsha Hampapura on the tabla. One did not notice to appreciate the synergy of these accomplished artists in supporting young talent, that the students, by no means junior in their renditions, could reach their full potential.

Mr Senders is known for his classic khyal singing and true to the tradition of his teaching, Arya started the segment with a khyal in Raga Brindavani Sarang with great ease and the peaks and troughs she reached bringing out the beauty of this raga was amazing. Avni Kamal then presented khyal in Raga Madhukauns and her rendering was melodious and solid. Suraja Menon Roychoudhury's khyal was based on raga Jog and she traversed the breadth of the raga quite well. In all, it was heart warming to see the guru sit in front of them, encouraging them and keeping up the rhythm. Students certainly made Mr Senders quite proud, which he humbly acknowledged!

The next part of the concert was a Carnatic junior segment by vocalist, Smrithi Raman, accompanied by Sri Kalyan Gopalakrishnan on the violin and Hari Shanmugam on the mridangam.This was a special one as Smrithi and Hari are high school seniors and going off to college in the Fall. It was wonderful to have them share their passion with the KHMC audience.

Smrithi began her segment with a virutham on Lord Ganesha in ragam Kedaragowla and followed it with a varnam in the same ragam. She moved on then to present a brief alapana in ragam Bowli and Sri Parvathy and kalpanaswarams. The other items she sang were Paramapurusha in ragam Vasantha, Subhapanthuvarali alapana, Charanakamala layathai (thiruppugazh), neraval, vanga kadal (thiruppavai) and irakkam varamal in ragam Behag. Smrithi's voice has a depth that is pleasantly evocative. Her dictions were clear and the kalpanaswarams and neraval proved her sincerity and commitment to the art form. Audience thoroughly enjoyed ther meticulous selection of songs. Sri Kalyan, on the violin, was a sheer pleasure to listen and watch as he repeated and enhanced the nuances of Smrithi's singing so beautifully and intelligently. Hari Shanmugam on the mridangam is blossoming into a wonderful accompanist, playing his supportive role quite well. Of course, his highlight was the thani!

The Hindustani senior segment that followed featured Sri Warren Senders, acclaimed as the foremost non-Indian performer of Khyal. Warren Senders began his concert with a Vilambit Khayal set to 12 beat cycle in Ektaal followed by two drut khyals set in sixteen beat cycle Teen taal in Raga Puriya Kalyan. The raga development showed excellent vocal range and dynamic movement between two and half octaves. Warren then sang a khyal in Raga Hindol describing the Holi festival replete with layakari and with a sparse touch of komal nishaad in the descending movement of the raga. "The komal nishaad is to be used like astoefoda (hing) in cooking - too much of it will ruin the dish" said Warren. He followed Hindol rendition with a brisk self composed Tarana in Raga Shivranjani that used several percussion syllables in the antara. He ended with a thumri in the pensive Raga Jogia set to Chachar taal. Rohit Panchakshari on the tabla and Smt. Sarita Deshpande on the harmonium provided excellent support to the vocalist who sang joyfully and knew how to engage his listeners very well.

|