Carnatica presents Eastern Ethnic New Year Eve

[Sharanya Krishnamurthy]

Eastern Ethnic Eve, Carnatica’s annual Mega New Year Bash, is back bigger and better than ever before!

Eastern Ethnic New Year Celebrations will be an innovative cultural extravaganza, where musicians will take up fun roles. There will be lots of music, fun, frolic and food!

Ushering in New Year with a Difference!!!

A special programme connecting 12 raasis or zodiac signs is to be performed which will include navagraha and raasis based ragas or melodies on sun and moon signs. In addition to this, a variety of musical forms from classical to fusion and movie based carnatic songs will also be performed.

Carnatica, the music organization-cum-portal founded by vocalists Vidwan Shashikiran and Vidushi Sowmya has been conducting ‘Eastern Ethnic Eve’ for the past few years.

The event will have a few select individual performances, and a number of group renditions.Musicians will don fun, never-before-seen roles—vocalists will play instruments, instrumentalists will sing and so on! There will also be a couple of surprise items thrown in, for the rasikas! Supplementing all this will be traditional snacks and non-alcoholic drinks from Sangeetha Fast Foods. Be there to welcome the new year, Carnatic style!

Time : 10:00 pm to 1:30 am, December31, 2011
Venue: The Music Academy, Main Hall, Chennai

All are welcome!

List of participating artistes:

Sangita Kalanidhi T N. Krishnan
Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. N Ramani
Sangita Kalanidhi Trichy Sankaran
Sangita Kalanidhi C Saroja & C.La|itha
Chitravina Sri N Ravikiran
Srimushnam Sri. Raja Rao
Neyveli Sri. Santhanagopalan
Smt. S. Sowmya
Malladi Brothers
Carnatica Brothers,
Sri. Abhishek Raghuram
Dr. Pantula Rama,
Smt. Gayathri Venkatraghavan
Sri. R Suryaprakash
Dr. Ganesh - Namasankeertanam
Trichur Brothers
Smt. Subhasree Thanikacha|am’s HUN Band
Embar Sri. Kannan
Kunnakkudy Sri. M Balamuralikrishna
Kum. Amrutha Murali
Sri. Ritvik Raja, Sri. Bharat Sundar
Kum. B Suchitra - Harikatha
Kum. Saindhavi
Kum. Sriranjani Santhanagopalan
Kum. V Deepika
Smt. Nirmala Rajasekhar
Sri. WS Murari
Sri. B Ananthakrishnan
Parur Sri. Ananthakrishnan
Karaikkal Sri. S Venkatasubramaniam
Master Keyboard Sathyanarayanan
Sri. Baghavendra
Trivandrum Sri. V. Balaji
Sri. B Sivaraman
Sri. B Ganapathyraman
Sri. KV Gopalakrishnan
Sri. Raghavan
Sri. Prashant Radhakrishnan
and many more...

[squims]

If I were a resident of Chennai, I'd have been there!

[smala]

Sounds like a fun place to be in with an array of luminaries and aspirants and the musical extravaganza.

[VK RAMAN]

It seems artists will fill the auditorium at this rate. I am glad no hard liquor

[tkb]

It was indeed a great event and was happy to welcome the New Year with Artists!

[anandasangeetham]

it turned out to be flop..very shoddy show...Shashikiran kept annoncing that some very interesting stuff will continue and lots more music coming.....but just after midnight he was seen giving some tele interview...10 -15 minutes later ..immediately after Suchitras katha kalatshebam another person just thanked her and faced the audience saying "goodnight"....overall just 6-7 performances....Sri.TNK, DrNR, Bombay sisters,Sri.Rajaraou,Embar kannan & Sathya,trichur bros, group singing,.....except for the performance by the great TNK everything else turned out be very mediocre...the group singing was just pathetic. it seems most of the musicians didnt turn up as expected and Sashi was requested musicians (if any)seated in the audience to join them on stage for the group singing....all this inspite of the alsmost full house in the academy. very very poor show.

