Music Forum

[drsunder]

Hi. the Music Forum of which I am convenor, has been organising programs in schools all over the state. so far we have had over twenty programs with over 500 to 1200 children attending. Our guests have included J.Balaji, Vedavalli amma, Ravikiran, Vijay Siva and T.M.Krishna to name a few. The venues have been far flung out [in relation to Chennai], like Neyveli, Trichy, Rajapalayam, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur. WE function on the premise that something needs to be done to bring in the younger generation to concerts, and if some demystification can be done by a few of us, we sow the seeds of some interest in the youngsters. The responses to this has been terrific with a lot of schools and educational institutions throwing their weight behind the project.
The format is very simple; the main performer along with the accompanists render a simple concert explaining the terms all the way....I like to take questions from the audience, and the children do respond in a manner belying their age! I got a question from one child in Kumbakonam, "Kindly explain katapayadi scheme"
So, I believe I am doing something worthwhile...and need your feedback. I am also going to do this program in corporates free of charge. All I ask is an audience of about 30...and together we all have a nice time with music.
So any of you in the IT sector in Chennai [all those huge towers along OMR] please write back to my email id [email protected] if you want a program at your office.
Incidentally I am a medical doctor, disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi D.K.Jayaraman, a Kalaimamani myself.

[Nick H]

I don't have any suggestion, other than to teach children to behave with respect to both the stage and their fellow audience members, eg, "if it is you on stage, would you like your audience to listen to you, or to chat" and so on. You might even include the same for adults in your corporate programme!

Congratulations on the work you are doing: it sounds really great!

[drsunder]

I completely agree with you; but discipline in concerts can be enforced only up to a level. Self discipline is more desirable, but that is another matter altogether. Some audience is better than none.
The last slide on my presentation usually gives about ten desirable tenets in a concert goer.

[mankuthimma]

Welcome Doctor.
You are a good Doctor too .
You once helped me by curing the back ache of one of my employees , who had injured it in a fall from a bullock cart. You dashed across Chennai , after returning from Delhi , but still keeping up an appointment at Perambur to keep this appointment at your residence .
Needless to say , My employee is fine.
Sd.--The Mr Counterpart of Meenakshi Kulkarni ( Vidyasagar )

Welcome and wishing you all the best . We do have a series of concerts that we organise under a banner "Rasayana" in collaboration with Brhaddhwani. We will be delighted to feature your concerts and programs.

[Nick H]

Sounds good, 'thimma. I'll be in the audience

The last slide on my presentation usually gives about ten desirable tenets in a concert goer.

Glad to know that.

ten desirable tenets in a concert goer.

I wonder if you would share them with us? Perhaps in another thread?

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Dear Dr Sunder,

All the best in your venture.

But don't get carried away by the question on the katapayaadi from a school girl - she could be already initiated into music. If my presumption is right, the query could be just for the sake of participation.

And if she really didn't have any exposure to music, I bet you couldn't explain the thing to her!

Pl do not think I am discouraging you. Just present music to children and have follow up visits. Questions would arise naturally and spontaneously .

[hariniraghavan]

Dr. Sunder you are doing a wonderful job - som ething o n the lines of what SPICMACAY is doing. Regarding what Sri Sivaramakrishnan has raised - a question asked by one person gives an answer to many who may be wan ting to know all about that topic - be it 'Katapayadi' or any other technical aspect. Participation in the real sense or just for the sake of it will be helpful to one and all. I would have certainly liked to invite you to conduct your program in my area. Unfortunately I am in Bangalore. any time you want to extend it to Bangalore please let me know.
Harini.

[VK RAMAN]

drsunder: what a way to leave a cm legacy among future generation! Good luck in your efforts.

[ragam-talam]

drsunder - a laudable effort indeed. All the best wishes for continued success.

One suggestion I have is to include non-celebrity musicians (with solid vidwat) in your programs. This exposes students and young people to good musicians who may not be so famous - thus sending the correct message to youngsters to not merely be attracted by the famous ones!

You can find a list of such artistes here: Select group of artistes

[Sam Swaminathan]

Dr Sunder, first of all congratulations on doing such a good service to our music particularly to the future generations. Best wishes for greater efforts and achievements.

I am doing the same thing here in NZ, under the auspicious of NZCMS for the younger generation utilising the visiting artists. We normally have a demo session the day prior to the concert and the artists conduct a workshop where questions are raised and answered by the artists. Gone are the days when typical question would run some thing like " how do you do sadagam" etc. In one of the recent demo, a bright child asked the artist " tell us, how do you utilise a varnam, say, Begada, in terms of ragam rendition and swaraprastharam", another question from a child to TMK, "what are the differentiating factors between ragams having the same melakartha number between the traditional and katapayathi systems". It is important to encourage the children to ask questions. Initially you will find a bit of diffidency in them, no one being prepared to break the ice. But once the flow starts, you find a volley of questins arising from the crowd. I always try and prepare a few confident students prior to the demo, with a set of questions (all from them only) so that they can get the session going.

On a last note ....most of artists who have visited this shore are very learned, very bright and extremely eager to inter-act with children.

So, there you go !

[drsunder]

Dear Sam Swaminathan, ragam-talam VK Raman, Sivaramakrishnan hariniraghavan, Nick H, and mankuthimma Thanks for your feedback. The basis of these programs is that some bemoan that they cannot understand what is going on on stage, and it is indiscreet to interrupt and ask.
I have attended several seminars on dwindling audiences and of the various factors attributed to it, like the profusion of recorded music, difficulty in commuting or shrinking time available, the only factor I felt something could be done, was demystifying some aspects of music.
Of course there is no way I can quantify the effects of what I am doing, but even if I have sensitised 1 percent of my audience, we might have hundred more people attending concerts two decades later.....
One good thing as Sam pointed out is the willingness of many artistes today to talk about music in a separate session, and later make their music do the talking. Many of them are quite articulate and knowledgeable

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Thanks for your kind response, Doctor.

As already indicated, I would suggest you to re-visit the same audience and ascertain the progress.
Children must also be encouraged to know about matters related to music / arts around them.
When I visited Tiruvarur recently, I asked a group of high school children about the location of the Trinity's houses. Sadly, they couldn't guide me.

Not a faintest strain of classical music emanated from any of the houses in the streets around the haloed temple.

[Nick H]

some bemoan that they cannot understand what is going on on stage

The primary answer to that is, "It doesn't matter: what matters is enjoying the music, feeling the music, being moved by the music."

It is those factors that have made me a dedicated attender of SM for over a decade now. Of course, education is good too, and wanting to know more about what was going on is what took me to mridangam class.

What I don't like to hear, whether it is about the tani or the whole concert is, "I don't understand, so there is no point in me listening". Maybe those people can, as a first step, be encouraged to say, "I don't understand, but I love the music." From there, some may then say, "I love the music, and I wish I could understand it a little more without becoming an actual music student"

I'm sure you are helping on every step of the way!