PANCHAMUKHI PRODUCTION 2017: Written by Sirisha Kasarla.

It was a matter of great honor for our kids to present ‘Panchmukhi – the five facets of Indian Music’ at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja festival on April 17 th, 2017. The kids have worked hard over the past few months under the guidance of Vidwan Sri. V.V.S. Murari and Vidushi Smt.Aparna Balaji for this event. It was an enriching experience for kids and parents alike to be a part of this event  commemorating the 250 th Birth Anniversary of Saint Thyagaraja and the 40th year Cleveland Festival.

Panchamukhi, the brainchild of versatile musician and composer, Sri V.V.S. Murari brought together the five facets of Indian Music in a one hour presentation. The classical and semiclassical segment included songs like ‘Kanchadalayadaakshi’ in ragam Kamalamanohari, ‘Gurulekha Etuvanti’ in ragam Gaurimanohari, ‘Himadrisuthe’ in ragam Kalyani, ‘Rajeevalochanam’ and Raaga malika ‘Kurai Onrum Illai’ composed by Rajaji. The movie segment included songs like ‘Janani Janani’ and the perennial classic ‘Kaatrinele Varum Geetham’ sung and enacted by Late Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbulakshmi in the movie Meera. Both the songs were visually presented through the Abhinaya of Bharatanatyam. The folk song ‘Valli Kannavan’ captivated the audience imagination with the fast beat by the singers and the dancers alike. Throughout the presentation, there was smooth transition between each facet, be it western classical of Vivaldi Springs or the Hindusthani classic ‘Vaishnavo Janatho’. The performance concluded with a befitting composition of Saint Tyagaraja ‘Pavanuja Sutha’ presented in A – Capella style conveying the message that ‘Music is beyond barriers’

It will not be an exaggeration to state that ‘Panchamukhi’ was a treat appealing to the five senses.

PANCHAMUKHI PRODUCTION 2017 in VVS Murari’s words:

Aparna Balaji, a versatile artiste , hails from a family of musicians. Having trained in carnatic music at its chaste best she has been training worthy stutents in Boston area for almost two decades now and taking the musical aspirants to a greater level. Her daughter and disciple Mahathi Athreya is a budding young simger has a great future. Her prime disciple Amritha Pai is a talent to be watched for in the concert platform. 

It was a great pleasure and an enjoyable experience in training Aparna's students for my Panchamukhi production which was premiered at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Festivel on April 17th 2017. They were very receptive and worked very hard with me making this production a successful one. Special credit to both Amritha and Mahathi for holding the entire show together rubbing shoulders with various senior youth musicians from other part of the country.

SUSTAINING SAMPRADAYA 2017 

The Aradhana Committee continues its education series Sustaining Sampradaya, for its 11th year. This year  fisrt tribute was to Dr. S. Ramanathan and Sri.Vellore G. Ramabhadran which was on Saturday 15th April . Dr S. Ramanathan who was a musician, musicologist, and a key figure in propagating Carnatic music in North America. We also celebrate the contributions of Sangeetha Rathnakara Vellore G. Ramabhadran, who embodied the serenity of sarvalaghu, and the art of accompaniment on the mridangam. 

The second Tribute was to Sri. Karukurichi Arunachalam on Monday 17th April.The program was dedicated to the memory of the musician whose spectacular career was cut short, but still made a huge impact not only on the classical music world, but also in film which helped expand the reach of Carnatic music to new audiences. Sindhu Anandraj, Yash Ravish, Neha Moorthy, Sahana Venkatesh participated in this stream.

Yash Ravish is a student of Guru Smt. Tara Anand at the Anubhava school of music, where he learns Carnatic vocal and violin. He is very passionate about Carnatic music, and is an avid listener.He has performed at community events and represented Anubhava at local musical events . Before he came under the tutelage of Tara Anand, he has learnt from Smt. SandhyaGanesh and Smt. Aparna Balaji. Yash attends 7th grade at the Ottoson Middle School in Arlington MA. Apart from his interest in music, he enjoys honing his math skills.

Sindhuja Anandraj is a 7th grader who has been an ardent learner of music and dance since her early childhood. She started learning Carnatic music from the age of 4 and bhartanatyam from the age of 5. At her early years, Sindhu learnt music from her mom, Smt. Priya Anand. Later she went on to learn advanced level of music from Vidushi Sahana Samraj - disciple of Vidushi Smt. Suguna Varadachari. Sindhu has also performed in many carnatic music events and competitions in the New England area. Very recently she also participated in Sustaining Sampradaya to continue her quench her desire in learning carnatic music with some of our great vidhwans and vidhushis. Sindhu has also been training Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of Smt. Sridevi Thirumalai for 7 years and has performed in several temples and events. In addition, Sindhu also has a general interest in painting and crafts as well.

Sahana Venkatesh, a sophomore at Andover High School in Andover, Massachusetts, started learning Carnatic Vocal music at the age of 4, initially under the tutelage of Guru Smt.Valli Bhamadipati. Subsequently she has been learning from Guru Smt.Tara Anand since 2010. In addition to Carnatic Vocal music, Sahana has been learning Veena for the past 9 years under the tutelage of Guru Smt. Durga Krishnan and Bharatanatyam from Guru Smt. Sunanda Narayanan since 2011. Sahana has also completed SAFL- a three year Sanskrit program run by Samskrita Bharati. This is her second year trip to Cleveland Aradhana and she participated in the sustaining Sampradaya Karukurichi stream.

SIVANUM SIVAKUMARIYUM ( Conducted By Sri. Papanasam Ashok Ramani): 

This program is a group rendition of gems of Brahmasri. Papanasam Sivan and Dr. Rukmin Ramani( Sivakumari) by 135 talented participants from North America. Special thanks to Srividya Vasudevan who helped and trained the kids one on one for the perfect rendering.

Papnasam Sivan was a prominent composer and singer of carnatic music. Sivan was a true follower of St. Thyagaraja and hence hailed as tamil Thyagayya. His compositions range from Varnams, Krithis, Javali, Padams and operas. Numerous vidwans from the past and present have sung his compositions as part of their Kutcheri performences.

Sahana Sankar student of Smt Uma Sankar participated in this group rendering and was fortunate to learn these krithis under the guidance of Ashok sir and perform in front of eminent musicians in Cleveland this year. She also participates in all the music festivals in new england area and have sung and won competitions. Sahana also learns violin from Guru Smt. Tara Anand and Piano from Stephanie sellers. She is a 3rd grader from Floral street school, Shrewsbury. Her hobbies are painting, reading and loves to spend time with family.