[shashikiran]

Dear Anandasangeetham
Thanks for your honest feedback. While I cannot say anything about your likes or dislikes about the event, as it is your personal taste, I would only like to clarify a few points stated. The event started at 10.25 and ended at 1.35 to be precise. We are normally allotted 3 hrs. Barring Malladi bros, Pantula Rama, the out station artistes, who did not get the return reservations and had to leave back to their towns, Sri Neyveli Santanagopalan and Gayatri Venkat, could not turn up due to unavoidable last min issues, almost all the other musicians showed up. The senior artistes Sangeetha Kalanidhis T.N.Krishnan, Flute Ramani, Bombay sisters and vocal Srimushnam Raja Rao started the proceedings and then we had recitals specially done by Emabr Kannan and Sathyanarayanan on Keyboard, followed by Trichur bros. This went on till mid night. At 12 we asked all musicians to join for new year group presentation. I also requested other musicians who were not listed but who might want to join us to come on the stage, as a goodwill gesture. When in a group, mikes are given only to 4 or 5, and with so less or no time to adjust or balance all of them, you cannot get the full experience of a group presentation. It is the spirit for which all of them turn up that has to be noted. Regarding the TV interview, I was called for a short news bite by a media covering the event, which lasted for exactly 2 mins but was present till the end of the event or actually well past 45 mins after the event since we need to wind up and clear things. Anyways, after the group presentation, there were performances by Dr. Ganesh- Namavalis,Bharat Sundar, Ramakrishnan murthy and Raghavendra- who sang as trio, followed by Suryaprakash, and then Suchitra and Saindhavi who presented a katha kutcheri. The vote of thanks was done by none other than Ramanathan Iyer of Carnatica. The whole event including the snacks from Sangeetha was given free. Doesn't mean Anandasangeetham or anyone present there has to like the show. But I thought the facts has to be correctly interpreted. I had a concert that night and 2 concerts next day and also like wise many other musicians. But they all came there to join in celebrating the new year musically with the rasikas and everyone respected the presence of senior legends like T.N.Krishnan mama, Trichy sankaran mama, Dr. Ramani mama and Bombay sisters.The youngsters waited for their turns and some just were happy to do the group presentation like Sowmya, Abhisek Raghuram, Kunnakkudi Balamurali, K.Gayatri, Vidya Kalyanaraman and so on due to the time limit as well. I thank all of them for their support. I will be particularly happy when people voice their views they are clear on what their expectations were and what they think could be constrcutive towards the cause of the growth of Carnatic music, which for me is all about positivity rather than negativity. Ofcourse, one cannot satisfy all when we all have diverse tastes and choices but we welcome constructive feedbacks.

[viswanathmysore]

a flop show is a flop show.
a rasikas feedback is a rasikas feedback .
please take it at that and learn from it .
instead of defending the indefensible by talking of progress of cm , constructive feedback etc .
our heritage has little to do with the monkeying around at the midnight hour on dec 31st .
coming to think of it .... CM needs a lot of soul searching to survive . not partying .

[fduddy]

viswanathmysore
Well said - where is soul searching experience in todays music. It is so gaddamn commercialised and barring a handful of musicians the majority are into monkeying around murdering the beautiful compositions of Trinity and other famous vaggeyekaras.
The only thing left now is booze and Trinity music in disco tunes and dancing on stage by the mamas , mamis, the youngsters and the yuppies !!!!!
The way these things are being organised and acceoted by the general public, the older generation musicians who have some value (still) also fall prey to the commercialism !!!!!

[semmu86]

our heritage has little to do with the monkeying around at the midnight hour on dec 31st .

well said

[Nick H]

Haha! New Year Controversy!

Wasn't there. Driving home at 10.00pm pm New Year's Eve was quite scary enough, and there was no way I was going to join the after-partying suicidal/murderous maniacs on the ECR.

So, speaking strictly as someone who wasn't there ...

1. I have always been tempted to go to this event. I would continue to be tempted to go, if it was a straight classical music event. I am a stick-in-the-mud, that's just the way it is. I was not tempted by the idea of some sort of gimicky production as detailed in the first post. Sorry: I know people sincerely put in a lot of work to bring things like that about, but, like fusion concerts, it just didn't look like my cup of tea.

2. I hope the event survives and prospers in coming years. My advice would be, don't try to do anything new!

3. "Commercialism" seems a bit inappropriate a charge, considering that no money was involved.

4. Carnatic Music at midnight on 31st December? I honestly cannot think of anything better to do, or any more blessed way to enter a new year --- assuming that that clock tick indicating a change of numbers is actually given importance.


My New Years Eve was Suguna Varadachari; my New Year's Day was T N Krishnan (the real one, not the typo!). Midnight came somewhere in-between, and I didn't really give the clock tick much attention.

