Adding dimensions to December Season...

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It has been The Other Festival, now called The Park's New Festival and the Hindustani Music Festival at Kalakshetra that were different from the main stream of Carnatic Music and dance season in Chennai.
Now, a few other musicians and musicologists who consider music to be universal, are exploring a different angle that would interest the youngsters too.
One such is Brhaddhvani's new initiative 'Arts 360' under which a music festival called 'The Universe of Sound' that will be held on Dec. 18, 19 and 20 in MCTM Chettiar International School, Luz Church Road.
Artistes like Aruna Sairam, 'Chitravina' Ravikiran, Prof. Trichy Sankaran will perform at the festival.
The educative sessions will have Francis Shepherd, David Reck, Woody Shaw III.
To supplement with another form of art, an exhibition titled 'Madras in December' will be held at the premises by Apparao Galleries on these days.

For more details, contact Brhaddhvani at 28, IV Main Road. Raja Annamalai Puram, Chennai - 600 028. Phone: 4208-1813. E-mail - adminbrhaddhvani@gmail.com

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December season albums sale

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Perfectly located between the two major sabhas, The Music Academy and Narada Gana Sabha, AVM Sound Zone puts up an exhibition cum sale of music and dance albums every year during December.


This exhibition was inaugurated today at Sri Sankara Hall, T.T.K. Road.


The special sale offers a minimum discount of 10% on all the albums during the season's sale period.

Apart from audio and video albums of classical music and dance, there are videos of documentary films on musicians, devotional songs, books on arts and educative & fun albums for the kids.

In short the exhibition has something for everyone in the family.
The sale will be on till Jan. 3, 2010 and is open from 10 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.

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Book on The Music Academy

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The Music Academy. Madras, as it is known to many young and the old, turned 80 a year ago.
Though the firct music conference was held in 1928 as part of the All India Congress session, it was in 1929, the Music Academy brought the annual music conference into its regular schedule.

A book documenting the history of the institution, technically celebrating the 80th year of annual conference is launched today at the Music Academy.


Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, PM's Economic Advisory Councilwill release the book and senior musicians R.K. Srikantan and R. Vedavalli will receive the first copies.

Authored by historianV. Sriram and Malathi Rangaswamy, one of the long-time secretaries of the Music academy, this is a coffee table book spanning into 25 chapters. It has inputs from various magazines and newspapers of that era and anecdotes from the living legends like Vocalist-artist S. Rajam.

The book is published by Westland Books and is priced at Rs. 2000.
The members of the Music Academy can get the book at a special rate of Rs. 1200. There is something for the Non-members too. They can pick it up for Rs. 1700 on the day of launch and during the Academy's December music festival i.e till Jan. 1, 2010

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Carnatica’s Samarpanam 2009

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An interactive thematic Music Fest is hosted by Carnatica for the past few years during the December Season.
This year the fest will be held at MGR Janaki College for Women on Durgabai Deshmukh Road, R.A. Puram.

The Schedule:

Dec. 18, 2009
4.00 pm – 5.50 pm: Geetha Bennett (Veena), S. Balashankar (Mridangam), Adambakkam Shankar (Ghatam)
6.00 – 6.30 pm: Inauguration
6.30 pm – 9.00 pm: Madurai T. N. Seshagopalan (Vocal), T. N. S. Krishna (Vocal Support), Delhi Sundararajan (Violin), Srimushnam Raja Rao (Mridangam), Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (Ghatam)

Dec. 19, 2009

At Seminar Hall
9.00 am: Viji Krishnan Natarajan (Violin Solo),Poongulam Subramanian (Mridangam), Dr. S. Karthick (Ghatam)
10.45 am: T. K. Murthy : Rare Talas Thematic Laya concert, T. K. Jayaraman (Vocal), B. Sivaraman (Mridangam), Anirudh Athreya (Khanjira), N. Guruprasad (Ghatam)
12.45: Rithvik Raja (Vocal), A. Anand (Violin), L. Subramaniam (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Malathy Vasudevan (Vocal), Mysore C.N. Srinivasamurthy (Violin), H.S. Sudhindra (Mridangam).
3.20 pm: Sriranjani Santhanagopalan (Vocal), Theme: Dikshithar Compositions on Lord Subramanya, Rahul (Violin), Palakkad Hari Narayanan (mridangam),

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: S. Sowmya (Vocal), Theme: Tamil Compositions – Pre-trinity to Trinity, Avaneeswaram Vinu (Violin), N. Manoj Siva (Mridangam), Payyanur Govindaprasad (Morsing)
7.00 pm: T. V. Sankaranarayanan (Vocal), Theme: Madurai Mani Iyer Special Concert, S. Mahadevan (Vocal Support), V. V. S. Murari (Violin), Thanjavur Murugaboopathy (Mridangam), A.S. Shankar (Ghatam), Aalathoor Ganesh (Kanjira)

