The June edition of the Karnatik Hindustani Music Circle's (www.khmcnewengland.org) concert series was held at Shri Dwarkamai Vidyapeeth/Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in North Billerica, MA on June 25th. The afternoon started with the Carnatic youth segment concert by Aditi Iyengar (student of Smt Aparna Balaji) accompanied by Sahana Srinivasan (student of Smt Tara Anand) on the violin and Anand Swaminathan (student of Shri Pravin Sitaram) on the Mridangam. The youth segment provides an ideal launching platform for upcoming talent and the trio used it very well with Aditi singing Parandhamavathi in raagam Dharmavathi as the main piece.

The youth segment was followed by the main concert by Shri Prasanna Venkatesh Soundararajan accompanied by Shri KVS Vinay on the violin and Shri Pravin Sitaram on the Mridangam. Prasanna started the concert with a Sahana varnam followed by the Purandaradasa krithi Satata Gananatha beautifully sung in Rasikapriya. After an elaborate alapana of Malayamarutham, Prasanna sang Saint Tyagaraja's krithi Manasa Etulo with a vibrant neraval at the not often sung "Sulabhamuga gatatheranu" followed by kalpana swarams. Prasanna's bhakti drenched Neelotpalambam composed by Dikshithar in Naari Reethigowlai was followed by a brisk Neetu Mahima in Hamsanandhi composed by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhavagathar.

The concert's main piece was Kaligiyunte in Keeravani where the artist was able to reach the depths of the raga and demonstrate his technical prowess. As he dived deeper into alapana of Keeravani and earlier in Malayamarutham and during the neraval/swarams, Prasanna exhibited his arduous training over several years and the good influence of his guru Madurai Shri T N Seshagopalan in his delivery and technique. Prasanna concluded the concert with Smaravaram varam followed by an Arabhi Tillana which is his own composition.

The chords of KVS Vinay’s violin blended well with Prasanna's vocal chords, as Vinay brilliantly brought out the raga bhavams during his mellifluous alapanas in Malayamarutham and Keeravani. Pravin Sitaram provided excellent support on the Mridangam and his thani avarthanam after Kaligiyunte was filled with brisk "korvais".

The Hindustani segment followed the Carnatic section after a brief break for arati and dinner. The youth segment was started by the beautiful compositions sung by the students of Raganjali School of Music. They gave an excellent performance presenting compositions in ragas Khamaj, Durga,Gaudh Sarang and Malkauns, while KHMC's Jeyanthi Ghatraju introduced the items. The students of various age groups performed wonderfully and pleased the audience. Guru Swati Panda herself accompanied and supported the students on the Harmonium and Pranav Ghatraju accompanied on the Tabla.

The main segment was a Santoor recital by Shri Nitin Pandit, who stunned the listeners with the ragas like Des and Kirwani in Vilambit and Dhrut laya. Shri Nitin Pandit is a disciple of Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, a world renowned Santoor Masteroe who has greatly contributed in promoting the unique instrument like Santoor for the popularization of North Indian classical Music. Pranav Ghatraju accompanied the whole segment with an excellence of demonstrating Thekas in jugalbandi style for the Santoor in various Taal. The occasion was graced by the presence of Ustad Shabbir Nisar, Pranav's guru from India and Shri Ravi Rao, a renowned Sitar player from NewYork. Their words of encouragement were highly appreciated by the performing artists who gave a scintillating performance. There was a good turnout of audience throughout the evening with great appreciation and love for Indian Classical Music in the Greater Boston area.

The day dedicated to Indian classical music was hosted by KHMC members, Shobha and Ramapriya, along with the dedicated volunteers from the Shri Dwarakamayi Vidhyapeeth. They had worked countless hours coordinating the details of the arrangements, getting the venue prepared for the concerts, not to mention the sumptuous snacks and dinner. Jeyanthi Ghatraju conducted the entire program and profusely thanked the accomplished artists and the hosts for a memorable evening.

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