Happy New Year!

[vasanthakokilam]

It is unfortunate we are in this review and critique mode even for a New Year's eve event/party!

My unsolicited advice to organizers of such events: Under-promise, over-deliver.

[Enna_Solven]

My unsolicited advice. "Bigger and Better" advertisement is bad. Numbers do not make up quality. Nor do they gel with CM. Also CM is not harmony despite attempts by leading musicians. What will work is a series of mini performances by small groups or individuals. Even in groups, one needs to follow what Smt. Sowmya did for mArgazhi utsavam performances. Each one singing a song or playing it based on a coherent theme. Fix a theme and make all the individual performances stick to it. If our beloved, 80+, charming, boyish-happy TNK sir insists on being awake at 12am, please give him the role of welcoming the new year in his own style: a very spicy thOdi or a sweet khamAs.

In short, other than Pancharatna nothing else can be sung together. Even there, listening to duet by Sanjay/Unni sounded much, much better than the ladies-forced-to-sing-to-male-kattai Aradhana presentation. Different schools follow different styles for the same krithi.

On the other hand, this new year thingy is totally western. Have our temples started opening up the sannidhi for 12am darshan?

[vasanthakokilam]

Have our temples started opening up the sannidhi for 12am darshan?

Sure. At least where I am, there used to be midnight darshan.

[Nick H]

this new year thingy is totally western.

Indeed, absolutely, as it is based on a Western calendar ...but the small temple next door to me was open for business, and I don't think it is at midnight for Tamil New year.

[mahavishnu]

First of all, we should applaud Carnatica and Sri Shashikiran for their efforts. Any criticism can be offered constructively; attacking the entire premise and basis for their new year celebration is not a way forward.

No matter how we look at it, the Gregorian calendar is here to stay and most people in the world of Carnatic music consider this to be a New Year (in a pluralistic world we also have Ugadi, Tamil putthandu and Chinese new year for good measure). So welcoming the new year in a non-alcohol soaked atmosphere with like-minded individuals is a good thing. If this is breaking any "traditions" then those "traditions" are meaningless.

To the best of my knowledge, this event involves people singing "Maithreem Bhajatha" at the stroke of midnight, a composition that was written for world peace for a global audience. While our heritage might not have a protocol for what to do at midnight, singing for world peace is definitely not "monkeying" around.

So, take your negativity and put it back where it came from. Let us welcome the New Year in peace. (and yes Jan 1 is new year and I do speak English and wear trousers to work and listen to GNB on my iPod). Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam.

[Enna_Solven]

[edit] Took out my protest after mahavishnu cleared up my mis-reading. Sorry. [/edit]

See what Nick wrote. Nothing similar happens on a Tamil New Year in Tamil Nadu. Mono-culture is sad.

[mahavishnu]

E_S: my post was in reference to Viswanathmysore and others who wrote absolutely negative things in very harsh language.
I have no issues with what you wrote.

Happy New year!

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,


In whichever language or culture, when the renewal (of a year) is celebrated, the purpose of it is to turn a new page--start things afresh, celebrate our being together--in this case, with music, which heals and refreshes us.

In this event, the focus was not on serious concerts but on celebrating the ushering in of a new year with music.
We celebrate weddings with proper marriage rites but since it is also a happy occasion of family and friends being together, we have entertainment and music by way of Unjal, nalungu and other forms of fun and frolic. After hundreds of concerts during the season, a relaxing evening like this sounds fun. If seniors too wanted to join in, it shows that musicians are also human beings like us and are not exclusively concert-giving entities.

I was there at the Millennium celebrations at the Academy. It was a dazzling affair, Sudha Raghunathan compering eloquently, young and old performing (DKP and KVN singing together!), screening of snippets from the life of musical legends...in short, it was something which was novel and riveting. A dozen years have passed, we have seen many changes since then, and a gathering like this is not to be frowned upon at all...

MaitrIm bhajatha...

[Nick H]

See what Nick wrote. Nothing similar happens on a Tamil New Year in Tamil Nadu. Mono-culture is sad.

Remember I am not Indian, so if I mistake in writing this, make allowances...

Monoculture seems to me to be the last of Inda's problems. Look at the list of public holidays: see how the government employees get to enjoy each other's festivals and feasts. In fact, excepting a handful of hardliners, who are to be found in every camp, there seems to be a great sharing and enjoyment of all such days, by so many people, with a general attitude of any celebration is a good celebration.

