‘Tis the Season – 2021 : Mangala Margazhi

The year 2021 saw a collaboration between Layyasaaram Institute of Indian Arts (Minnesota, USA) and Ragamalika TV. This festival took place in the second half of December. Like many others, it was completely online. The concerts were all a pleasure to listen to and of course, there were some that stood out. The highlight of...

‘Tis the Season – 2019 : Part 2

Part 1 can be found here. Two days later, I was back at the academy - this time for a concert by Sudha Raghunathan. She was accompanied by Embar S. Kannan on the violin, Patri Satish Kumar on the Mridangam and R. Raman on the Morsing - just like last year. The concert began with...

‘Tis the Season – 2019 : Part 1

Last year, I managed to spend the entire music season in Chennai, and hence needed three articles to describe what happened. This year, I was in Chennai for just a week but I still managed to have a wonderful time. The only lecture-demonstrations I managed to attend were the ones that took place in the...

‘Tis The Season – 2018 : Days 11 to 15

Part 1 can be found here. Part 2 can be found here. 27th December began on a grand note with a vocal concert by Maharajapuram Ramachandran at the Music Academy. He was accompanied by C. N. Chandrasekar on the violin, Tumkur Ravishankar on the Mridangam and Coimbatore V. Mohanram on the ghatam and was assisted...

‘Tis the Season – 2018 : Days 7 to 10

Part 1 can be found here. The 23rd of December saw me spend the whole day at the Music Academy. The first event was a lecture-demonstration on Tala Vadya Avadhana by Mridangam player Sadguru Charan. He explained the different kinds of Avadhana and went on to demonstrate Ishwara Panchamukhi, Vishnu Panchamukhi and Anjaneya Shanmukhi Avadhana...

‘Tis The Season – 2018 : Days 1 to 6

If one is linked to Chennai or Carnatic music in any way, December and January are always the best months in the year. From tiny sabhas which can hold less than fifty people to huge halls capable of accommodating hundreds, there's always something happening somewhere. The city eats, talks, breathes and lives classical music and...