MRIDANGAM ARANGETRAM OF MIHIR RAGHAV GANESAN, STUDENT OF SARVALAGHU PERCUSSION ART CENTER, AUGUST 25 2018

[SowmyaN]

The Mridangam Arangetram of Chi. Mihir Raghav Ganesan, student of ‘Laya Kala Ratna’ Sri Ramesh Srinivasan of Sarvalaghu Percussion Art Center (SPAC) was held recently on August 25th 2018 at Mount Pleasant High School in the city of San Jose, California.

Concert was performed by:
Vocal: Carnatica Brothers, Kalaimamani Dr. K.N. Shashikiran and Chitravina Dr. P. Ganesh
Violin: Sri. V.V.S. Murari
Mridangam: Chi. Mihir Ganesan
Ghatam: Dr. Ravi Balasubramanian

The event was presided over by ‘Sangeetha Kala Vibhooshini’ Smt. Jayashree Varadarajan of Sunnyvale, California, as the Chief Guest, and Cleveland Sri. V.V. Sundaram as the Guest of Honor. World-renowned Kanjira and Mridangam Maestro Shri. K.V. Gopalakrishnan and innately talented violinist Smt. Sandhya Srinath graced the occasion with their presence. Prominent Bay area musicians and teachers including Sri Hari Devanath, Sri. Vivek Sundararaman, Sri Srinath Bala, Smt. Savita Rao, Smt. Radha Srinivasan, Smt. Geetha Ravi, Smt. Divya Ramesh, Smt. Meenakshi Vaidyanathan, Smt. Surabhi Vijay and many others attended the function and blessed Mihir.

Mihir, age 12, has been learning Mridangam for the past 5 years. His Guru, Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, is the leading disciple of Mridangam Maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Vellore G. Ramabhadran.

Here is the sequence of songs performed in the concert:
Kanakkaangi varnam, Thodi ragam, Kanda Jaathi Ata thalam - Sri Gopala Iyer
Swaminatha - Naattai ragam - Adi thalam - Sri. Muthuswamy Dikshitar
Paavana Guru - Hamsaanandi ragam - Rupaka thalam - Sri Lalitha Dasar
Amba Kaamakshi - Bhairavi ragam - Mishra chapu thalam - Sri. Shyama Shastri
Bhogindra Shayeenam - Kuntavarali ragam - Kanda chaapu thalam - Sri. Swathi Tirunal
(Main) Evvari Maata - Kamboji ragam - Adi thalam - Sri. Thyagaraja
Sarasasaama daana - Kaapinarayani Ragam – Deshaadi thaalam – Sri Thyagaraja
(RTP) Un Darishanam – Shanmukhapriya raagam – Kanda Jaathi Triputa thaalam
Chelinenetlu – Javali raagam – Adi thaalam
Venkata chalanilayam – Sindubhairavi raagam – Adi thaalam – Sri Purandaradaasa
Bho Shambho – Revathi raagam – Adi thaalam – Sri Dayananda Saraswathi
Rama rama – Chandrajyothi raagam – Adi thaalam
Thillana - Shivaranjani ragam - Adi Thalam - Sri. Maharaja puram Santhanam

The arangetram did not come across as a debut concert and Smt. Jayashree Varadarajan summarized it extremely well as “Sowkhiyam”. The artists did not dilute any content to adapt to this event being a young student’s debut concert. The young mridangam artist was challenged throughout the 4+ hour concert. The song list spanned across a multitude of thaalams – from Ata thaalam, Adi (both 1-kalai and 2-kalai), Deshaadi, Rupakam, Kanda chaapu, Misra chaapu, 1 vilamba kaalam kriti and 1 song in (½ aksharam) ateeta eduppu, making this a rich & wholesome concert.

Here is a detailed review of the concert:

The concert started with not-so-common Kanda jaathi Ata thaalam varnam in Thodi raagam. The varnam was delivered in fairly fast tempo, with the charanam picking up the tempo. The artists amazed with their opening item, and the accompanists enhanced the experience, to give the concert a great beginning. Chi Mihir kept up with these world-renowned artists, and provided crisp ‘in phase’ accompaniment, and suitable arithis to fill up the thaalam structure of 14 aksharams.

