I’ve known Nitya Aryasomayajula for close to a decade now, starting from our summer carpool where I drove my daughter, Nitya and a few kids to Paatu camp. It was always interesting to hear kids chatter away in the back seat about what they learned that day, but Nitya was generally a quieter kid, displaying a lot more seriousness than kids her age even in those conversations. Over the years, I noticed that she had a steady expansion of her talent, generally the mark of a very hard working student. So, it was really no surprise that when her arangeÌ„tram was announced, we were all thrilled to be there.                    

Smt. Aparna Balaji, my daughter’s teacher as well as Nitya’s, is someone I’ve known for a long time. Her no-pressure style of teaching, combined with the ability to inspire the student to develop her own love for the artform is very old fashioned. This style, naturally suits someone of demure demeanor like Nitya, and it clearly has brought out the best in Nitya.

Nitya’s performance started with a varnam in my favorite rāgam, Tōdi. That Tōdi is not easy to sing is a well known fact. And Nitya did justice to the rāgam and delivered the varnam masterfully in three non-linear kālams - the very deliberate first speed, a tricky tisram and a brisk second speed easily flowing from one to the other. That set the tone for the rest of the concert to follow.

While her entire concert was one of the season highlights for the 2019 arangētram season in the Greater Boston area, the following were so memorable they will stay etched in my memory for a long time to come.

Nīlāmbarī is a subtle rāgam to get the appropriate speed and bhāvam both right for most debutants. Nitya’s rendition of Ambā Nīlambarī was so soothing and the cadence was so smooth that it was easy to forget that this was her first foray on to the stage. Following it was a very brisk and sweetly delivered Bantureethi in the melodious hamsanāda rāgam.

Be it MaÌ„ JaÌ„nakiÌ„, in KaÌ„mbhoÌ„ji, the “sub main” piece of her concert, or the “main”, which was Nambi kettavar in RaÌ„gam KalyaÌ„ni, the recurring theme of her rendition was clarity and crispness of the delivery, whether it was the abstract improvisations parts like aÌ„laÌ„panaÌ„, neraval, kalpanaÌ„ svaram or just the delivery of the actual composition. The beautiful and seamless transition in aÌ„laÌ„panaÌ„ from KalyaÌ„ni on one end of the spectrum to ToÌ„di on the other end and back was a treat to the ears. And there were so many such treats throughout the concert that one has to choose lest the review become a thesis!            

“RTP” started with the elaboration of Rāgam ārabhi, and as Nitya delved into the Tānam, it became clear that the team on the stage, were enjoying themselves as much as we in the audience were. The very collegial exchange between the violinist and Nitya, along with the very supportive and dynamic percussion, brought smiles to the audience. “RTP” was a rāgamālikā in which Sāvērī , Sālakabhairavi ,Mohanakalyāni , Kalyānavasantham , Madhuvanthi and Desh rāgams were sung by Nitya, to conform to Auduva sampūrna rāgam theme. I have seen Balaji Rajamani set some nice Pallavis before in Tamil and Sanskrit, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him set a beautiful pallavi “Brōvamma Shubhalakshmi Rāvamma - Samsara Bheethi Dheerchi” in Nitya’s mother tongue Telugū. The rāgam ārabhi’s name appearing in the pallavi was a nice cherry on top.

The choice of songs featured many composers, many languages and many raÌ„gams and taÌ„lams. But the teacher’s emphasis on proper pronunciation be it a song in Nitya’s mother tongue Telugu, or a song like Karpaga ManoÌ„haraÌ„ in Tamil or the royal composer SvaÌ„ti TirunaÌ„l’s Shankara Shrigiri, a composition in Hindi, and the student’s hard work in singing true to each language deserves a good loud round of applause.                    

In all this, it must be said that an arangeÌ„tram, or any concert for that matter, is only a success if everyone on stage, the singer and the pakka vaÌ„dhyam all come together as one to deliver the performance. The complete and unflinching support Nitya had from violinist Giridhari Venkatadhri, and percussionists Sri Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan (Mali) on the mridangam and Sri Sivachelvan Ponnudurai on the kanjira really set her at ease and made her concert a resounding success.                    

In closing, I’ve been to many vocal arangētrams before Nitya’s , and I can easily say that hers was one of the best arangētrams that I have been to. From being shy and somewhat nervous on stage as a youngster, to blossoming so beautifully as an artist takes immense amount of hard work from the student, and patient and selfless coaching and encouragement from her adhyāpikā Smt. Aparna Balaji. I congratulate both of them on this successful arangētram. Nitya Aryasomayajula has her teacher and parents proud and I have no doubt that she will go on to earn a lot more accolades in the years to come if she keeps up her attitude and hard work.

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