13 March 2009, 7pm to 10pm - Carnatic Music Circle Melbourne

March 2009
keertana
... a bridge to the rich South Indian cultural heritage...
13 March 2009, 7pm to 10pm
14 March 2009, 7 pm to 10.30pm
(Mel. Ref: 72 G2)
(Mel. Ref: 50 J2)
Knox Gardens Community Hall
Argyle Way, Wantirna South, Vic 3152
The Camberwell Centre, 340 Camberwell
Road, Camberwell, Vic 3124
Ranjani and Gayatri
Ranjani and Gayatri
are foremost among
the leading camatic
musicians of today.
They are the rarest
of artistes who have
achieved enduring
success in both vocal
and violin.
Perfection of sruti,
powerful voice control
and uncompromising
adherence to tradition
and classicism - these
are some of the
qualities that describe
the music of Ranjani
and Gayatri. Above all
this, it is the sisters'
capacity to deeply
experience and enjoy
what they sing, that
takes their music to
a different plane. Their two voices blend and contrast to strike a fine
balance between vibrancy and contemplation, intellect and emotion,
tradition and innovation. It is this unique combination in their music that
appeals to the connoisseur and the lay listener alike. Audiences eagerly
await and savour their in-depth Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi-s and soul-stirring
Viruthams, which are special features of Ranjani Gayatri's repertoire.
Ranjani and Gayatri are also accomplished violinists. They started
their musical journey as violinists even before they reached their teens,
and made a name for themselves as one of the leading violinists of
their generation, performing in leading sabhas all over the country and
abroad. Besides playing the violin duet, they have also performed along
with musical legends such as Smt D. K.Pattammal, Sri M. Balamurali
Krishna, Sri. T. Vishwanathan and other popular musicians of the current
generation.
Ranjani and Gayatri owe their rich musical heritage to their Gurus, Sri
T.S. Krishnaswami who taught them violin and Sri P. S. Narayanaswamy,
who guides them now. They had their initial vocal training from their
mother Smt Meenakshi Balasubramanian from whom they still continue
to learn.
As one of the top performing camatic musicians, Ranjani and Gayatri
have performed widely all over India in major festivals. They have
also performed abroad in countries including USA, Canada, Singapore,
Malaysia, Australia, the Middle East and UK. They have given many
thematic concerts and have an extensive repertoire consisting of gems of
the Trinity, old and contemporary
Tamil compositions and other
languages including Sanskrit,
Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam,
Hindi and Marathi.
They have won numerous awards
and titles, and to mention a few
among them:
• Sanskriti Award from Sanskriti
Pratishtan, New Delhi (only the
third camatic musicians in thirty
years to be so honoured)
• Title of "lsai Peroli" from the
Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai
• National Eminence Award
from Shanmukhananda Fine Arts,
Mumbai
• The Kalki Krishnamurthy
Memorial Award
H. N. Bhaskar & Delhi Sairam
Delhi Sairam
H. N. Bhaskar
In 1997, Delhi Sairam's family
moved from New Delhi to Chennai
with the sole objective of enabling
him pursuing Mridangam as a full
time profession. At New Delhi,
he learnt the basics of the art form
from Sri T.R. Dhandapani.
Since 1997, he has been under
the strict and expert tutelage of
Mridangam Maestro, Sri Tiruvarur
Bhakthavatsalam who has given
him exposure in each and every
aspect of the art of Mridangam
playing with particular reference to
adaptability of an accompanist.
Mysore H. N. Bhaskar is the son
and disciple of Vidwan Sri H. K.
Narasimha Murthy and Vidushi
Smt H. N. Rajalakshmi of Mysore.
He is a Grade-A violinist of All
India Radio and Doordarshan.
Widely noted for his emotive
and adroit playing, he is one of
the most sought after violinists.
Bhaskar has been under the
able guidance of the great
Violin Maestro Sangeetha
Kalanidhi Padmasri Parur M. S.
