Concert at Dr. Shridhara's house on Sept 23rd 2012

I was supported by Shri Jayanth Balasubramaniam on Mridangam and Ranjani Atur on violin.
Here is the list:

1. hastivadanAya - navarOj
2. gajavadana - todi (N,S @ vasutAta)
3. muccaTa brahmAdulaku (R,T,S)
4. shrI kamalAmbayAh - bhairavi (R,S,T)
5. gaddari - kalyani
6. nA ninna - kAnada
7. mariyAda - suruTTi
8. muTTavadurA - sAvEri
9. jagadoddhAraNa - kApi

I thoroughly enjoyed singing for this audience. Shri Jayanth was very good. I slipped during the final korvai - he quickly picked it up and helped me with it! That was so good!

--Gokul--

Concert at Shruti Laya New York

This was a thematic concert on Sadashiva Brahmendra kritis. Smt. Sandhya Anand and Shenthuran Tharmaraajah supported me on the violin and mridangam respectively. Here is the list:

1. khelati mama hrdayE - aThANa - Adi
2. prativAram vAram - tODi - mishra chApu (R,S)
3. tatva jIvatvam - kIravANi - Adi (RNS)
4. RTP in tishra jAti rUpaka tAlam, khanDa naDai
pallavi line: cEtah shrI rAmam chintayE jImUta shyAmam
5. cEtah shrI rAmam - suruTTi

Highlights of the concert were:
1. Aditya Venkatesh's presence
2. Shenthuran playing tani for the pallavi - he insisted that he wanted to do so - and a good job he did!
3. Keerthana and Sahitya giving vocal support - they learnt all kritis well and memorized them too!
(we had prepared a total of 8 kritis, of which we sang only four due to shortage of time)
4. The post concert session at Shenthuran's place with Aditya Venkatesh.- Thanks to Shenthuran's dad and mom for allowing us to practice till late in the night.

I must thank Sunil and Priya for driving us to NY, and also Shankar and Cristina for having me (and the others) over. A memorable weekend!

--Gokul--

Sriranjani Santhanagopalan @ New Jersey on May 28th, 2012

Sri Ranjani Santhanagopalan (SSG from now) gave a fabulous 2.25 hour concert at New Jersey yesterday. Here is the list:

1. varnam - purnachandrika - Adi - SSG
2. kamala - hamsadhwani - Adi - NSG
3. ivanArO - kAmbodi - Misra chapu - Kavi kunjarabharati
4. RTP - purvikalyani - khanda triputa with ragamalika swarams in bahudari, rasikapriya and behag
5. rAmanai bhajitAl - mAndu
5. anjuvida - sindu bhairavi

SSG's varnam is really good and displays her vidvat (Need to learn it soon!). I have heard that TNS himself has sung the Hamsadhwani composition. One definitely missed a kriti of the trinity but everything was replaced by the stellar manodharmam, the extensive RTP and the emotive rendition of ivanArO. SSG's singing is highly mature - all I can say about my first cousin is that she has her father's jnAnam in full (be it laya jnAnam, sense of aesthetics and proportion or measured full throat singing ). 

I thoroughly enjoyed Smt. Charumati Ramanujam's accompaniment. How sensitive she is!! And she reproduced all of SSG's aesthetic laya exercises beautifully!
Ganapatiraman on Mridangam is, needless to mention an excellent Mridangam player. He embellished every interpretation of SSG with his powerful, assertive but admirably soft strokes!

The icing on the cake was however, Shri NSG's koNNakOL exchange with Shri Ganapatiraman during the tani. (Shri NSG played kanjira during rest of the concert)

Pantula Rama @ SSVT Maryland

The first thing that struck me as I listened to Dr. Pantula Rama was her beautiful, deep and classical voice (much like that of Rama Ravi and the like). Her alapanas were amazing. The continuity in the phrases, the links, the jArus and the perfect balance between aakaram and gamakam based ideas made the experience very aesthetic. 

