Mridangam Arangetram of Varunadithya Chitta, Student of Sarvalaghu Percussion Art Center, Oct 2018

[SowmyaN]

The Mridangam Arangetram of Chi. Varunadithya Chitta, student of ‘Laya Kala Ratna’ Sri Ramesh Srinivasan of Sarvalaghu Percussion Art Center (SPAC) was held recently on October 14th 2018 at Smith Center, Ohlone College, Fremont, California.

Concert was performed by:
Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. M Chandrasekaran – Violin
Vidushi Smt. Bharati Gopalakrishnan - Vocal support
Chi Varunadithya Chitta - Mridangam
Vidwan Sri. Karthik Venkatraman - Kanjira
Kumari Sathya Ramesh - Thalam

Date: October 14th, 2018
Time : 10:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Venue: Smith Center, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA

The event was presided over by Sri Divyogi Patel, Lead Board Member, Sankara Eye Foundation, as the Chief Guest. Many prominent Bay area musicians and teachers including Sri Aravind Lakshmikanthan, Smt. Geetha Ravi, Smt. Divya Ramesh, and many others graced the function and blessed Varun.

Varun, an eighth grader at Miller Middle School, Cupertino, has been learning Mridangam for the past 5 1/2 years. His Guru, Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, Artistic Director of Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center of San Jose, California USA, is the leading disciple of Mridangam Maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Vellore G. Ramabhadran.

The following songs were performed in the concert:

Vinayaka Ninu Vina- Ragam: Hamsadhwani, Talam: Adi, Composer: E.V. Ramakrishna Bhagavatar
Guruleka Etuvanti- Ragam: Gowri Manohari, Talam: Kanda Chapu, Composer: Tyagaraja
Ninnu Nera Namminanu- Ragam: Panthuvarali ,Talam: Rupakam, Composer: Tyagaraja
Nannu Vidachi Kadalakura- Ragam: Reeti Gowla, Talam: Misra chapu, Composer: Tyagaraja
Hiranmayeem Lakshmim- Ragam: Lalitha. Talam: Rupakam. Muthuswamy Dikshitar.
Manavyala- Ragam: Nalinakanthi, Talam: Deshadi, Composer: Tyagaraja
Amba Kamakshi- Ragam: Bhairavi, Talam: Misra Chapu, Composer: Syama Sastri
Pallavi- Ragam: Brindavani, Talam: Tisra Jathi Triputa
Kandan Karunai- Ragam: Bhimpalaas, Talam: Adi, Composer: Guhan
English Note/Nottuswaram- Ragam: Sankarabharanam, Talam: Tisra Nadai Adi, Composer: Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar
Bhagyada Lakshmi- Ragam: Maand, Talam: Adi, Composer: Kanaka Dasa

Here is a detailed review of the concert:

On the auspicious day of Saraswati pooja during Navratri, the concert started with a short welcome note followed by the short bios of Chief guest Sri Divyogi Patel, Lead Board Member, Sankara Eye Foundation, Guru Sri.Ramesh Srinivasan and the artists of the day. Violin Maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi and prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna Sadasyata) awardee Dr. M. Chandrasekaran was accompanied on stage by his daughter, prominent violinist Vidushi Bharati Gopalakrishnan who provided vocal support. They were supported on percussion by Shri. Karthik Venkataraman of Toronto on Kanjira along with Varun on mridangam.

Dr. M. Chandrasekaran sir started the concert with “Vinayaka Ninu Vina” in Hamsadwani ragam, a ragam that is bright, auspicious and most suited for commencing a carnatic concert. Varun kept up well with the madhyakalam tempo and the beautiful swarams flowing from Chandru sir’s violin and provided krisp accompaniments with apt ardhis to mark the beginning of the concert.

This song was immediately followed by a Tyagaraja composition “Guru Leka” in Gowri Manohari set to Kanda chapu thalam, a song with lot of bhavam. The percussion team of Varun and Sri. Karthik followed the neraval and swarams by embellishing at the right places. Chandrasekaran sir praised Varun for his accompaniment for the song.

Following this was a lovely pantuvarali ‘Ninu nera namminanura’ composed by Tyagraaja. While the mellifluous song was enthralling the audience, Varun provided good vibrant support with his melodious sarvalaghu patterns.

Varun was then tested with the vilamba kala kriti ‘Nannu Vidachi Kadalakura’ in soothing Reeti Gowla, and Misra chapu thalam . Followed by this is another beautiful rendition Hiranmayeem Lakshmim- in ragam Lalitha. Varun showcased his sarvalaghu style of playing one more time which is the hallmark of his school.

Dr. Chandrasekharan sir quickly changed the mood with the fast paced Manavyala kinchara in Nalinakanthi set to Deshadi. The tempo and nadam from mridangam matched the speed and blended very aptly enhancing the beauty of the song and mesmerizing the audience. Varun and Sri. Karthik accompanied for the song with lot of energy and it was a wonderful treat.

Then came the main song in vilamba kala, Amba Kamakshi. Sri Chandrasekaran Sir’s alapana of Bhairavi was simply vintage and got to yet again get a glimpse of the maestro's innate soulful music.. Smt. Bharati’s vocal support added to the beauty of the song. It was sung with great bhava. It was evident that Varun completely enjoyed the kriti and could follow the swarajathis at every step. He demonstrated great control with his speed transitions and volume variations appropriately. Varun and Sri Karthik demonstrated a wonderful thaniyavarthanam with pancha kala korvai and tisra nadai transitions. Varun rendered his panchakalam korvai by konnakol with great clarity and ease followed by playing it on the mridangam. An engaging tisra-koraippu was played with interesting exchanges in chaturasra and tisra nadai.

The highlight of the day was the RTP sung in brindavani set to Tisra jathi triputa talam - 3/4th aksharam edupu.Varun once again demonstrated his konnakol skills by saying the pallavi in trikalam and subsequently played the on mridangam. This was followed by a small thani.

Dr. Chandrasekaram sir moved on to Kandan Karunai, a soulful rendition in Bhimpalaas followed by English Note/Nottuswaram. The concert ended with his popular and devotional Bhagyada Lakshmi.

Guru Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan thanked Dr.M.Chandrasekaran sir for the amazing concert. Chief guest Sri. Divyogi Patel said it was a spectacular performance by Varun and an amazing opportunity to be able to perform with a legend. He encouraged Varun to take this opportunity to serve the society. Sri. Divyogi Patel and Dr.Chandrasekaran sir presented memo to Varun on the occasion of his arangetram.

Smt. Bharati said the way Varun played was as if mridangam was singing. She said Varun accompanied today as if he is an experienced artist and it didn't feel like it was his first major performance. She made a special mention of how Varun followed every swarajathi of Amba Kamakshi. She praised the efforts of guru Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan for developing the passion among kids for this art form. The program ended with honoring the local teachers that helped Varun in his journey and also the volunteers that helped make this program a grand success.

[rajeshnat]

congratulations to varunaditya. Best wishes to be the next naadabadran . Kudos to Ramesh and his school , I am losing count of young performers coming from his school. Thank you SomyaN you are doing a fanta fabulous job.