J.Shivakumar- Lotus Venkateswara Temple Virgina, Oct12 2010

[gsanthan]

# Oct 12 2010 J.Shivakumar- Lotus Venkateswara Temple, Fairfax, Virginia
Vocal - J.Shivakumar
Violin - Master Kamalakiran Vinjamuri
Mridangam - Jayanth Balasubramanian

This concert was organized as part of the Navarathri series and was presented by local artistes from the DC metro.

Song List:
1. Sakala kala vaniye - Kedaram - Adi - Sudhananda Bharati ( couple of avarthanams of swarams)
2. Sree Varalakshmi - Sri - Rupakam - Dikshithar
3. Saraswathi Namosthuthe - Saraswathi - Rupakam - GNB (Ragam, Swaram)
4. Alaluru Guriyaka - Sankarabaranam - Adi - Annamacharya (Swaram)
5. Sankari Sankuru - Saveri - Adi (Tisra gati) - Syama Sastri (Ragam, Niraval, Swaram)
6. Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi - Bahudari - Kantachaapu - Shivakumar ("kamalaalaya vasa Venkatesa Virginia Pradesa")
ragamalika swaras in Dhanyasi, Subhapantuvarali, Salaga Bhairavi
Tani Avarthanam
7. Pala peyar kondavan Hari - Bilahari - Adi - Shivakumar
8. Geetharthamu - Surati - Adi - Thyagaraja (brief ragam)

For a weekday, there were a good number of attendees many of whom were Shiva's friends and well-wishers. Many of us among the audience have had a discussion or two about Carnatic music with Shiva and usually that is enough to know about Shiva's passion for this art and his knowledge about history and theoretical aspects of Carnatic music. But none of us have heard Shiva perform a carnatic concert and there was a definite curiosity factor all around. It was apparent at the outset that performing on the concert stage after a long time is not easy and Shiva took a little while to warm up and did have some difficulty with sruti alignment during the early part of the concert. However, despite these challenges, Shiva succeeeded in presenting a wholesome concert that contained nuances like singing Sree Sarasapadhe (Sree Varalakshmi) in 4 speeds instead of the usual 2 speeds, 1/2 avarthana swaras in Alarulu, singing niraval (Sankari Sankuru) in Saama Gaana Lole instead of Syamakrishna Sodhari and he did kalpana swaras in chatusra nadai in that tisra nadai kriti. For those of us who are familiar with his flair for wordplay in tamil, he gave something to cherish about in his composition Pala peyar kondavan Hari. The pallavi line of the RTP was composed by Shiva and in praise of the temple and the deity. Shiva presented the RTP in Bahudari, a ragam that is not usually chosen for an RTP but as was the case throughout his performance, Shiva chose to present a concert that was scholarly and he avoided taking a "no risk" approach but instead provided a musical effort that was more representative of his vidwat on all aspects of Carnatic Music.

The accompaniments were excellent. Jayanth is a seasoned professional and has accompained several top-notch artistes in SSVT concerts and has performed LecDem on Laya aspects. Kamalakiran, only an 8th grader, is a child prodigy has already gained lot of experience. This is the second time I have heard him provide violin accompaniment. This kid is a precocious talent and it is heartening to see such young talents in the DC metro. The accompanists complemented Shiva exceptionally well and embellished the concert quality by providing wonderful support.

All in all, it was a very commendable effort on Shiva's part to take on the initiative to convey the musical ideas that he has plenty of. The crowd was very supportive and appreciative of his efforts. Let us hope Shiva's performance will act as a catalyst to inspire the aspiring performers among us.

[rajeshnat]

gsanthan
Tx for your review. May we all know little more about J Shivakumar.(about his guru etc).