The varnam was quickly followed by the fast-paced Naatai kriti, Swaminatha paraipaalaya maam. Mihir showed his skill in accompanying for faster tempos with this song. A favorite for several rasikas, and an apt Guru song, was next in the lineup, with Paavana Guru, in Rupakam thaalam. The violin accompaniment was perfectly in sync, like a 3rd vocalist alongside the Carnatica Brothers. Both percussionists were in phase with the song. Then came a contrast with the Vilamba Kaala song, Amba Kamakshi. As Shashikiran ji mentioned after the song, the "tempo" which was picked for rendering this song is quite challenging for percussionists. The artists then changed the mood with another fast song, in Bhogindra shayeenam, in Kanda chaapu thaalam. The whole ensemble came alive for this piece, and the chemistry on the stage was noticeably infectious.

Then came the main piece, Evvari Maata, in Kamboji raagam and 2-kalai Adi thaalam with ½ aksharam eduppu. The creative and innovative ideas displayed by Shashiji and Ganeshji was evident in this masterpiece. Murariji was spot-on with his expertise. The percussionists got the opportunity to portray their Thani avaratanam. The understanding between Mihir and Raviji, was just perfect, giving each other the space and freedom, while still challenging each other. Mihir started with a Chathusra nadai abhiprayam, ending in a korvai that incorporated nadai changes within. Raviji followed with his counterpart, equally catchy and brilliant. Then Mihir moved to Trikaalam, for which he also included a konnakkol section. The trikaalam started with Chathusarm keezh kaalam, moved to Melkaalam Tisram and ended with Melkaalam Chathusram. Mihir then moved to Tisra nadai, ending it with a suitable korvai. Then, he moved to Misra Nadai, ending that with another reverberating Korvai. Ravi ji followed with his brilliance. Then started the much-awaited Misra Koraippu between the Mridangam and ghatam. Mihir throwing various Misra koraippu patterns at Raviji, who came back with perfect responses and the chemistry between them was noteworthy. Young Mihir looked energized at being challenged by a percussion artist of great caliber. He kept his focus, smiling and enjoying himself in the ‘percussion conversation’ for all of the audience to enjoy. After the interesting koraippu, both percussionists continued with the Farans, Mohra, ending with a final korvai.

After a short 15-minute break, an upbeat song marked the beginning of the 2nd half of the concert. The artists came back stronger with Sarasa Saamadaana in Deshaadi thaalam. The artists then moved on to the next highlight of the evening – RTP in Shanmukhapriya raagam. The young mridangist got an opportunity to show off both his konnakol skills as well as percussion skills in Trikaalam. The audience participated by applauding the young artist for his grasp on the layam intricacies. The artists then threw another surprise with a kriti in ½ aksharam ateeta eduppu with Chelinenetlu. Mihir showed his awareness of the beauty of this song, and blended into the song in a way that caught Ganeshji’s attention, and he immediately applauded the young student’s alertness and wholesome understanding.

Next song was the famous Sindubhairavi song, Venkatachala nilayam. Then came a high-energy peppy song in Bho Shambho, followed by the melodious and bhaavam-laden Anjaneya kriti, Rama Rama, in Chandrajyothi raagam. The concert’s final highlight was the upbeat Shivaranjani Thillana, which received a resounding applause and a standing ovation from the packed auditorium, giving the artists the much-deserved recognition.

One notable observation was that through the entire concert, the young mridangam artist maintained guru-bhakti and an overall appreciation of our music which he delivered by following his Guru Rameshji’s and Parama Guru Vellore Sri Ramabhandranji’s style of never over-shadowing the essence of the music, providing just right amount of layam support, and accentuating the bhaavam and divinity of the our rich music.

Mihir’s Guru, Rameshji, highlighted this during his speech about how Mihir has developed his accompaniment skills by playing in Sai Bhajans almost every Thursday for more than two years and emphasized that accompaniment is a skill that cannot be ‘taught’, but it has to be ‘caught’. He praised Mihir for his perseverance, his eagerness to learn and his ‘never give up’ attitude.

