Female Mrudangam artistes at the Madras Music Academy

[lswaminathan]

As the mother of seventeen year old Female Mrudangam artiste Rajna Swaminathan, I was curious about such artistes in the past. What better place to look at other than the Madras Music Academy Golden History Concert Lists ? Here is what I compiled :

1. Srimathi T. J. Sethu Bai (the first female Mrudangam artiste to play at the Music Academy) :

One concert accompanying Srimathis Brinda and Muktha (Vocal) 1943


2. Srimati Kanakambujam:

Seventeen concerts from 1945 to 1964, accompanying female musicians including Ananthalakshmi Satagopan and R. Vedavalli


3. Srimati Hamsadamayanti:

Four concerts from 1945 to 1947, accompanied female musicians including Kesi (Flute)

4. Srimati Ranganayaki:

One concert accompanying Srimathi V. R. Chandra Ramamoorthy (Vocal) 1948

5. Srimati V. S. Janaki:

Four concerts from 1951 to 1954, accompanying female musicians including Parasala Ponnammal and Guruvayur Ponnammal

6. Srimati Mohini:

One concert accompanying Srimati N. Kantimati (Vocal) 1952

7. Srimati N. Rajam (Flute N. Ramani’s sister) – still in the field:

Seven concerts from 1956 to 1975, accompanying female musicians including Jayalakshmi Santhanam

8. Srimati A. Jayalakshmi:

Seven concerts from 1959 to 1965, accompanying female musicians including R. Vedavalli

9. Srimati S. Lalitha:

Three concerts from 1960 to 1963, accompanying female musicians including Mani Krishnaswami


10. Dhandamudi Sumathi: (she is still in the field - wife of Mrudangam artiste Dhandamudi Ram Mohan Rao)

Seventeen concerts from 1977 to 2000, accompanying female musicians including Trichy Sisters Prema & Jaya, Nagamani Srinath, Sudha Raghunathan, Geetha Raja, Seetha Narayanan, Hyderabad Sisters and Saxophone Kadri Gopalnath in 1987

11. Srimati T. S. Padma:

Nine concerts from 1979 to 1994, accompanying female musicians including S. Sowmya

12. Srimati A. R. Sandhya:

One concert in 1982 accompanying Ritha Rajan

13. Srimati Janaki Achyutan:

Three concerts from 1984 to 1986 accompanying female musicians

14. Jayanthi Gopal:

Two concerts accompanying female musicians, R. A. Ramamani (Vocal) 1986 and Bhushani Kalyanaraman (Vocal) 1990

15. Malini Balakrishnan:

One concert accompanying Anuradha Subramaniam (Vocal) 1988

16. Geetha Dilip Kumar:

One concert accompanying Jayamangala Krishnamani (Vocal) 2006

17. Rajna Swaminathan:

One concert accompanying Sri Vijaygopal (Flute) in December 2007




Lalitha Swaminathan

[rshankar]

So, Rajna has broken the mold/mould of the 16 other women who preceded her, and played for a male! Way to go!

[mri_fan]

Rshankar,

#10 seems to have played for a male first, but its still commendable

[arasi]

Ravi,
I heard her play that day in the Academy. She was delightful. She follows her guru's footsteps in poise and in playing.

Sam,
Another young player is Jayamangala who happens to be a very good vocalist as well.
As for the oldies, I do remember kanakambujam who was good looking too. Though jasmines were worn by women, kanakambarams were a fashion statement then. As a child, I thought it was a happy coincidence that the flowers were part of her name!

[cienu]

Yesterday I had attended a Thyagaraja Aradhana in Bangalore organised by a senior disciple of Mali , Sri B.G.Srinivas. A daughter of a friend of mine said that she was learning the Mridangam and she also said that there a quite a few girls learning percussion in Bangalore.

However this is not surprising when you consider that Bangalore has some stalwarts in female percussion like Sukanya Ramgopal - Ghatam , Lata Ramachar - Kanjira and Bhaghyalakshmi - Morsing.

[rajumds]

Srimati V. S. Janaki:

Four concerts from 1951 to 1954, accompanying female musicians including Parasala Ponnammal and Guruvayur Ponnammal

Sorry for digression but this was interesting. On a different thread we were discussing the lack of exposure of this wonderful singer to Chennai sabhas but she had performed in MA in 50's

[vijay]

True...really interesting...I am sure the Academy must then have some archival material relating to the artiste...man lives on hope...

[pks]

President Pratibha Patil grants the 2009 Akademi award to Mridangam maestro Dandamudi Sumathi Rama Mohan Rao.

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/dance/article845100.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/dance/article845100.ece Captured in Picture slide 11.

[harimau]

....I am sure the Academy must then have some archival material relating to the artiste...man lives on hope...

And hope lives on tape!