Music Academy losing its ground as the foremost Canatic Musi

coolkapali · Post by **coolkapali** » 02 Jan 2009, 15:53

Just a thought that i wanted to clarify. I keep hearing quite often that Music Academy is not what it was. Politics, favouritism etc have take away the sheen. The BOSE speakers seems to be the only change for the good. Charting of slots is not justified in many cases. ETC ETC. Plus the fact that so many other sabhas, some of them doing really well , have joined the league.

However, I attended Sanjay's concert, and the audio system and the general ambience, I felt, one can have only at the Music academy.

I request my fellow rasikas' to comment on this.

Kapali........Cool Kapali.

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 02 Jan 2009, 16:36

The Academy under Murali's leadership is far more professional these days.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 02 Jan 2009, 23:06

coolkapali, can you change the title of the thread to be consisent with your post? It should probaby read 'Music Academy is still the foremost carnatic music centre' if I go by your post.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 03 Jan 2009, 00:22

Perhaps I am just not aspiring to such heights yet, or perhaps it is the idea of having to queue at 8.30am for a popular performer that evening, but I seldom attend performances at the Academy, and have not done so at all this year.

My observation, as a Chennai resident who glances at newspapers, is that, in the time leading up to Murali's election, the Academy seemed to be more and more bogged down in politics, to the point where, if I remember rightly, it was doubtful that it would even participate in one season.

It is not inconceivable that Mr Murali likes to publish good news about his organisation, but, simply on the evidence that what I read about the Academy these days is about events and concerts, rather than about committee infighting, politics and involvement of the courts, it seems to have regained it's pre-eminent place.

That's my impression as a person with very little direct relevant experience. Is it right?

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 03 Jan 2009, 00:47

Every year this kind of discussions comes up . About schedules and the artist bias on peak hour slots and the ranking of musician. Last year Vikatan ranked various categories of musicians. And we too ranked here. And later there was one thread on the best dressed , best looking artist, ranging upto MMI's chithappa who is known for his long hair and beauty (I guess , may be I will change later) to mss, unni, swarna rethas. I was wondering why that is missing this year. And here we go. Have fun.

I agree with Nick's comments.

And one note on MA: the first floor (balcony) seating is much better than the traditional ground floor which retains the old chairs and one cannot comeout of the seat easily. Let me know whether they upgraded the ground floor seats with some better seats and legspace.

But it is a magical feeling that, the bell rings and the screen opens and the artist is seen on the dais. I wonder one day it can be SSI instead of TMK or MLV instead of Sudha. It is a place with history and no other sabha can takeaway that.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 03 Jan 2009, 12:27

I agree - the Music Academy will remain the Mecca of music for some time to come and under Murali's leadership, it has certainly changed for the better. The following have been the noteworthy achievements:

Loos redone - best in class
Audio system - once again, top notch
Valet parking service
Seats refurbished in both tiers although tier 1 seats are still cramped
New Archival Centre set up this year
Better utilization of space by relocating the canteen
Website relaunched recently but still short on details.
Only sabha to have even a pretense of security arrangements

While there is still scope for improvement, one has to acknolwdge that Murali has delivered on most of his promises and rescued the Academy in the nick of time. It is now easily the premier sabha in the city and one of the best managed festivals in the country. SOme suggestions:

While staff at the managerial level are usually courteous, the same cannot be said of some of the others. Although I have not personll experienced this, I have heard some members complain about harrassment/crude behaviour etc. It would be a good idea to suitably sensitize the staff so that they are firm but polite.

The website could be used more effectively. For archival purposes as well as to sell tickets/passes online. This way, the hassle of having to Q up on a daily basis can be avoided. This is done for the Hindu festival which is at the same centre and with the same set of people at the top - so why can't we have the same for the season?!

One has noticed too many inactive/sleeping members who show up only for the free breakfast! This results in a lot of seats going waste while thousands of rasikas go back disappointed. I am not sure about the legal position on this, but surely there is some way to get around this issue.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 Jan 2009, 13:32

We also read about people worrying about transportation arrangements after the evening concerts. Is that still a problem near Music Academy? Are there connecting bus services to major centers within half an hour of the concert ending time. If not, Music Academy can provide some kind of van service to bus stands or other places from where there is bus service at that time of the evening. Atleast this way, people can enjoy the concert in peace without worrying about how they are going to get home.

SSK · Post by **SSK** » 10 Jan 2009, 06:36

Isn't this a common risk for any sabha, entity, that gains popularity over time. The more popular you more visible you are, and therefore the risk of loosing its edge of being the foremost...

Also, isn't the current state of any sabha in any form of fine art, also a reflection of the current artists and rasikas. The famous sanskrit verse comes to my mind " yathA rAjA thAthA prajAhA" meaning " the king is a reflection of the subjects or citizens". May be one should not compare the past to present.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 10 Jan 2009, 07:08

Meccaof music"! Can we use some other word as Tirupathi or Guruvayoor or Madurai or Chindambaram

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 10 Jan 2009, 10:37

Lourdes??!!

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 10 Jan 2009, 12:12

VK RAMAN wrote:Meccaof music"! Can we use some other word as Tirupathi or Guruvayoor or Madurai or Chindambaram

I feel Mecca of Music is the right usage in English. And we have readers from other religions too.

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 10 Jan 2009, 17:13

In any country the society always needs a true teacher to live long healthy and who minimizes the hardship in the process of teaching becomes a true teacher. Since a long time only conventional system of teaching music is being followed and in the process of earning more money, the process of teaching music is being elongated. Like for all other things R & D is also needed in making the process of teaching music (Vocal or Instrumental) TIME-BOUND & RESULT-ORIENTED. Even though I was able to make this music teaching TIME-BOUND & RESULTED-ORIENTED up to some extent I would like to know from the knowledgeable people the details of the progress yet made by the foremost Carnatic Music centre, the Madras Music Academy in this direction. amsharma

muralikrishnan23 · Post by **muralikrishnan23** » 28 Jan 2009, 12:26

hi anybody knw is there any correspondence courses in music.

muralikrishnan23 · Post by **muralikrishnan23** » 28 Jan 2009, 12:26

[email protected] · Post by **[email protected]** » 29 Jan 2009, 01:31

muralikrishnan23 wrote:hi anybody knw is there any correspondence courses in music.

not from thetraining college at the madras music acdemy.
but of course from the universities yes