Dec. 20, 2009

At Seminar Hall
9.00 am: Roopa Mahadevan (Vocal) & Party
10.45 am: Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel, Theme: Tala Vadya, V. L Sudharshan (Viola), Ganapathy Raman (Mridangam), Amrith (Kanjira) Payyannur Govindaprasad (Morsing)
12.45 pm: N. J. Nandini (Vocal), Parur Ananthakrishnan (Violin), M.S. Venkatasubramanim (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Shankaran Mahadevan (Vocal) & Party, Theme: Guru Mahima
3.20 pm: V. Sankaranarayanan (Vocal ), Theme: Rama Bhaktha, V. V. S. Murari (Violin), Melakaveri Balaji (Mridangam)

Auditorium
5.00 pm: Hyderabad Brothers (Vocal ), Nagai Sriram (Violin), B. Harikumar (Mridangam)
7.00 pm: R. Vedavalli (Vocal),Theme: Interrogative compositions of Tyagaraja. Sumithra Vasudev (Vocal Support), R. K. Shriram Kumar (Violin), K. Arunprakash (Mridangam), Anirudh Athreya (Khanjira)

Dec. 21, 2009

At Seminar Hall
9.15 am: Delhi V. Muthukumar, S. P. Anantha Padmanabha (Violin), V.V. Pavanamurthy (Mridangam)
11 am: ‘SRINGARA RASA’ Narration by Dr. Pappu Venugopal Rao, Music by Kiranavali Vidyashankar & K.N. Shashikiran, P. Ganesh (Chitravina) Anjana Anand (Dance), Thanjavur Murugaboopathy (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Shreya Adiraju (Vocal), Sandeep Bharadwaj (Violin), R. Ramkumar (Mridangam)
3.20 pm: Manasi Prasad (Vocal), Theme: Mysore Vasudevachar Compositions, Anayampatti Venkatasubramaniam (Violin), R. Shankaranarayanan (Mridangam)

Auditorium
5.00 pm: R. Suryaprakash (Vocal), Dr. Hemalatha (Violin), Erode Nagaraj (Mridangam), Nerkunam Shankar (Khanjira)
7.00 pm: N. Ramani (Flute), Theme: Cascading Melodies, R. K. Shriram Kumar (Violin), Mannargudi Eswaran (Mridangam), A. S. Shankar (Ghatam)

Dec. 22, 2009

At Seminar Hall

9.15 am: S. Srinivasan (Veena), Sherthalai Ananthakrishnan (Mridangam), T. V. Vasan (Ghatam)
11.00 am: Parassala Ponnamal, Bhama Krishnan (Vocal Support), R. K. Shriramkumar (Violin), H.S. Sudhindra (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Vibav Mouli (Vocal), Srinivasa Murthy (Violin), Venkatasubramanian (Mridangam)
3.20 pm: Thiuvarur Girish (Vocal), Theme: T. Brinda, Shri.B. U. Ganesh Prasad (Violin) , Poovalur Srinivasan (Mridangam)

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Mambalam Sisters (Vocal), Theme: Oothukadu Compositions, Srilakshmi (Violin), Ramiah Vittal (Mrudangam), K.S Rangachari (Khanjira)
7.00 pm: Sriram Parasuram & Anuradha Sriram (Vocal), Carnatic-Hindustani Jugalbandhi, R. Rahul (Violin), Umakanth Puranik (Harmonium), Trichur Narendran (Mridangam), Chandrajith (Tabla)

Dec. 23, 2009

At Seminar Hall

9.15 am: Kishan Jeyendran (Mandolin), M. Rajiv (Violin) Villivakkam Raghuram (Mridangam)
11.00 am: V. K. Manimaran (Vocal), Theme: Muruga Muruga, V. V. Srinivasa Rao, Thirupathy Sudhakar (Mridangam), Dr. S. Karthick (Ghatam)
12.45 pm: Maythini Sridharan (Vocal), Kumbakonam R. Selva Prasad (Violin), L. Subramanian – U.S.A (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Bhargavi Ganesh (Vocal), Mysore Sangeetha (Violin), Abhinav Srivatsan (Mridangam)
3.20 pm: Rasika Vishwanath (Vocal) & Party

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna (Vocal), Theme: Maharaja Swati Thirunal Compositions, Shertallai Shivakumar (Violin), Trivandrum Vaidyanathan (Mridangam), Nerkunam Shankar (Kanjira)
7.00 pm: A. Kanyakumari (Violin), Theme: Thyagaraja & Annamacharya, Nishanth Chandran (Violin Support), Patri Satishkumar (Mridangam)

