A year ago the chairperson of the MITHAS' board, Geetha Krishnamurthy asked the then newly elected board member and local artist/teacher, Durga Krishnan if it would be possible for her to put together a fund raiser program for MITHAS.
The concert on May 16, 2010 was born out of that request. It brought together almost every local music teacher artists and their students from both Carnatic and Hindustani music in the New England area for a scintillating concert that amazed and delighted the 300 strong audience
Titled "NadaSangamam" and performed at the Chinmaya Mission auditorium, the afternoon started with an ensemble of students of all the Carnatic teachers who took part in the program, a total of 20 students, performing a symphony of classical carnatic music on vocal and different instruments that made up of 8 vocalists, 4 veena, 4 violin, 1 flute and 3 mridangam students. This was the very first time,students of different teachers got together to present such a program. Durga Krishnan came up with this idea after witnessing a similar program in Chennai, India a couple of years ago. The students started with a varnam in the raga KathaKuthuhalam in adi talam and composed by Calcutta Shri. Krishnamurthy. Then they went on to perform the Thyagaraja kriti Bhavanutha in raga Mohanam set to Adi tala. This song had a prelude of raga alapana by all the vocal students taking turns, the a very melodious violin by Tara Bangalore's student Raghav and followed by two of Durga Krishnan's students, Nandhakumar Mohan and Rupa Ravi playing a very vibrant tanam. The kriti also had prelude and interludes composed and set by Durga Krishnan that brought out the joyous mood of the song very well. The students concluded their segment with a medley of Western and Indian tunes that was arranged by the famous Ghatam artist Shri Karthik for his ensemble.
The next segment was the presentation of Carnatic vocal by 5 of the local teachers, Tara Bangalore, Geetha Murali, Aparna Balaji, Bhuvana Ganesh and Padma Valli Bhamidipati, accompanied on the violin by K.V.S. Vinay and on the mridangams by Pravin Sitaram and Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan. The Carnatic teachers celebrated the mother's day that fell on the Sunday before by performing compositions of living female composers. The first piece they presented was a ragamalika varnam by Smt. Suguna Purushothaman. The next item was a Tamil composition by Smt. Lalitha Sivakumar (mother of the famous Carnatic vocalist Nithyasri Mahadevan) in the raga Palini with a shor alapana by Tara Bangalore and K.V.S. Vinay and improvisation at the end of the song by all 5 vocalists. After singing a ragamalika composed Smt. Kamala Krishnamurthy, they concluded the segment with a short bajan on Hanuman, the deity of the Chinmaya Mission temple, composed by Smt. Suguna Purushothaman.
The third segment of the afternoon was the Carnatic Instrument ensemble by the local teachers, Durga Krishnan, Revathi Ramaswamy and Ram Naidu on veenas, Tara Bangalore and K.V.S. Vinay on violins and Pravin Sitaram and Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan on mridangams. They started this segment with the Thyagaraja kriti Varanaradha in the raga Vijayasri set to adi talam and moved on to the every popular composition Rama Nee Samanamevaru in the raga Karaharapriya and set to Rupaka tala by Thyagaraja also. Both the violinists took turns in performing a short alapana of the raga while the veena artists performed a very lively tanam before the kriti. They also took turn in doing improvisation at the end of the kriti and this segment ended with a vey popular thillana in the raga Yamuna kalyani, set to Misra chapu tala by the violin maestro Shri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman.
Hindustani segment began with a teacher’s vocal ensemble presentation of three compositions in Raga Kalavati, which is usually performed as a night raga. The first composition was set to medium tempo 10 beat cycle followed by Chota Khyaal set to popular 16 beat cycle (teentaal). The concluding item was a fast paced taraana composed by Dr. Prabha Atre set to 12 beat cycle (Ektaal). The participants presented spontaneously improvised alaaps, bol alaaps, bol tans, sargam and aakaar tans to embellish the compositions. Local area Hindustani music teachers Warren Senders, Mohan Samlal, Priti Chakravarthy, Madhavi Marathe, Sarita Deshpande, Purba Debnath and Shuchita Rao were the participants. They were accompanied by Akshay Navaladi and Pranav Ghatraju on tabla, Sarita Deshpande and Priti Chakravarthy on harmonium.
A tabla ensemble comprising of performer/teacher Nishikant Sonwalkar and his four students Vishal Ahuja, Shaheen Bharvani, Bhavik Nagda and Janak Shah followed. The group presented 16 beat cycle teentaal with vocal recitation, hand movements and demonstration of theka in various tempos, kaaydas and relas on tabla.