Gopalakrishan for the past 10
years.
He is accompanying all the topnotch artistes of the day and has
been extensively recommended
by all. He is also a reputed and
a graded composer of All India
Radio. He travels all over the
globe for accompaniment and solo
performances.
He has received numerous awards
for his achievements.
During the last 5 years, he has given more than 1000 performances,
including accompanying eminent and popular musicians:
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Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padmasri Dr. N. Ramani
Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padma Bhushan Sri T.V.
Sankaranarayanan
Sangeetha Chudamani Sri O.S.Tyagarajan
Sri Neyveli Santhanaagopalan
Padmasri Smt Sudha Ragunathan including her performance in
SPIRIT OF UNITY Concert at Shirdi
Smt Bombay Jayashri Ramnath
Smt Geetha Rajasekhar
Priya Sisters - Haripriya and Shanmugapriya
Smt Ranjani and Smt Gayathri
Dr (Smt) Radha Bhaskar
Smt Gayathri Girish
Smt Gayathri Venkataraghavan
Sri Surya Prakash
Delhi Sundararajan
Chinmaya Sisters
He performed a Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi demonstration with Sangeetha
Kala Acharya and Principal of Music Academy's School - Sri Chengleput
Ranganathan at Madurai. He also recorded a Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi
along with Sikkil Gurucharan and Abhisekh Raghuram, all Yuva
Kala Bharathi Awardees for the 80th day Celebrations of (late) Dr.
Y.G. Parthasarathy in November 2005. Her has given a number of
performances, including live programmes, in All India Radio and
Doordarshan (TV).
He accompanied Smt Ranjani and Smt Gayatri during a recent tour to
USA and Canada in September / October 2008 and performed in 20
concerts.
Ranjani and Gayatri
an Interview with Chitra Sudarshan
Chitra: You must get asked this
question often: you were both
virtuoso violinists before you became
vocalists. What advantage does your
violin background have for you as
vocalists?
Gayatri: We had several years of
performances as violinists behind us
before we became vocalists. Learning
an instrument has helped us get a
good grasp of the nuances of svaras
and gamakas : and having preformed
as violinists before, we also had
a good idea of what a kachcheri
performance involved.
Ranjani :In Carnatic music, unlike
Western music or to some extent
Hindustani music – there is no
instrumental baani as such: vocal
is essentially the base, and that
is the style that instrumentalists
have to follow as well. Indeed,
even as violinists, we tried to bring
out the bhava of a vocalist in our
presentation. When playing the
violin, we had to learn the lyrics and
where to emote; When one sings the
words ‘Rama’ there is immediately a
connection and emotional response.
So even as violinists, our aim has
always been to emulate the vocal
style, and this has stood us in good
stead.
Chitra: Have you always performed
together? How do you practise?
Gayatri: What we choose to perform
and what we present is a joint
effort and decision, and we not only
rehearse kritis, we decide together
how to improvise, how to make a
composition our own – that is the
reason our music is always in sync.
Ranjani: We live quite close-by, and
we get to meet everyday – so getting
together for practise is not difficult.
Gayatri: Also, having sung together
for years now, we have a good
understanding and rapport and don’t
need to spend a great deal of time
rehearsing.
Chitra: You have said in an interview
that fast and energetic pieces appeal
to young listeners, and you select
such pieces when performing before
such an audience. Is that true?
Gayatri: You can’t come up with
music to suit this one or that. You
must play to your strengths. The best
favour you can do your audience is
to be true to yourself and sing what
you believe in most. We have always
done that. If there is emotion in your
music you will touch their heart.
Ranjani: One should know how to go
deeper that strikes a chord with the
audience.
Gayatri: Right now, being young,
our music may have a certain
characteristic that appeals to the
young! One’s music evolves through
time – as your personality mellows, it
will be reflected in the music.
