Dear Rasikas,
I love this forum and am contributing for the first time.
I had the wonderful experience of attending my first mrudangam arangetram of the young to-be freshman,Balaji Giridharan, a disciple of Sri Ramesh Srinivasan,in the USA. Held under the auspices of Sarvalaghu Percussion Art Center, a mrudangam school founded by Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan, the leading disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri. Vellore G. Ramabhadran, the arangetram established itself as a trademark of the Sarvalaghu style of playing, where the mrudangam completely blends itself with the music in such a way that the listeners are in a complete state of musical bliss.
The Chief Guest for the arangetram was the All-time Great Violin Virtuoso Sangeetha Kalanidhi Prof. Sri. T.N.Krishnan, who had flown in from LA to grace the occasion. The vocal support was provided by Carnatica Brothers, Sri.K.N.Shashikiran and Sri Chitravina Ganesh. The violin support was provided by Sri Hemmige V. Srivatsan.
The debut concert started with the flawless rendition of the heavily classical Viriboni Varnam in Bhairavi in Khanda Atam setting the stage for the young Mrudangist, followed by Deva Deva Kalayami in Mayamalava gowla in Rupakam. Many different Talams and Nadais were exhibited through the concert, incluing Parvati Ninnune in Adi Talam(Tisra Nadai).
The highlight of the concert was Ennai nee Maravaadhe in Amruthavarshini sung with depth and clarity by the Carnatica Brothers, for which the Thani Avarthanam was implemented well by the budding mrudangist with grace and vigor and an emphasis on various technical details. One could hear the trademark korvais of the Sarvalaghu baani of Vidwan Sri Vellore Ramabhadran in a couple of the korvais. As with any debuting artist, with an arangetram, the stage is set for the advanced learning to begin.
After intermission, the Pallavi was presented in Sriranjani, ending with a ragamalika of Mararanjani, well-sung by Sri Shashikiran and Ranjani by the violinist Hemmige V.Srivatsan. The lyrics of the Pallavi emphasize the importance the role of “mridangamâ€
Mrudangam Debut Concert in San Jose, California
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SSK
- Posts: 119
- Joined: 24 Oct 2006, 04:18
Prof. Krishnan also commended Hemmige Srivatsan's accompanyment on the violin by saying "I felt that I was the one stage playing violin", in reference Srivatsan's decades of hard work and dedicated practice to imbibe the TNK's style of playing the violin. Prof. TNK went on to say that "it is very difficult to play like that, and that Srivatsan has acheived that fete".
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kedari
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 03 Sep 2008, 23:23
Mrudangam Arangetram - Balaji Giridharan
Guru: Sri Ramesh Srinivasan
Vocal Support: Sri K.N.Shashikiran and Sri Chitravina P.Ganesh
Violin Support: Sri Hemmige V. Srivatsan
Song List:
1) ViriBoni (Varnam) - Bhairavi - Khanda Ata - PA
2)dEva dEva kalayAmit(NS) - mAyAmALavagauLa Rupakam - ST
3)divAkara tanujam ( R)- yadukula kAmbhOji Eka- MD
4)pArvati ninnunE - kalkkaDa - Adi (Tisra Nadai) - SS
5)Evvari Kai - Devamanohari - Misra Chapu - T
6)ennai nI maravAdE (RST)- AmrutavarshiNi Adi(1Kalai)- MMDD
7)saraguNa pAlimpa (R sketch)- - KEdAragaula Adi (2 Kalai)- PSI
8) Pallavi(Sogasuga mrudanga talamu, Sriranjani raga bharitha) - Sriranjani, - RTP with Anulomam, Pratilomam, Short Thani - Ranjani Ragamalika - Adi, 2 kalai, Arudhi Karvai 5 matras, ½ eduppu
9) Kurai on drum illai - Ragamalika - Adi
10) Sai Bhajan - Yemankalyani - Misrachapu
11) Thiruppavai - surutti - Misrachapu
12.) Dasavatharam Mangalam.
A big surprise awaited Carnatic music rasikas at Bay Area in San Jose, California on August 30, 2008. Normally used to endless dance arangetrams in this area, the first of its kind, the Mrudangam Arangetram by Balaji Giridharan, disciple of Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, well- known and popular Mrudangam Vidwan of Bay Area, turned out to be more than a debut concert, as was also highlighted by the eminent Chief Guest, Prof T.N.Krishnan.