A vocal Hindustani ensemble consisting of 12 vocalists presented three Dhrupads in praise of Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga. Dhrupad is considered the most ancient of the North Indian musical forms and has roots in Sam Veda. Members of the student ensemble took turns to improvise and there were several musical conversations between the vocal ensemble and the accompanying musical instruments. They concluded with a serene bhajan “Aaaj tho anand anand†signifying the uniqueness of the musical day which had the blessings of sages and Gods. The presentation was enthusiastic and tuneful. The ensemble, trained by Hindustani vocalist Shuchita Rao was accompanied by Akshay Navaladi and Pranav Ghatraju on tabla, Nandkumar Mohan on veena, Sashank Navaladi on Sarod and Rohit Rao on harmonium. Vocalists were Kriti Badola , Divya Bhatia, Shreya Bhatia, Radhika Jangi, Anusha Kulkarni, Natasha Kumar, Anjali Ramakrishnan , Abhiram Rao, Radha Rao, Minerva Teli and Priyam Turkhia.
The grand finale was a Hindustani instrumental ensemble presentation. Jawwad Noor on Sitar, Gopi Shankar on flute, Chris Pereji on harmonium and Phil Kaplan on electric guitar presented two compositions in the melodious raga Kirwani. The flute and harmonium created a beautiful opening with a slow alaap movement preparing the ground for all instruments to join in the presentation of the compositions and improvisations. The pace slowly built over time to a stunning climax with a fast jhaala movement on the sitar. Akshay Navaladi provided sensitive accompaniment on tabla.
Lokvani recorded the comments of artists on the evening's event....
Tara Bangalore : It is always a pleasure to participate in community events such as Nadha Sangamam. The planning and the execution of these programs is musically energizing as it gives us a chance to explore the pleasures of performing with peers.As exacting as it is in terms of scheduling practices, it is a rewarding experience for all.
Durga Krishnan :Not everybody can afford to donate thousands of dollars to the causes they believe in. But god gives every one some unique ways to do their share for the community or a good cause. I feel that it is my pleasure and privilege that I am able to be part of something like this Nadasangamam to benefit MITHAS or the Swaramala concert a couple of years ago to benefit the Sri Lakshmi temple to raise funds for the organizations and their good work. What a privilege it is to be able to work with my colleagues and friends while doing that.
Aparna Balaji." I thoroughly enjoyed the program. It was a great opportunity to see all the local artists and also to perform with them. More importantly it was really nice to recognize some of the local young talents. The students' ensemble (both Carnatic and Hindusthani) was a grand success. Look forward to more such events".
Bhuvana Ganesh:It was a wonderful evening to listen to varied types of Indian music. Kudos to the kids who participated in the orchestra. As a participant myself, it was a great pleasure to work with some of the best artistes in New England.
Geetha Murali: I personally felt the local teachers did an awesome job by training the kids to perform so well. It is logistically not an easy job to co-ordinate so many kids. As Durgaji said, we have to be really proud about the fact that there is so much harmony amongst teachers.
Revathi Ramaswamy: The kids performance was really outstanding.My congratulations to all the students as well as teachers.Thanks for making me part of this .
Shuchita Rao: We are heirs to an ancient and rich tradition of Classical Music.It was a privilege to be able to share our love and passion for music with Boston area music lovers. Special credit goes to children who are learning and practicing music and to their parents for encouraging them.
Phil Kaplan - The MITHAS fundraiser at the Chinmaya Center was a most inspiring event for me, with all of the local and upcoming talent on display. It was a special thrill and honor for me to have been asked to participate, and to play alongside all of the senior artists that I have come to love and admire over these many years that I have immersing myself in the great and awesome tradition of Indian classical music. To be part of it all has made me feel like a whole lot bigger person!
Warren Sanders :"It was a pleasure to work with so many excellent musicians and to share the genuine sense of good fellowship and community that came from our immersion in the music that we love. It was a terrific experience to hear the wonderful work of the student groups, who have received such excellent training and performed with confidence and precision."
Gopi Shanker: For me, it was a great pleasure and a privilege to support an organization like MITHAS which has worked tirelessly to promote the music and dance of India. Being one of the very few Bansuri players in the area, it was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with other musicians.
Sarita Deshpande :I am very much impressed by our MITHAS fundraising program of Hindustani and Carnatic segments. It was a very effective presentation showing both the musical cultures and styles in a group performances though each participant whether its a Guru or a Student has their own capability of solo presentation. I would like to give special compliments to Carnatic Students' ensemble and their compositions. it was mesmerizing experience to listen to them. I really appreciate the efforts and passion of those students and their respected Gurus. Thanks to MITHAS for giving such a golden gift of our Indian Music to all music lovers.
Geetha Ramamurthy, Chairperson MITHAS – We are overwhelmed with the support that we received from the community. Our first fundraiser exceeded our expectations. We were able to engage and involve the community of teachers and students who worked so hard to teach the next generation of artists. They are selfless when it comes to giving and putting together such a phenomenonal effort. It was also an encouragement and opportunity for the aspiring students who gave their best to showcase their talent. The only regret that I have is any inconvenience and discomfort that was caused to the audience because of technical difficulties and delay. We appreciate the patience of the patrons and will work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Finally I think Boston is enriched with such musical talent and expertise and we at MITHAS hope to sustain and nurture this in the future.
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