Here is the list (May not be complete)

1. shrI vEnkata girIsham - surutti (R- short sketch)
2. tuNai purindaruL - varamu (R,S)
3. paramAtmuDu - vAgadIshwarI (viruttam - verses from bhagavad gItA)
4. vEnkaTashaila - hamIr kalyANi (R,S)
5. bhOgIndra shAyinam - kuntalavarALi 
6. O rangashAyI - kAmbOdi (R,N,S,T)
7. RTP - kApi - khanda triputa (laghu in tisram and dhrutam in chatusram)
Pallavi line: nandabAla navanIta chOrA AnandalIlA gOvinda mAm pAhi 
Ragamalika swarams in kadanakutUhalam, durgA, darbAri kAnaDa
8. srInivAsa tiruvenkaTa - hamsAnandi

9. An Annamacharya kriti in mAnDu tuned by Pantula Rama
10. kandarpa janaka - kalAvati (not sure of the composer)
11. Tillana in sindhu bhairavi

All the post RTP items, except the hamsanandi song were new to me. Smt. Rama's alapanas were so fulfilling. Especially the hamIr kalyani, kAmbodi and kApi ones. Extremely refreshing, new ideas interspersed with popular phrases made the alapanas delightful! The pallavi was really good. The way Smt. Rama moved on from kApi to kadanakutUhalam was amazing. I also thoroughly enjoyed her kriti renditions, paramAtmuDu in particular.

The highly aesthetic and "jnAnamaana" ideas and the "hAy" (extremely relaxed way of singing) in Smt. Rama's music made my day! 

The volume for the violinist (Smt. Rama's husband) was way too loud for my comfort level. That in fact even drowned the volume of the Mridangist (Shri Trivandrum Balaji). Balaji's accompaniment was superb. His khanda nadai was especially stellar. 

Overall, it was a memorable experience - one that will stick on for a long time.

Lec dem on "Navarasas in Carnatic Music"

I gave a lecture demonstration on "Navarasas in Carnatic Music" last Saturday at the Siva Vishnu Temple. It was interesting to deliver a lec-dem (for the first time!). I presented the following:

viribONi - in Adi tALam for adbhutam
aThANA raga alapana for vIra rasam followed by nArada gAna lOla
kharaharapriya - dayavillayA dayALO - for karuNA rasam
indendu vaccitivirA - padam in surutti for beebhatsam
jANarO in khamAs - for shringAram

smarasundarAnguni - upon request
adi nIpai - yamuna kalyani

It was a great experience and Smt Pavani and Shri Balajee enriched it with their outstanding support!

-- Gokul

Concert at JSS mission - Gaitheburg - MD

I performed at this serene place in Gaithesburg on Saturday, 17th March, 2012. Here is the list:

1. entho prEmatO - suruTTi - varnam (S)
2. shrI kAmAkshi - vasantA (R,S @ pallavi)
3. nAradagAna lOla - aThAna (R)
4. marakatha maNi varNa - varALi (R,S @ parama purusha)
5. akshaya linga vibhO (RNST)
6. OsOsi
7. ErAtagu naTara
8. kuvalayAkshirO

I was supported by Smitha Krishnan on the violin and Ajay  Ravichandran on the Mridangam. This concert will be in my memory for a long,long time because my advisor, Nathan Hultman attended with his daughter although the venue was far (it felt like rural Maryland). They listened to almost 3/4ths of the concert before leaving.  I enjoyed singing here and am hoping to sing there more!

--Gokul

My first US concert!

SRGMPDN, a non-profit organization in the Washington D.C. area that is striving to promote to Carnatic music in the community invited me to perform on Jan 28th. It was a nice experience singing with Smt Pavani Shrikanth and Vivek Chellappa on the violin and Mridangam respectively. Here is the song list:


1. sAmi ninnE - sri rAga varnam (S) 

2. palukavEmi nA - pUrNachandrikA- Adi- T (R,S)

3. pAhi shrI girirAjasutE - Ananda bhairavi- rUpakam - SS (R)

4. kAntimati- kalyani - tisra Ekam- Subbarama Dikshitar (R,N,S at shAntamuna)

