Sub seniors of the season?

hindolam · Post by **hindolam** » 06 Jan 2007, 07:11

As the season is over let us share thoughts on the future of Carantic music. Who were the rising stars among the sub seniors who would move over to the next slot sooner than later? Amongst the gents I think Gurucharan, Balamaurlikrishna and Saketharaman all showed tremendous potential. And amongst the ladies Gayathri Venkatraghavan was by far miles ahead . Her beautiful voice and melodious music should see her climb the ranks very rapidly.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Jan 2007, 10:54

Gayathri Venkataraghavan is a treat. She is an original among today's young women singers. Reminds me of Vasanthakokilam and Srirangam Gopalaratnam. Her voice is beautiful and I like her nidAnam best! Gurucharan is solid in his knowledge and presentation and gives a wholesome performance for a youngster. Wish I had heard Saketaraman. Balamurali must have advanced since last year. I couldn't place him at the same level as Gurucharan then when I heard him...

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Jan 2007, 00:24

Arasi, I don't really think Gayatri belongs in the Sub senior list - she along with Pantula Rama, Sangeetha Sivakumar and some others are as good to me as anyone out there in the top slots. Other youngsters I have been impressed with (not in any order other than recall):

Sriram Parthasarathi (overall one of the most promising talents)
SR Veeraraghavan (also good enough for the top slots)
Palghat Ramprasad (alas looks like going the Balaji Shankar way)
Swarna Rethas
Manasi Prasad
Abishek Raghuram
TNS Krishna
Delhi Muthukumar
Mohan Santhanam
Amruta Murali
Savitha Narasimhan
Trichur Brothers

I'm sure I've missed many more...More on my thoughts on the afternoon scene in another post.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Jan 2007, 00:28

Itâ€™s probably not the best time for youngsters (at least vocalists) in Carnatic Music â€“ the evening slots are full of blokes who are going to be around for a while. Other than a couple of (relatively) senior vidwans, most of the popular artists are well below 50. Compared to the churn that happened, letâ€™s say between 1995 and 2000, there are relatively few new faces that have broken into the top rung in the last 5-6 years. Ranjani Gayatri were perhaps the last to obtain â€œsenior artistâ€

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 07 Jan 2007, 00:44

"Lack of proportion and sense of balance"....vijay-ji, i am with you on all the other aspects you pointed out. but this is a rather heavy expectation for a youngster coming in.....i dont think many of the so-called "senior" artists today shine in this matter of "proportion and sense of balance" either....

Whatever happened to Palakkad Ramprasad? I felt he definitely had the ingredients for a weighty future...he seems to have dissappeared of the main circuit.....

meena · Post by **meena** » 07 Jan 2007, 05:11

I had heard of past/current artists.

What is the "qualification" needed to make it onto the Sr./Jr./ Sub Jr... etc list.?
Who makes this selection?

I would love to be on the 'elite' selection list

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Jan 2007, 13:15

Mahesh, yes, perhaps I am being unfair in looking for balance but I feel this is a relatiely easy-to-acquire skill which is hampering many young musicians from getting to the top. The fact that some seniors are not blessed with this trait is no reason to follow that example.

Meena, no idea what it takes to get an afternoon slot but I guess you need to work the system and get the secretary's ears through your guru/contacts etc. Once you are an established afternooner I guess your promotion depends on how many people show up for your concerts - this is again a function of how effectively you are able to market yourself as well as how good your music is....

I don't know if there is a "qualification" as such - the secretary may provide a chance depending on his rapport with the singer's teachers/parents etc. and then consider continuing the slot depending on his/her performance. Maybe someone who's been through the grind can provide some inputs.

I am not too sure you would enjoy the job if you did manage to get it - your phone would be ringing throughout the day with requests from pesky parents and teachers!

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 08 Jan 2007, 21:08

Hi,

I heard a different story, not my views.

Apart from one's skill, Guru's word is very important. If your guru is a stalwart, getting oppurtunities is easy. And also the family from which you are coming also matter. If you are from a music family, then connections and network helps. (Few exceptions are like Mandolin Srinivas and Shashank and may be many more. Because there are too talented, in aspects like manodharma, skill).

But it gets in to a cycle of confidence and push. How much confidenec you gain depends on how many times you perform before audience. Once you perform 50 concerts a year with decent audience , you also gain confidence. Though I cannot agree much on this point. I feel one gets confidence when you practise more and more.

Any thoughts!

Dharmavathi · Post by **Dharmavathi** » 09 Jan 2007, 09:48

Hi,

Palghat Ramprasadh has moved to USA doing his Ph.D in Economics at the University of Georgia, Athens. It is unfortunate that such a promising, talented youngster has left the Kutcheri circuit to pursue his academic interest. I sincerely hope he swings back sometime in the future and starts performing concerts regularly.

Ennoda Bhagayam, I am actually learning a few krithi's and refreshing my music lessons from him.