Bharat Sundar w/ Ashwinn Gowrishanker @ T.O. Aug/12/2018

[Rohin]

Full concert posted on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/PN62v5aiOEg

And on Livestream here: https://livestream.com/accounts/1729214/events/2189366/videos/178868929

Shri Bharat Sundar (Vocal)
Shri HN Bhaskar (Violin)
Chi. Ashwinn Balachandran (Mridangam)
Shri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (Ghatam)
Shri Karthik Venkataraman (Kanjira)
Shri Gajajeyan Pararajasekaran (Morsing)
Smt. Lavanya Krishnan (Tambura)
Chief guest : Sangita Kala Nidhi Trichy Shri Sankaran
Guru and chief guest: Kalaimamani Thiruvarur Shri Bhakthavatsalam

1) jalajAkshA ninnEDa bAsi – hamsadhwani – patnam subramania iyer – Adi (varnam)
2) gurulEka – gAurimanOhari – tyAgarAjA – khaNDa cApu
3) brocEvArEvarurA – khamAs – mysore vasudEvachar – Adi
4) mAmava mInAkshi – varALi - muddusvAmi dIkshitar - miSra cApu (RNS with thani @ kAmithartha)
5) Thani avarthanam in misra capu (Ashwin Balachandran)
6) RTP – sankarAbharaNam
a. “ma,dhu,ra,nA,,,da,mE,,,,, ni,da,mE,,, po,,,tru,|
vOm,,,,, pAr,,, pu,gha,zhum, mri,da,,,nga, laya”
b. Thani in Adi thalam (full ensemble)
7) govardhana giridhAra – darbari kAnAda – nArAyaNa tirttha – Adi
8) murugA murugA ena nee Sol – hamsAnandhi – T. A. Sambandmurti - Adi
9) Speech by Shri Trichy Sankaran
10) Speech by Shri Thiruvarur Bhakavatsalam
11) Mangalam

Layamadhuraa Percussive Arts Centre, Toronto Canada presented an exhilarating arangetram and concert featuring prominent artists from India. The star of the show was Chi. Ashwinn Balachandran, a disciple of the stalwart Thiruvarur Shri Bhaktavatsalam, as well as of his own father, Toronto Shri B. Gowrishankar, also a prominent mridanga vidwan in Canada.

The concert, with Shri Bharat Sundar on vocal, ably supported by Shri HN Bhaskar on violin, began with the hamsadhwani varnam of Patnam Subramania Iyer in a brisk and lively speed. Ashwinn immediately demonstrated his grasp of the kalapramAnam of this composition, and was beautifully encouraged by the senior vidwan Shri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan on Ghatam.

Shri Bharat Sundar then presented gurulEka of tyAgarAja. This was an apt choice given the choice of talam for variety (khaNDa chaapu) as well as the immense fortune of having three of his gurus present on this important day: Thiruvarur Shri Bhaktavatslam, Shri Gowrishankar, and also Delhi Shri Sairam, who was on stage to provide Ashwinn with additional moral/ technical support. Immediately following this was the ever-popular brOcEvarEvarurA in khamAs. This brought back memories of the SemmanguDi bANi for me personally, highlighting Bharat’s faithful reproduction of the song as taught by his own guru Shri PS Narayanaswami. The entire ensemble excelled in presenting this kriti, but special mention must be given to the local asthana vidwans Shri Karthik Venkataraman and Shri Gajajeyan PararajaSekaran, who showed their knowledge of both the percussive and musical aspects as evident in their synchronized accompaniment during the chittaswaram. The concept of guru bhakti was also emphasized in the speech by Trichy Shri Sankaran to follow at the end of the concert.

The next piece was a highlight for listeners as it introduced a new talam (miSra cApu) as well the first of two thani avarthanams by the young vidwan. As this was a special request from Thiruvarur Shri Bhaktavatsalam, the entire ensemble graciously allowed Ashwinn to play solo for this thani, and it was a treat to say the least. Ashwinn demonstrated his prowess by playing in chatuSra naDai, tiSra naDai, and also several additional mEl kalam varieties of these two naDais (e.g. 2 x 7, 3 x 7, 4 x 7, 5 x 7, 6 x 7, etc.).

