Aishu Venkataraman Stanford CA Feb 22, 2014

[appu]

Aishwarya Venkataraman (Violin)
Vinod Venkataraman (Mridangam)
Devangi Vivrekar (Tanpura)

Time: 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM


I arrived at Stanford University at about 4:00 PM with seven friends from my office. This was their first introduction to Karnataka Sangeetam. The campus had an air of festivities as this was their parents day weekend. Parking was not a problem as all lots were open for this particular weekend. The auditorium was in my opinion more than half full with a cultural mix of die hard musical fans of Aishu's music and a large group of students from Stanford University. Even for these students this probably was their initial introduction to this music

The artists intro began at 5:25 and the concert commenced at 5:30 PM. Given that Aishu was performing for a diverse audience population, her song choices were eclectic with a rare varna too.

1. Chalamela Varnam, Kirvani, Adi (Varnam played in 5 speeds) Patnam Subramani Iyer
2. Niravadhi Sukatha, Ravichandrika, Adi (K, N, S) Tyagaraja
3. Tolijanmamu, Bilahari, Ghanda Chapu, Tyagaraja (R, K, S)
4. Karunil Chuta Kinne, Sindhu Mandhari, Adi, Patnam Subramani Iyer
5. Thodi RTP with Tanam in Thodi, Kalyani, Subha Pantuvarali, Hamsdwani, Kapi, and Mohanam
6. English Note, Adi Talam Tisra Nadai, HMB

Aishu began with a rare varnam in ragam Kiravani. During sound check before the stage opened it looked like she would be beginning with the usual Hamsadwani or Chitaranjani as these ragams were being strummed. It was an absolute pleasant surprise to hear her open with Kiravani. I had never heard this Patnam varnam ever before. I googled and found a Youtube rendition by Kalpakam Amma on the veena. This of course tied up the loose ends of the connection to vidwan SRJ.

Aishu played this varnam in five speeds in the Purvangam, which literally set the mood and got the audience to their feet at the end of the fast half. I am fairly confident that the students in the group were seeing a western instrument being played with such dexterity and finesse for the first time. For us old timers it bought back memories of L. Subramaniam in his finest days. The difference however in this performance was the TNK style sowkyam that she brings about with her long bowing and subtle raga nuances. At the end of the varnam Aishu announced that she played the varnam with subdivisions of 4, 6, 8, 12 and 16 pulses to a beat. The charanam was played in one speed.

Niravadhi Sukatha a tyagaraja masterpiece was next played with utmost sowkyam and a round of swarams for about six to seven minutes. I must commend the sound engineers and the artists for taking time to bring such a fine balance to highlight the violin, the mridangam and the tanpura without any shrill or harsh sounds. Reminded me of the times when I would attend live Radio Sangeet Sammelans in Bombay by the AIR.

Bilahari ragam was reminiscent of the TNK bani in its entirety. Aishu has evolved in her style with excellent brigas and pidis which I must say must be from her rigorous training under vidwan SR Janakiranman. She eludes ample confidence and has developed a technique fairly unique. The ragam traversed the mandira stayi and the upper octave with absolutely no pesarals. Tolijanmamu was rendered with a brisk round of swarams culminating in a 5, 7, 9 pattern. Vinod Venkataraman on the mridangam, specifically for this kirtanam played multiple cross rythms to bring out the nuances of the kirtana to it fullest.

Thodi RTP with the tanam was a delectable treat. Aishu traversed 3 octaves of the instrument in the ragam and the clarity of her bowing/fingering was evident when she played notes way up on the finger board about two inches from the bridge. At that point the notes tend to be so close to each other that any abaswaram would wake up the dead, especially in a ragam like Thodi. Shows the asura sadhakam that she has gone through. Tanam ran threw various ragams and Aishu pleased the audience by playing all requested ragams in the tanam. Members of the audience were calling out ragams like Hamsadwani and Kalyani as requests. The pallavi was "Nalada Marulu Kontini" a TNK standard. As time was a factor and the pallavi felt rushed and swarams felt restricted. Nevertheless happy to have heard a pallavi in a hour and a half concert.