Dec. 24, 2009

At Seminar Hall

9.15 am: V. Deepika (Vocal) Theme: Evergreen M.L.V Melodies, Parur Anantha Krishnan (Violin), Manikandan (Mridangam)
11.00 am: B. Balasubramanian (Canatic Vocal), M. A. Sundaresan (Violin), Srimushanam Raja Rao (Mridangam), T. V. Vasan (Ghatam)
2.15 pm: Trinity School & Party
3.20 pm: Jayalakshmi Sekhar (Veena), Theme: Pancha Bootha Sthalas, S. Balashankar (Mridangam), Cleveland R. Balasubramanian (Kanjira)

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Gayathri Venkatraghavan (Vocal), Theme: Janani – The Universe B.U. Ganesh Prasad (Violin), Erode Nagaraj (Mridangam), N. Guruprasad (Ghatam)
7.00 pm: Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran (Vocal) Maharajapuram Bhaani

Dec. 25, 2009

At Seminar Hall
9.15 am: a Gurukulam – Guru Vandhanam
11.00 am: Rama Ravi and Nandita Ravi (Vocal), M. A. Krishnaswamy (Violin), K. Arun Prakash (Mridangam)
12.45 pm: Students of TKG Gurukulam & Party, Theme: Compositions of Trinities
2.15 pm: Sustaining Sampradaya
3.20 pm: T. K. Ramachandran (Vocal) & Party

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Trichur Ramachandran & Charumathy (Vocal), Theme: G.N.B & M.L.V, V.V.S. Murari (Violin), Trivandrum Vaidyanathan (Mridangam)
7.00 pm: Trivandrum Venkatraman (Veena) & Party

Dec. 26, 2009

At Seminar Hall

9.00 am: Nirmala Rajasekhar (Veena), Ambika Prasad (Violin), M.S. Venkata Subramanian (Mridangam)
10.45 am: Nedanuri Krishnamurthy (Vocal), Theme: Raga Rasas, Malladi Brothers (Vocal Support), N. Ravikiran (Chitravina), K.V. Prasad (Mridangam)
12-45 pm: Harish Ganpathy (Vocal), M. Rajiv (Violin), G. VIjayaganesh (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Karthika & Keerthana (Vocal), Rajiv (Violin), Srivanchiyam Sriram (Mridangam)
3.20 pm: Nisha P. Rajagopal (Vocal), Theme: Shree Sthuthi, Padma Shankar (Violin), Kallidakurichi Shivakumar (Mridangam), N. Rajaraman (Ghatam)

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Mysore Nagaraj & Mysore Manjunath (Violin), Theme: Haridasa Compositions, Thiruvarur Vaidyanathan (Mridangam), Giridhar Udupa (Ghatam)
7.00 pm: Anitha Sivaraman (Bharatanatyam) Margam & Party

Nov. 27, 2009

At Seminar Hall
9.00 am: Krishni Anandrajan (Vocal), S.P. Ananthapadmanabha (Violin), M.S. Venkatasubramanian (Mridangam), Balaji Chandran (Ghatam)
10.45 am: Dr. Prameela Gurumurthy – Aandal Kalyanam (Harikatha), S.P. Ananthapadmanabha (Violin), Trivandrum Vaidyanathan (Mridangam)
12.45 pm: Niveditha Narayanan (Vocal), Shyam (Violin), Ethirajan (Mridangam).
2.15 pm: Kamya & Keerthana (Vocal) & party
3.20 pm: Varalakshmi Anandakumar (Vocal), Poorna Vaidyanathan (Violin), Erode Nagaraj (Mridangam)

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Suguna Purushothaman & Suguna Varadachary (Vocal), Theme: Sriranga Panchrathnam, Amritha Murali (Violin), Trivandrum Vaidyanathan (Mridangam)
7.00 pm: Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Theme: Composer’s insight, Delhi Sundarajan, Chennai Thyagarajan, A. S. Shankar

Dec. 28, 2009

At Seminar Hall

9.00 am: Vasudha Keshav (Vocal), Theme: Compositions on Devi by Mysore Composers, V. Sanjeev (Violin), Trivandrum Balaji (Mridangam)
10.45 am: Dr.Manda Sudharani (Vocal), Theme: Pallavi Special, Padma Shankar (Violin), V. V. Ramana Murthy (Mridangam)
2.15 pm: Saindhavi & Vinaya (Vocal), Bangalore H.V. Raguram, Srivanjiyam Sriram (Mridangam)
3.20 pm: Sumithra Vasudev (Vocal), Anayampatti Venkatasubramanian (Violin), B. Sivaram (Mridangam)

At Auditorium

5.00 pm: Carnatica Brothers (Vocal), Theme: Sarvam Vishnu Mayam, Mysore Nagaraj (Violin), Mannargudi Easwaran (Mridangam)
7.00 pm: Udayalur Kalyanaraman (Namasankeerthanam), Shethalapathi Balasubramaniam (Vocal Support), Mullaivasal Chandramouli (Violin), Rajamani (Harmonium), Babu Rajasekharan (Mridangam), K. Subramaniam (Dolki)

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A festival for Vaggeyakaras and pallavi rendition

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Chennai Fine Arts has been hosting this unique festival for six years and into its seventh year now.
The festival is on from Dec. 10, to 14, 2009
Every day there is an hour's window for exclusive Ragam Tanam Pallavi concerts too.