The ensemble then presented a Ragam-Thanam-Pallavi (RTP) in Sankarabharanam. Shri HN Bhaskar beautifully showed his bowing technique to create the rhythmic thanam strokes during this presentation. Bharat also displayed his mastery over both compositional and improvisational music during this piece – this was evident in the pallavi line in which Bharat wove the word “layamadhuraa” to honour the school name of Shri Bhaktavatsaam and Shri Gowrishankar. His extemporaneous rendition of alapana, neraval, and kalpana swaram and exchanges with Shri HN Bhaskar, along with the support of the entire troupe, brought out the true beauty of Sankarabharanam. Following the pallavi, the ensemble presented a second (main) thani avarthanam, which was arranged on the stage in such a manner: Ashwinn played fully in sankIRna naDai, Vaikom Shri Gopalakrishnan played fully in miSra naDai, Shri Karthik played fully in khaNDa naDai, Shri Gajajeyan played fully in tiSram. During these individual renditions, there was flawless execution by all of the percussive team members, and so many complex and aesthetic variations were presented that Sankaran Sir aptly coined the terms Sankirna Ashwinn, Misra Vaikom, Khanda Karthik, and Tisra Gajajeyan!

After a few lighter items, including a thillana composition of Bharat Sundar in dvijavanti ragam, interestingly in khanDa naDai, the concert concluded with several speeches by the doyens Shri Bhaktavatsalam (who presented Ashwinn with a mridangam as a gift for the occasion, and specially thanked Veni Gowrishanker, Ashwinn’s mother for her dedication to Ashwinn’s learning), Shri Sankaran, as well as proud father of Ashwinn Gowrishanker, Shri Gowrishanker, and others, the concert was concluded with a mangalam and the audience lined up in droves to greet the young talent for his excellent performance.

During the speeches by the two chief guests and vidwans, a few key concepts were emphasized. The first was the concept of uzhaippu (in Tamil, this means hard work). Both of them highlighted the sincere practice, interest, listening and hard work that must undoubtedly have been put in by Ashwinn to be able to present such a concert. The other concept that was emphasized was that this concert was not at all an arangetram concert, rather it was a full-fledged concert, and I couldn’t agree more. While in many arangetrams nowadays, there is a high degree of memorization and rehearsal (a necessary fact, to ensure the successful outcome), this concert did not feel this way at all, and the entire troupe was having a good time on stage, which further erased any feeling that this was a test of the young man’s talent.

Finally, the concept of guru bhakti was present throughout. Ashwinn, Sairam, and Gowrishanker, all disciples of Shri Bhaktavatsalam, were blessed by his presence. Similarly Bharat Sundar’s guru Shri PSN (and his guru Semmangudi Shri Srinivasa Iyer) were evident in the scholarly renditions and raga choices. Shri Bhaktavatsalam also spoke about having accompanied with Shri HN Bhaskar’s guru and father, Shri H Narasimhamoorthy. And finally, Shri Sankaran spoke about the importance of paramapara (guru-shishya lineage) in passing along the art form. He highlighted the lineages of famous mridanga vidwans from the Pazhani and Thanjavur schools, as well as the concepts of bANi, school, and style.

The young vidwan Ashwinn gave a heartfelt speech in which he honoured his late grandfather, parents, and gurus, as well as the vidwans who encouraged and supported him throughout his musical journey.

Please join me in wishing Ashwinn a bright and prosperous future. I invite you all to listen to the entire concert and judge for yourself the power, accuracy, nadam, and ease with which Ashwinn plays.

On a personal note, Ashwinn, his brother Rohinn (the namesake of myself and my brother), sister Laya, and Gowri Anna and Veni Akka have held a special place in my life as we have known them all since they were very young and watched them grow and evolve across their musical journeys. Gowri Anna is a guru (I am his Mridangam student for 14 years on and off) and friend to me and full credit goes to him for making Ashwinn into the respectful and talented vidwan that he is today. His journey will surely continue with greater and greater laurels to come.

Rohin Iyer

[Sadbhakthi12]

No Jesus krithi thankfully