She concluded with the English note to a standing ovation. The concert was a benefit for Doctors Without Borders and the students of Stanford and SPICMACAY must be commended for executing such a fine performance. Mahavishnu really sorry I missed you. I stayed after the concert chatting with Aishu and Vinod and asked them if you had made your presence. Vinod in his jocular self said Mahavishnu did not grace us today, but do not worry, Shiva is here and introduced me to a rasika by name Shiva. Hopefully we can catch up next time.

I must say my friends were thoroughly impressed with the concert and still could not get over the fact of a violinist sitting on the floor cross legged and performing. Aishu graduates this year with another Bachelors in the Biological sciences. Kudos Aishu. Keep up the good work.

[rshankar]

Thank you Appu for the review...
Aishu and Vinod - great going!!

[mahavishnu]

Appu, thanks for your review.
Vinod-Aishu: My apologies again for missing this event! I am down with a nasty flu, which is punishment enough

[aishuv]

Thank you everyone for your kind words!!

It was wonderful to have such a supportive audience filled with peers, friends, professors, and rasikas. I absolutely enjoyed sharing a bit of our Carnatic music with those for whom this concert was their first taste.

Another bit of important and exciting news, we raised over $8000 for Doctors Without Borders from ticket sales, CD sales, and generous donations!

A big thank you to Stanford Sanskriti, Stanford SPICMACAY, and the Stanford Arts Institute for supporting the event and helping to promote it. Hope to have the privilege of performing in the Bay Area again some time soon (especially so I can play for you, mahavishnu!)

[cacm]

CONGRAGULATIONS! BEST OF LUCK. VKV

[mahavishnu]

Hope to have the privilege of performing in the Bay Area again some time soon (especially so I can play for you, mahavishnu!)

Aishu, that is so kind of you. I eagerly look forward to such an occasion!
I'm so glad that the fundraising efforts were as successful as the concert itself

[rshankar]

Aishu...that is very good...$8,000 for DWB...I'm sure they're chuffed! Congratulations!

[rajeshnat]

Another bit of important and exciting news, we raised over $8000 for Doctors Without Borders from ticket sales, CD sales, and generous donations!

Aishu,
Nice of you to come openly and share the collection numbers . In chennai we have a lot of splash in papers for all these donor-charity concerts prior to the concert day. After the day of the concert , they would not share any numbers and there would be another round of splash for the next donor-charity concert.
On a side note never heard the keeravani varnam - that too in all possible speeds . I have a special admiration for TNK and keeravani.Keep it going -wish you had a concert without timelines (90 mins) for a doctors without borders fundraiser :-* .

[arasi]

Aishu,
Way to go, girl!
Appu and company and other rasikAs were there to listen to your beautiful music which raised considerable amount of money for medical work in many corners of the world.

Bravo, modern young woman who cares both for the arts and for humanity

Wish I had heard that kIravANi as well...

[Rsachi]

Congrats Aishu and Vinod!

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Thanks Appu for the detailed review-Aishu deserves all the accolades that she gets for her passion and charitable mien!!
AISHU/VINOD Good Luck!! May God bless you and your family!!

AISHU-- Please let me know your east coast trip details!!

[VRV]

Ramesh, Shankar, Arasi, Rsachi, and MKR and Rajesh thanks for the thought and good wishes. The hard work and dedication by the Stanford students, Sanskriti and SPICMACAY must be commended. These students maintain a serious academic regimen and in between mid terms and exams they pick a cause to support. I had a first hand experience at how well they navigated the audience, sold CD's and collected the money. Very commendable.

MKR can you please email me your phone number so that I can call and chat.

Vinod Venkataraman

[Ranganayaki]

Congratulations, Aishwarya and VRV on the success of the concert as well as the good work toward a great cause.

[appu]

[Nick H]

How nice to see the picture

(of course, it must have been much, much nicer to be there for the music too !)