Vidushi Smt. Jayashree Varadarajan ji, the Chief Guest of the evening, defined the concert by a single word ‘Sowkhyam’ and devotional and soul-elevating. She highlighted that the concert had ‘Saahitya suddhate’, with purity in the lyrics and words, and the splitting of words at the proper place, made it unique and extraordinary. She then complimented Murariji’s silky bow, which enhanced the concert, and added to the ‘Sowkhyam’ feeling. Then, she spoke about Raviji’s virtuosity in engaging in a non-verbal dialogue with the youngster, Mihir. Jayashreeji then spoke about the young talented artist, Mihir Ganesan. Her exact phrase was ‘The ray of this young boy was shining in and throughout the 4+ hour concert true to his name, Mihir, which means ‘Sun’ in Sanskrit. She appreciated how Mihir listened to the suggestions, advice and upadesham offered by the artists. She compared Rameshji to a ‘great’ teacher who goes beyond telling, and explaining and demonstrating, to the higher level of ‘inspiring’ his students. In her own words - ‘Inspiring is what sets you apart, Rameshji!’. She then spoke about the school’s Paramaguru Vellore Sri Ramabhadran mama, about what a great musician he was. She ended her speech with ‘Mihir, may you continue to shine like your name itself!’

Sundaram mama’s speech was equally inspiring with compliments for all artists on the stage. He mentioned how the concert had a lot of creative content, and the young boy who is just 12 years old managed to play instinctively and intuitively, which cannot be taught by any teacher. He reminded everyone on how music has to come from within. Sundaram mama also spoke highly of Vellore Sri Ramabhadran mama and his intuitive style of playing and how he saw that in Mihir’s accompaniment on the stage today. He heartily congratulated the young boy.

Overall, it was a great evening for all the artists and the audience. The Guru has clearly led the student on the right path, and now the student has to continue this journey, without losing the spiritual aspect of it all.

[rajeshnat]

Sowmya N
Thank you for your review. It appears that Ramesh Srinivasan is the Srimushnam Raja Rao and tiruvarur bhaktavatsalam rolling out so many performing students. Since the time nAdhabadran passed away, we are waiting to have few of that caliber . I am glad that the concert is also long that way all of us would know in years to come how mihir raghav ganesan played in his first arangetram-this post itself is a huge brownie for the career of Mihir. Kudos also to the team of Carnatica brothers , Murari and KVG to encourage and really test the young talent. Also big time kudos to Ramesh Srinivasan.

Pictures can also help , if you can upload there would be more stickiness.

[radash1120]

Rajesh-ji, thank you kindly for your valuable input. Here are a couple of livestream videos from the arangetram. Please do watch them and give us your feedback.

Livestream links:

https://youtu.be/HVtMYNuBfHw (part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV71-63BFhk (part 2)

Pictures from the program are here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 5fcd8287d7

Regards,
Radha & Ashok (Mihir's parents)

[geetharavi]

I was fortunate enough to attend Mihir's arangetram. Mihir gave us the impression of a seasoned artist. The confidence with which he played, it felt as if Mihir had accompanied many stalwarts numerous times. At times, it felt as if Mihir was playing Mridangam with his whole body. In spite of the whole program extending more than 4 hours, it was amazing to see him accompany with the same energy as he started off. His focus and involvement at this age of 12 was commendable. Mihirs adeptness in accompanying for fast paced Krithis as well as vilamba kala krithis was on display throughout the concert. Credits to Ramesh ji who has guided him so well as well as his parents for nurturing this talent in him. Wishing Mihir to go places with this art form. -- Geetha

[Manjukoll]

I was fortunate to be able to attend the concert and watch the magical fingers of Mihir. The melodious evening went by very quick leaving everyone wanting to hear more. What touched me the most is how modest Mihir remained even after multiple accolades that he received and stood out as an inspiration for all the kids that attended the concert. I still cant believe he is only 12 and was able to play along easily with all the senior vidwans on the stage. I wish Mihir all the very best for all his future endeavours