5. nI bhajana - nAyaki - Adi - T (R- sketch)

6. cani tODi - harikambodi - Adi - T (RNST)

7. OsOsi - mukhAri - misra chapu - padam

8. yAla padarE - begada - tisra triputa - kshetragna

9. shAntakAram - viruttam in sAvEri, dEvagandhari, pUrvi kalyANi, darbari kaanada, yaman kalyani

10. krishnA nI bEganE - yaman kalyani - misra chApu - dAsar nAma

11. ElarADayanE - javali - bhairavi - Adi - Dharmapuri Subbarayar

12. madiyAl vittaganAgi - surutti - tiruppugazh

Shri Madhavan and Smt. Kani Madhavan hosted this concert - it was a very nice experience indeed!

--Gokul

Mumbai trip - Jan 2012

I visited home soon after I came to the US. Why so soon? One might ask. If you know me weel, you would guess that I was missing music lessons with my Guru Smt. Kalyani Sharma. Never have I missed someone or someone's art form so much in the past. Mami and I developed a keen sense of respect and a strong relationship soon after I started learning padams and javalis from her. Learning a padam is a not a tough task, it is a herculean one. Only after 2 years of constant practice, am I comfortable singing padams like koNTE gADu (suruTTi), ninnu jUci (punnAgavarALi), payyada (nAdanAmakriya), etc. When learning is such a difficult task, imagine how difficult would teaching these mammoth compositions be! Mami taught me each one of these with painstaking care and effort. She ensured that I got each sangati, voice modulation and intonation required for rendering these compositions correctly. I can only hope that I am doing some justice to these!

To add to this list, I learnt a beautiful composition during this trip - kuvalayAkshirO - a padam in gowlipantu. Like some other students who were present while Mami taught this to me said, this padam is so haunting! Padams are in general like that. When you sing/listen to yAla padarE (bEgada) or koNTe gADu you can feel some kind of exhilaration. When you sing/listen to payyada or ninnu jUci, you can experience the pain of separation. Such amazing compositions! I consider myself blessed to be able to learn these compositions and that too from a vidushi like Kalyani Mami. I am eagerly waiting for my next trip to Mumbai when I hope to learn mora tOpu which is THE padam! And  inta mOha - the big shankarabharanam padam (I know a couple of smaller ones)

I also learnt other beautiful compositions - mahAsuram kEtumaham (shanmukhapriya), smarAmyaham (rAmapriya), Emi jEsitE, buddhi rAdu, maharAju karammanE (a beautiful javali in behag), muccata brahmAdulaku, nIvu brovavalEnammA (saveri). Learning music and especially new compositions in a good pAThAntaram from a good Guru is such a delightful experience.

Apart from learning, I also performed at a few places - All memorable experiences! My session with Rajesh Sreenivasan at his place was uplifting and refreshing! I also gave my first AIR recording! Overall this trip has been very useful and memorable! Will miss all my music friends and of course, Kalyani Mami! Like Mami herself said, "What to do, to study, one has to go to US!"

--Gokul--

My experience at Tiruvaiyyaru, 2009

Here is my recount of the homage to Tyagaraja Swami that happens at Tiruvaiyyaru every year during Sivaratri. I was reminded of it today after reading about this in a forum.


This happens every year on Sivaratri. Three years back, I had gone on an extensive temple trip with a friend. On Sivaratri day, in the morning, I went to Tanjore Peria Kovil, had darshan and then proceeded to Bangaaru Kamakshi Temple nearby. After singing Shyama Shastri's kritis in front of Ambal, the kurukkaL inquired more about me. After I introduced myself, he asked, "Are you going to Tiruvaiyyaru?" I said, "No mama, no plans for today! I have to go back to Kumbakkonam and then to Kodavasal to my Grandpa's place for Sivaratri" He said, "No No, you have to go to Tiruvaiyyaru! You are a musician and since you are on a temple trip, you must go. That way you can also visit Thiru-Indaloor, the chandra sthalam near Tiruvaiyyaru. I will make all arrangements. You come home for lunch, and you can leave in the evening." Also, another friend had called me up in the morning and asked me to do archanai at Panchanadeeshwarar temple on his mother's name if possible (as it was her birthday that day). I had replied that I will try, else I will do the archanai at Kodavasal. So after  kurukkaL mama's persistence, I felt that maybe it was destined for me to visit the bard's shrine on that auspicious day and so agreed to his request. After having amazing lunch at his place and a nice nap after that, my friend and myself left for Tiruvaiyyaru. Please note that util this point, I did not know at all that there was an akhandam going on at Tiruvaiyyaru.


