Smt. Kalyani Ganesan presented a Veena recital as a tribute to Smt. Kalpagam Swaminathan on her first death anniversary. Smt. Kalyani was a disciple of the latter and she shared a few memories of the golden times spent with her guru. Karaikkudi V.M. Ganesan (Mrudangam) & Chandrasekara Sharma (Ghatam) were the accompanists.
T.K. Ramachandran I.A.S. presented a concert to commemorate the 152nd birth anniversary of musician and composer Ramanathapuram ‘Poochi’ Srinivasa Iyengar. Guruvayur Dorai (Mrudangam), V.L. Kumar (Violin) and Shreesundarkumar (Kanjira) were the accompanists. The concert was exclusively of Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s compositions. There was also a special address by Dr. B.M. Sundaram about Srinivasa Iyengar before the concert began.
More popularly known as the guru of Dr M Balamuralikrishna, ‘Gayaka Sarvabhauma’ Parupalli Shri. Ramakrishnayya Pantulu is little known in Tamil Nadu. He was instrumental in popularizing carnatic music in Andhra Pradesh and almost every other musician from Andhra happens to be his sishya or prasishya. He refused to shift base to Chennai in those days in order to popularize carnatic music in his place. He belonged to the sishya parampara of Saint Tyagaraja in the line of Manambuccavadi Venkatasubbayya. The 130th birth anniversary of this great musician was commemorated with a concert of his direct disciple Annavarapu Shri. Ramaswamy, on 5th December 2012. Another senior musician Dr T K Murthy, who has accompanied Ramakrishnayya pantulu himself performed on the Mrudangam. In an effort to bring to light the outstanding services of Shri. Ramakrishnayya Pantulu, CFA prepared a short film consisting inputs from Dr Balamuralikrishna, Dr B M Sundaram, Annavarapu Shri. Ramaswamy, Prof. T N Krishnan and Madras Shri. A. Kannan. A book on the Gayaka Sarvabhauma was also released.
To honor the memory of this great composer who has composed various musical forms in languages like Sanskrit, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, Chennai Fine Arts celebrated the bicentenary of Maharaja Swati Tirunal on 30th December 2013.
The year happens to be the two hundredth birth anniversary of Swati Tirunal. On this rare occasion, CFA honoured Prof. Parur M.S. Anantarama Iyer with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ comprising Rupees Twenty Five Thousands cash, a medal and a citation. Shri K N Ramaswamy, Director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai Kendra, presented the award, while Dr B M Sundaram felicitated the awardee. Vidwan Trichur Shri. Ramachandran and ‘Chitravina’ Shri. Ravikiran delivered special address on their experiences of singing at the Navaratri mandapam in Swati Tirunal’s palace and also on the unique aspects of Swati Tirunal’s compositions.
The award function was followed by an exclusive concert of Swati Tirunal’s compositions by Shri. Eswaran Bhattathiri accompanied by Shri M A Sundaresan on the Violin, Shri. K R Ganesh on the Mrudangam and Shri. Nanda Gopal on the Kanjira.