Chitra: How do you approach a
concert? Do you more or less select
your repertoire beforehand or play
it by ear and go by the audience’s
response?
Gayatri: Generally we like to plan
our concert – one is able to present
a more polished performance when
you have planned it before hand.
Ranjani: You also manage to give a
good mix and variety – in terms of
raga, tala and compositions. A little
planning does help – especially with
the main items.
Gayatri: Sometimes we have a
concert plan to suit the day or the
audience – or the duration of concert.
There have also been occasions when
we have changed an item here and
another there to suit the day: for
instance, when we realised that on
a certain day we were singing that
it was Vaikunta Ekadasi, we have
changed the planned kriti from one
dedicated to Shiva to a Vishnu kriti. At
times, when we find the audience is
not responding to long alapanas, we
make them a bit shorter, etc.
During a recent US tour, someone
asked us to sing Meenakshi
Memudam just before the concert
began. This is not a small or short
piece – we had to completely
overhaul our concert plan at short
notice to include it in the kachcheri.
Ranjani: We can and do swap plans at
short notice if the occasion calls for it.
Chitra: You must have had some
special and unusual experiences over
the years. Could you recount a couple
for us?
Gayatri: We have some beautiful
memories. To name a few that are
very special: last year we had the
opportunity of singing before Pandit
Ravi Shankar at his Foundation in
Delhi. He had heard us on U-Tube
and was very impressed, so he called
us up and insisted we came to Delhi
and sing for his Foundation. We
went to Delhi and performed in
his presence; he stayed up for the
whole concert well into the night,
despite being unwell, and gave us a
standing ovation at the end. His wife
Sukanyaji told us that it was the first
concert in years that he listened to
the very end. He told us afterwards
that our music had touched his heart
and that we should stay back and
have dinner with him. We shall truly
cherish that memory.
Once, after one of our concerts,
Vithamma was so touched by our
music that she removed a pair of gold
bangles she was wearing and gave
them to us.
In New York, the dancer-cum-actress
Padmini came up to us after a concert
and said she was so moved by a kriti
we had sung – Eppadi Paadinaro –
that she wanted to dance to it. She
made us sing it again, and she stood
up and did the abhinaya for it. It
was a great experience for us – truly
moving.
Ranjani: the most precious thing for
us is the concert experience. When
audiences are touched and feel
uplifted, that is our best reward.
Chitra: What plans for the future?
Would you try new genres of music
– crossover into other styles and
produce new ‘fusion’ sounds, for
instance?
Gayatri: We haven’t done this so far.
We need to feel convinced about
it before we do it. We have been
groomed in Carnatic music and are
immersed in it.
Ranjani: We have an open mind, and
if we are convinced by it, we will do
it. We can’t rule anything out. At the
moment we are enjoying what we do.
Concert Arrangement
Arundathi and Sriram Family
Chitra and Sudarshan Family
Gita and Sub Subramanian Family
Maithili and Naga Nagasundaram Family
Prabha and Shankar Family
Ramya Madhavan
Shobha and Ramnath Iyer Family
Sriranjani and Chandramouli Family
Subhadra and Sankaran Ramesh Family
Sudakshina and Girish Gopalakrishnan Family
Sunitha and Shankar Raman Family
Yogam and Ramanan Family
Yamuna and Gopal Narayanan Family
CMC wishes to acknowledge the assistance provided by all music schools of Melbourne
in the publicity of this concert.
Acknowledgement
Venue .............. Staff at Camberwell Civic Centre
Audio .............. Charles Walker, Imperial Audio
Lighting .............. Darren, LX Productions
Artiste Hosting .............. Jaysree and Vasu Srinivasan Family
.............. Maila and Bala Balachandran Family
Design .............. Oviam Creations
Sponsors .............. Atech Solutions Pty Ltd
.............. Ram & Associates
Tour Partners .............. Pallavi, Sydney
.............. SIFA, Canberra
.............. Yarl Music Society, Perth
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