When we reached Tiruvaiyyaru, I was pleasantly surprised to find many musicians and vidvans around! Some musicians whom I personally know (also surprised to see me!), insisted that I also sing. The organisers hesitantly acceded to their request and said that I could sing two kritis after about two hours. In the meanwhile, my friend and I quickly went to Thiru-Indaloor (it is just 15 minutes by rickshaw from Tiruvaiyyaru!). On the way to Thiru-Indaloor and back, I went through some kritis in my mind. 

I came back in time to sing. I did not have veshti at that time so someone arranged for one and I sang muddu mOmu and then palikavEmi nA. I was just about to get up when the organiser came and told me to go on for some more time(later I told myself that maybe it was Tyagaraja Swami's way of telling me that I am not so bad a singer  )! I sang all those kritis that came to my mind. I sang right in front of the bard's sannidhi. Sri VV Srinivasa Rao provided violin accompaniment (he was one of the musicians who insisted that I must sing!). I do not remember the mridangist's name but I have seen him play for many vidvans! 

Before singing a kriti I would ask "is this OK?" and the organiser would nod his head if it had not been sung before or request me to take up another one. After I finished a kriti, I would also ask him "shall I sing nAdupai?" The organiser would say "You sing that at the end as that is in madhyamavati"! He asked me to go on and on for almost an hour! And finally he let me sing nAdupai!

This has been the best experience I have ever had in my life. Despite the fact that I had not planned to go to Tiruvaiyyaru at all, destiny took me there and made me sing to my heart's content in front of the bard (and other musicians/vidvans). It was the first time I went to Tiruvaiyyaru and destiny made it extremely memorable for me! The organisers (whose names I forget) are doing a great service. I sincerely request all those who get a chance to visit Tiruvaiyyaru during Sivaratri to do so! I am sure that your experience will be memorable!

Iyer Brothers @ Mumbai on Jan 1st 2012

Iyer Brothers (Shri Ramnath and Shri Gopinath) performed at Mumbai on 1st Jan. The early evening concert, with a pleasant breeze and an almost full moon reminded one of the tEvAram "mAsil vInaiyum..." of Appar. It was like listening to Shri KSN and Trivandrum Venkatraman live. The selection of kritis, the presentation and the discipline shown by the brothers made the concert highly aesthetic and pleasing and made my New Year memorable!


Here is the list:
1. inta mODi - sArangA varnam
2. mEru samAna - mAyA mALava gowLa (R,N,S @ gaLamuna)
3. rAma pAhi - dEvagandhari - Rupakam- Swathi Thirunal (R)
4. bhajarE rE citta - kalyANi - RNS @ nijarUpa
5. giripai 
6. shobhillu 
7. tanayuni brOva - bhairavi - R, Tanam and S @ vatsamu followed by tani
8. srinivAsa tiruvenkaTa - hamsanandi
9. vaishnava janatO
10. adi nI pai - yamuna kalyani - Adi - Dharmapuri Subbarayar 
11. bhAgyAda lakshmi
12. mangaLam


Both the extensive Alapanas in Kalyani and Bhairavi were extremely aesthetic and were no-frill affairs. Kriti renditions were just perfect. The devagandhari kriti was new to me but what a delight it was! I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the concert. Rohit Prasad on the Mridangam was a very sensitive accompanist cum admirer. The tani was aptly sarvalaghu in nature and placed great importance to sowkhyam and appropriate nAdam.
Hope to hear more concerts of the Iyer Brothers in future!