On October 9th, Prayuth Naduthota, a high school junior at Westford MA, performed his flute arangetram in Littleton, MA under the tutelage of his Guru Mysore A Chandan Kumar. We had a chance to enjoy the flute recital of his Guru Mysore Chandan Kumar the previous week at the Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland, MA. After that memorable and mesmerizing event, we were looking forward to his students' arangetram following week. To our expectations Prayuth didn't disappoint us even for a single moment and attracted the audience with his spontaneity and sense of rhythm and melody.

“Wow, what a marvelous Performance!” This is what everyone in the audience would have said if given a chance to speak. Prayuth’s flute rendition that evening did not look like an arangetram.  It was like a seasoned flautist on stage.  A full three and half hours of mesmerizing flute playing by young Prayuth was amazing, his dedication and hard work towards the art are commendable.

Prayuth’s arangetram was during Navarathri which is very special for Naduthota family originating from temple town of Sringeri in India. In this context, almost all the Ragas chosen denoted the name of Devis (Goddesses). The recital started with a crisp rendering of varnam, "Viribhoni" in Ragam Bhairavi and moved onto the famous Dikshitar Kriti "Vatapi Ganapathim".The song selections were excellent which included two compositions by Guru Chandan Kumar's great grandfather Sri  Mysore T Chowdaiah like rare krithi ‘ide manchi samayamu’. The main item of concert was ‘darini telusukonti’ in raga ‘shuddasaveri’, a composition of Sri Tyagaraja.

Few krithis are very special when played on instrument like “ninuvina namadhendu” in raga ‘navarasa kannada’. One could notice the command of instrument by Prayuth while playing the krithi, it is played in dhutitha kala (high speed) without compromise on text or clarity which is normally difficult for a young flautist. The highlight of the day, the Ragam Tanam Pallavi composed by none other than  Guru Chandan Kumar. The alapana was enunciated clearly and the fabulous support by the accompanying artists delighted the audience. For a young star to be on stage and perform with accompaniments needs experienced accompanying artistes; Dr KVS Vinay on Violin, Dr.Praveen Sitaram on Mridangam and Sri Balaji Chandran on Ghatam were experts in their own fields and made the kutcheri exceptionally exquisite. The thani avarthanam was a treat to the ears. The performance moved onto much mellifluous "Alaipayudhe" and "Jagadhodarana" and ended with Brindavani Thillana by Dr M Balamuralikrishna and "Mangalam"

Even though it was a debut flute recital by Prayuth, he showed his command over the ragas and compositions and the energetic blowing made the evening a soulful one. Prayuth was intensely trained by his Guru Chandan Kumar who flew down from India 6 weeks prior to the event and molded Prayuth to become a flautist par excellence.  In Prayuth’s playing, one could see the guru’s total involvement in training the student. Prayuth proved that hard work and perseverance brings out the right results and there was not a single dull moment in the concert. Prayuth has the right caliber and we all wish him have a great musical future!
 
Dr Suresh Mathur was guest of honor for the event, Mrs Chand Sripad introduces artists. Dr Ram Nagaraj welcomed the guests. Mrs Durga Krishnan, Mrs Aparna Balaji and Mrs Ranjani Saigal spoke on the occasion. Prayuth’s arangetram was attended by more than 500 guests. Elaborate and exquisite decorations were made by friends of Naduthota family. None of this would have been possible without a total dedication from Prayuth’s parents, Padma and Praveena Naduthota.  Their total involvement and dedication to music and in Prayuth’s musical journey was quite evident on that day.  

Keep up the good work Prayuth!  We look forward for many more great performances from you!!

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