Prof. SRJ named Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow

[Ashwin]

We are proud and privileged to announce that our Guru, Prof. Shri S.R. Janakiraman, has been named as a recipient of the coveted Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Award, the highest performing arts award conferred by the Government of India. On behalf of musicians and rasikA-s worldwide, we congratulate SRJ Mama and seeks his blessings!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/m ... 310252.ece

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangeet_N ... Fellowship

Ashwin and Rohin
(Toronto Brothers)

[VRV]

Ashwin,

Just got off the phone with SRJ mama. A very well deserved award. Congratulations mama. We your students and well wishers are thrilled and very happy for this recognition.

Vinod Venkataraman

[rajeshnat]

Congratulations to SRJ mama. I also see other awardees too getting akademi puraskar.
Neyveli Santhanagopalan for Carnatic vocal; T.A. Kaliyamurthy (Thavil), Sukanya Ramgopal (Ghatam) and Dwaram Durga Prasad Rao (violin).

Congratulations to other four.

[mahavishnu]

When it comes to people like Prof SRJ, I think the honor is for the award!

[uday_shankar]

Well said Mahavishnu !

I would have liked to see him described as "musician and musicologist" for he was equally both. It does great injustice to his qualities as a performing musician to confine him to the "musicologist" label. Again, while SRJ is certainly the greatest musicologist since Prof Sambamoorthy, many people go about these days claiming to be musicologist.

I am among the group of people who actually love his voice. His choice of shruti 2.5 kattais (D#) is in my ideal "aesthetic" band. Mridangam players would love to play to his shruti...it sounds best. Also, the natural huskiness in his voice, especially in the upper octave, as well as his tremendous attention to shruti shuddham place him in a class apart. Needless to say, his deep life-long research into ragas, varnams, kritis, gamakas, shruti values, overtones, composers, language, compositional forms, music history, etc etc etc... is all too well known.

I attended a most poignant lecture by SRJ on the various gurus (described by him as "unsung and unknown they may be but certainly mahavidvans all of them") who helped nurture his innate musical abilities from childhood. Kalakshetra and Tiger Varadachariar were at the end of this long chain of gurus.

Feeling good today .

[arasi]

Pranams and congratulations to musician, musicologist Prof. SRJ!
Sharing the happiness of his family, students and friends

Congratulations to NSG, Sukanya, Ashwini Bhide and all the deserving fellows and awardees.

[thanjavooran]

Best wishes to all the awardees.
Special namaskarams to Prof. Shriman SRJ Avl. Most deserving.
Thanjavooran
14 05 2015

[rshankar]

Congratulations to Prof. SRJ! Very richly deserved!
Congratulations to our eternal Vidyarthi, and all the other awardees!

[varsha]

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/p9ai569 ... i_-SRJ.mp3

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/i4rob01 ... alyANi.mp3

When it comes to people like Prof SRJ, I think the honor is for the award!

kAru ( sangIta SAstra ) vElpulu nIku sari

(Other sangIta SAstra ) Gods won’t become equal to You

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Uday has said above what I wanted to say! " I am among the group of people who actually love his voice."

I think of this whenever I listen to the nAdabrahma song I enjoy so much. Ashwin and Rohin have accompanied him in this recording.

[srini_pichumani]

On this joyous occasion of Prof.SRJ being named SNA Fellow, I would like to share this wonderful master class taught by Prof.SRJ --

https://archive.org/details/04SankariNeeveYani

The composition is "s'ankari" of Subbaraaya S'aastri in the raga Begada (mIgaDa)... the student is L.Ramakrishnan, a prime disciple of the peerless Kalpagam Mami.

Note the fidelity, intensity, and diligence with which Prof.SRJ transmits this classic composition from the great vainika Karaikkudi Sambasiva Iyer's repertoire to L.Ramki who is an accomplished vainika himself.

His pointed suggestions, corrections, etc are all focused on transmitting the vainika style as accurately as possible -- here a suggestion for a meettu, there a suggestion to drop it, elsewhere to avoid a brigA, an occasional cautionary "ummm", and a classic "adi" in Telugu idiom when done right !

What an experience it was to witness such a transmission of our musical heritage from a master teacher to a worthy student !!! adiyokka yugamu -- April 1999, Austin, USA.

-Srini.

ps: The adika-prasangi heard on the recording is of course yours truly. It was worth getting a rise out of SRJ sir that day, and get him to expound his views on Begada in greater detail ! He plugged the kais'iki N usages in Begada with impish delight and a vengeance as he himself declares !!!

pps: Another SNA Fellow awardee is the classic Director M.S.Sathyu who made Garam Hawa -- what a classic movie !

[VRV]

Srini

Could you please upload again. The link is not working

Vinod Venkataraman

[pattamaa]

so beautiful begada...loving it... !

[Ashwin]

Varsha,

Thank you for SRJ Mama's renditions. I believe there is a youtube video as well, from his lecture-demonstration in Toronto several years ago. Can you tell me who is singing in the second link? Is it Priya Sisters? I enjoyed the rendition.

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/p9ai569 ... i_-SRJ.mp3

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/i4rob01 ... alyANi.mp3

When it comes to people like Prof SRJ, I think the honor is for the award!

kAru ( sangIta SAstra ) vElpulu nIku sari

(Other sangIta SAstra ) Gods won’t become equal to You

[Lakshman]

Congratulations to Prof.SRJ on being appointed as a fellow of Sangeet Natak Academy. Well deserved honour.

[varsha]

Aswin
That was Manda Sudharani and Pantula Rama singing as a duet

[Sreeni Rajarao]

varsha avare,

Thank you for the two beautiful recordings! (SRJ's and the other delight - duet of Pantula Rama and Manda SudhaRani - who would have thought!)

Srini Pichumani,
What a treat you have shared! SRJ, bEgaDa, Ramki on the Veena - simply special! Thank You!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

SRJ must have been awarded the fellowship much earlier. A beacon of musical knowledge.