An audience consisting of a mix of Hindustani and Carnatic music lovers gathered in Framingham, MA for a triple header house concert organized by Learnquest Baithak. A unique Hindustani-Carnatic jugalbandi was followed by Hindustani vocal recital by Sri Pushkar Lele and a santoor recital by Pandit Satish Vyas, senior artist from India.

Boston area performers/teachers Smt. Aparna Balaji and Smt. Shuchita Rao started the concert with a Tulsidas bhajan in praise of Lord Ganesh set to raga Hamsavaasanthi. Shuchita Rao proceeded to present a haunting Hindustani khayal in afternoon raag Bhimpalasi set to a ten beat cycle “Ub naa ghur aayo Shyaam”, a composition by Pandit Shankar Abhayankar.  Shuchita has  received training from several eminent Hindustani vocalists and is an exponent of Dhrupad, Khyaal, Thumri, Dadra, Taraana and devotional music.  She is a faculty member at Learnquest Academy and also the founder-director of RASA (Raaga Aesthetics Sharing and Appreciation) institute based out of Sharon, MA. She was superbly accompanied on harmonium by Sri Ravi Torvi, nephew and disciple of the renowned vocalist Pandit Vinayak Torvi and on tabla by Sri Amit Kavthekar, disciple of renowned tabla maestro, the late Ustad Alla Rakha. Amit Kavthekar is a faculty member of New England School of Music based in Boston.

Smt. Aparna Balaji, daughter of Sangeet Natak Academy winner, the renowned Vidwaan O S Thiagarajan, is faculty member at Learnquest Academy and runs a Carnatic music school called Abhyaas based in North Billerica, MA. Aparna sang a solo Carnatic krithi  “Seethamma Maayamma” , a well-known Thyagaraja composition set to Aadi taalam in ragam Vasantha.  She was ably assisted on the violin by Sri KVS Vinay, grandson and disciple of Sangeeta Kalanidhi late Sri T.K Jayarama Iyer.  Aparna’s rich imaginative melodic sequences were matched perfectly by KVS Vinay’s spontaneous responses leading to a musical exchange deeply rooted in perfect sruti and laya. Sri Mali Santhanakrishna , disciple of Sri P. Srinivasa Iyer and Padmasri Palghat Raghu provided excellent accompaniment on Mridangam.

The main item of the Jugalbandi (meaning entwined twins) was a Ragam Thanam Pallavi composed by Sri Rajamani Balaji in Carnatic Dharmaavathy/Hindustani Madhuvanthy. “Swara Laya Thaanum BhajaRay Shankaram Rasabharita Sapta” described Lord Siva as a master of seven swaras, laya and rasa. Aparna improvised with “Neraval” while Shuchita sang “Bol-alaaps” using the words of the composition. A torrent of “Kalapanaswarams” and  Hindustani style “Aakaar taans” was followed by an engaging korvai and a thani-avarthanam brilliantly performed by the two percussionists. All the artists seemed to converse with each other and the audience through music.

The one hour long jugalbandi ended with a sprightly Khamaas thillana composed by late violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman. It was offered as a tribute to the legendary master musician whose skills in composing music were of the highest order. Swara, Laya and Bhaava came together in this concluding rendition which was received extremely well by the audience. Dr. Asha Kesavan, who attended the jugalbandi concert, made a comparison of the two music systems by saying “Carnatic music is like Bharatanatyam while Hindustani music is like Odissi “.

With this concert, the lovers of the two distinct systems of music had an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of both forms simultaneously.  It was interesting to observe the treatment of the same raga by the two different systems of music. Boston audiences had much appreciated a vocal jugalbandi in 2010 by the eminent Dhrupad exponents Gundecha brothers and Carnatic vocalists Malladi Brothers. This recent collaboration by Smt. Aparna Balaji and Smt. Shuchita Rao was a worthy effort in the same direction.

|