The schedule :
Dec. 10, 2009

5.30 pm : Inauguration and release of bokk 'Palai Azhi'.
6.30 pm : T. N. Krishnan and Viji Krishnan Natarajan - Violin, Guruvayur Dorai - Mridangam, T. V. Vasan - Ghatam

Dec. 11, 2009
5.00 pm : RTP Concert - Niranjana Srinivasan - Vocal, Akkarai Swarnalatha - Violin, M. S. Venkatasubramaniam - Mridangam
6.20 pm : Lecture on compositions of K. Ponnaiya Pillai by Dr. B.M. Sundaram, musicologist
6.45 pm : Concert of compositions of K. Ponnaiya Pillai by Dr. T. S. satyavathi - Vocal, Pakkala Ramadas - Violin, Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar - Mridangam

Dec. 12, 2009
5.00 pm : RTP Concert by T.K. Ramachandran - Vocal, Shertalai Sivakumar - Violin, T.R. Sundaresan - Mridangam
6.20 pm : Lecture on compositions of Jayachamaraja Wodeyar by Dr. B.M. Sundaram
6.45 pm : Concert of compositions of Jayachamaraja Wodeyar by M. S. Sheela - Vocal, V. Sanjeev - Violin, H.S. Sudhindra - Mridangam

Dec. 13, 2009
5.00 pm - RTP concert by G. Madhavan - Vocal, R. Hemalatha - Violin, K. S. Ramana - Mridangam
6.20 pm : Lecture on compositions of Pallavi Gopala Iyer by Dr. Prameela Gurumurthy
6.45 pm : Concert of compositions of Pallavi Gopala Iyer by Mambalam Sisters Vijayalakshmi and Chitra - Vocal, R. Hemalatha - Violin, Thanjavur Subramaniam - Mridangam, K. S. Rangachari - Kanjira

Dec. 14, 2009
5.00 pm : RTP Concert by Srividya Ramnath - Vocal, Srividya R.S. Iyer - Violin, Erode Nagarajan - Mridangam
6.20 pm : Lecture by Prof T.R. Subramaniam
6.45 pm : Concert of compositions of Prof. T,R. Subramaniam by Dr. R. Venkatachalam - Vocal, Kalyani Shankar - Violin, Melakaveri K. Balaji - Mridangam

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This is for the rasikas

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If you love being in as many number of concerts as possible during the season, you can become a 'Rasika Siromani' and win a cash award for yourself.

Conceptualised by Carnatica’s Founder-Director vocalist K.N. Sasikiran, the Rasika Awards aim to encourage rasikas to listen to more music during the December Music Season and also to review the concerts objectively.

The Awards will be presented in two categories – Rasika Shironmani and Rasika Pro.

Rasika Shironmani: This contest is for the best reviews. Rasikas must attend concerts and send in their reviews. The rasikas who write the best reviews will be selected and awarded cash prizes.

Rasika Pro: In this contest, the rasikas who attend the maximum number of concerts will be awarded prizes. Song lists must be complete in all respects – they must include the name of the song, ragam, talam, composer and manodharma details (alapana, tanam, neraval, kalpanaswarams).

To participate in these contests, rasikas can do either of the following:
- Fill in the entry forms available in sabhas across the city, attach details of the concerts attended and submit them at Carnatica’s office:
Srishti’s Carnatica Private Limited
Jammi Building, No. 60, Royapettah High Road,
Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004

Or E-mail the details of the concerts attended to Carnatica at rasikaawards@gmail.com, along with 1. Name, 2. Address, 3. Phone

First Prize – Rs. 10,000, Second Prize – Rs. 5,000, Three Third Prizes - Rs 2,000 for each of these contests

Prizes will be sponsored by Hallmark.

Guidelines to rasikas:

1. Only concerts attended from 10th to 30th of December will be considered.
2. 60% of the marks will be allotted for afternoon concerts and lecture demonstrations.
3. Concerts will be considered as attended only if the rasika stays at least until the end of the main-piece.
4. For every concert, the song list/review must include the names of all performers, venue, time and theme, if any.
5. If the rasika does not recognize a song or a ragam or does not know the composer, he/she can consult someone who does.
6. Only one entry is allowed per person; multiple entries from the same family are allowed.
7. One person can compete in both contests – Rasika Shironmani & Rasika Pro.
8. Entries will be considered only if contact details and song lists are complete in all respects.
9. Last date for receipt of entries: 11 pm, 30th December, 2009

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