Song selection was quite impressive. The whole concert was not looking like a debut concert but had all the ingredients and professional attributes to term it as a full- fledged regular concert. The whole concert was taken to a different level by the fabulous singing of Carnatica Brothers. The richness of their voice mingled with their involved rendering of Krithis with perfection in shruthi and laya made the concert a real feast to the audience. Sri Srivatsan provided excellent violin support which also enhanced the quality of the concert.
Coming to Balaji, the main person of the evening on his debut performance on Mrudangam did a commendable job. Song selections were such that all the major thalams in different tempos found a place in the concert. In Adi thalam, the varieties of beats to suit Oru Kalai and Rettai Kalai and Tisra nadai was highlighted by Balaji. The main Thani avartanam was played in 'ennai nI maravAdE' in Adi thalam at 'Atita Eduppu" from ‘Tamil Patti Nile’ - the charanam take-off point, embellished by the brothers. A sleek korvai, intermixed with chathursram and thisra nadai was used to transition to Tisra nadai. All this shows the level to which Balaji has been trained by his Guru Ramesh Srinivasan and one can only applaud Balaji and his Guru Ramesh for this stupendous effort. While the performance of Balaji has been quite impressive, one would hope that in due course, Balaji would effectively add tonal varieties and modulations to his playing.
Guru: Sri Ramesh Srinivasan
Vocal Support: Sri K.N.Shashikiran and Sri Chitravina P.Ganesh
Violin Support: Sri Hemmige V. Srivatsan
Song List:
1) ViriBoni (Varnam) - Bhairavi - Khanda Ata - PA
2)dEva dEva kalayAmit(NS) - mAyAmALavagauLa Rupakam - ST
3)divAkara tanujam ( R)- yadukula kAmbhOji Eka- MD
4)pArvati ninnunE - kalkkaDa - Adi (Tisra Nadai) - SS
5)Evvari Kai - Devamanohari - Misra Chapu - T
6)ennai nI maravAdE (RST)- AmrutavarshiNi Adi(1Kalai)- MMDD
7)saraguNa pAlimpa (R sketch)- - KEdAragaula Adi (2 Kalai)- PSI
8) Pallavi(Sogasuga mrudanga talamu, Sriranjani raga bharitha) - Sriranjani, - RTP with Anulomam, Pratilomam, Short Thani - Ranjani Ragamalika - Adi, 2 kalai, Arudhi Karvai 5 matras, ½ eduppu
9) Kurai on drum illai - Ragamalika - Adi
10) Sai Bhajan - Yemankalyani - Misrachapu
11) Thiruppavai - surutti - Misrachapu
12.) Dasavatharam Mangalam.
A big surprise awaited Carnatic music rasikas at Bay Area in San Jose, California on August 30, 2008. Normally used to endless dance arangetrams in this area, the first of its kind, the Mrudangam Arangetram by Balaji Giridharan, disciple of Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, well- known and popular Mrudangam Vidwan of Bay Area, turned out to be more than a debut concert, as was also highlighted by the eminent Chief Guest, Prof T.N.Krishnan.
Song selection was quite impressive. The whole concert was not looking like a debut concert but had all the ingredients and professional attributes to term it as a full- fledged regular concert. The whole concert was taken to a different level by the fabulous singing of Carnatica Brothers. The richness of their voice mingled with their involved rendering of Krithis with perfection in shruthi and laya made the concert a real feast to the audience. Sri Srivatsan provided excellent violin support which also enhanced the quality of the concert.
Coming to Balaji, the main person of the evening on his debut performance on Mrudangam did a commendable job. Song selections were such that all the major thalams in different tempos found a place in the concert. In Adi thalam, the varieties of beats to suit Oru Kalai and Rettai Kalai and Tisra nadai was highlighted by Balaji. The main Thani avartanam was played in 'ennai nI maravAdE' in Adi thalam at 'Atita Eduppu" from ‘Tamil Patti Nile’ - the charanam take-off point, embellished by the brothers. A sleek korvai, intermixed with chathursram and thisra nadai was used to transition to Tisra nadai. All this shows the level to which Balaji has been trained by his Guru Ramesh Srinivasan and one can only applaud Balaji and his Guru Ramesh for this stupendous effort. While the performance of Balaji has been quite impressive, one would hope that in due course, Balaji would effectively add tonal varieties and modulations to his playing.