Even though there may not be musical events at the Academy, the various new years get marked by wishes being sent to the appropriate people. My Christian wife reminds me on the days when I should send wishes to my Muslim friend.

December 31st is not selling out. It is not inviting America in to be the new colonial master --- there are much greater dangers at India's door than international New Year's Eve.

[Enna_Solven]

Not at all Nick, your points are valid. Remember, my remark was a passing swipe. It was my last sentence, using "on the other hand", as an alternative argument.

I stayed in India after education out of a sense of devotion, but quit many years later when I had to face corruption on a daily basis in my work, work related travel. It was intolerable and against the values I got from my Gandhian father. It has multiplied beyond imagination now. As if we are not satisfied with local goons, we have imported one from Italy as well. Soon we will have a Spanish bandit princess. Bharathi wrote: "nenju porukkuthillaiye inda nilai ketta mAndarai ninaitthu vittAl." This wound of mine will not heal till the end. Yes, corruption is enemy #1 and will stall any progress in India.

I went on a tangent. The problem is, in my youth the announcers on the radio spoke Thamizh. Now, when I hear the Tamil the CM announcers speak on radio, I want to thrash them with a broken broomstick. Even professional announcers cannot differentiate l/L, n/N and worse. That is sad mono-culture for me.

[arasi]

Enna_ Solven,
I am with you, and we need a separate thread for what you say about incorrect speech. tamizh nATTilE, 'soRkal koLai pannappadum avaLa niLai'.
It is extremely hard for today's children to speak tamizh properly, listening to this slaughter of words all around.
They have seminars and clinics for anything and everything. The government needs to have speech therapy clinics for teachers and announcers on the media before the spoken language reaches the pits ;(

Please note: Castes don't come into the picture here. For ages, the zha, La differences in pronouncing has existed, and has not been an issue. It is the current mixing up of la La, na Na and such which need to be remedied.

[Enna_Solven]

Yes Arasi, caste is not the issue. None of my thamizh teachers were brahmins. My tenth standard thamizh teacher, Ramaiah sir used to do running commentary in thamizh during the annual sports day. It was so mesmerizing. The super-senior category of athletes were called mEn-mElOr by him. Not one word in English. It was fantastic flow of words.

Good, dedicated teachers in a rural government school; but only a handful of my class eventually became graduates...

[arasi]

But they kept their tamizh unspoiled, as you did!

[Nick H]

I went on a tangent. The problem is, in my youth the announcers on the radio spoke Thamizh. Now, when I hear the Tamil the CM announcers speak on radio, I want to thrash them with a broken broomstick. Even professional announcers cannot differentiate l/L, n/N and worse. That is sad mono-culture for me.

Sorry I picked up on the tangent. I have a bad habit of doing that on forums

On the language issue I can sympathise very much without being able to speak a word of Tamil --- because I have watched the BBC change over my lifetime, from an organisation which was a guardian of the English language to one that has adopted the lowest-common-denominator, with news presenters not understanding basic grammar. In pure linguistic terms, the BBC is almost as bad as the New Indian Express. Even now, I am sad, as I am sure many locally people English scholars are, to see the sudden decline in The Hindu. Almost all the rasika[.org]s write good English, I am sure you know what I mean. Maybe language slaughter, as Arasi puts it, is worldwide. We see something very beautiful being destroyed. It hurts.

So I feel for your regard for your own language. I am sure that the snippets of Indian TV news I catch, whether it is Hindi or a Southern language, spouted by youngsters who are employed for their looks, would cause me even more pain if I understood.

[srikant1987]

Maybe language slaughter, as Arasi puts it, is worldwide. We see something very beautiful being destroyed. It hurts.

Also happens to rAgams. ;( ;( ;(

[sureshvv]

So, take your negativity and put it back where it came from.

Or where the sun don't shine

[rajeshnat]

A special programme connecting 12 raasis or zodiac signs is to be performed which will include navagraha and raasis based ragas or melodies on sun and moon signs.

Just like navagraha krithis do we also have carnatic songs that are based on the 12 raasis or zodiacs. I am not aware of this can those who went throw some light on this?

On a side note , I did attend the first of there new year celebrations , I made a post in sangeetham.com then, hmmmmm..... time flies.