The students of various private music institutions and music colleges in Chennai were benefitted by the week-long music workshop organized by Chennai Fine Arts. The workshop was organized between 8th and 14th June, as a regular yearly event. It was attended by nearly 25 students in the age group of ten to twenty-five years. This being a time of vacation, the workshop turned out to be a success. The workshop focused on areas such as voice culture, music therapy and music theory. Young research scholars from various universities acted as resource persons and conducted the workshop. The participants who gave their feedback after the event appreciated the conduct of the workshop at this point of time in the year. They were also happy about the fact that no entry fee was charged and lunch was also provided fee of cost on all seven days. These enabled students from far areas also attend the event. The major highlights of the workshop were music therapy and voice culture training. While music therapy dealt with the capabilities of various ragas in curing diseases or working other wonders, sessions on voice culture taught the students how to preserve their voice and make it perfect for performances. CFA proposes to take this workshop to regions outside Chennai and benefit the students of music there, in the near future. The founder of CFA, Shri. P.N. Muralidharan stated that it was his vision to take music to every nook and corner and give the joy of enjoying pure classical music, to every individual.
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| 04.12.2013 | Prof Mysore V Subramanya presented a lecture about the compositions of his grand-father, Veena Seshanna. Sheshanna (1852 – 1926) was the descendant of Paccimiriyam Aadiyappayya. He learnt music from Mysore Sadashiva Rao and Veena Venkatasubbayya. Besides Veena, he was also adept at playing other instruments namely piano, harmonium, jalatarangam, swaragath and violin. Sheshanna composed 53 compositions, including Swarajatis, Padas, Javalis and many Tillanas. |
| 05.12.2013 | Dr Premeela Gurumurthy spoke on the greatness and compositions of Badracala Ramadas. Gopanna, later hailed as Ramadas, lived in the village of Nelakondapalli near Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh during the 17th century and is renowned for constructing a temple for Rama at Badrachalam. Besides devotional kirtanas, he also wrote Dasarathi Shatakamu with the signature 'Dasaradhee Karuna payonidhi' a collection of nearly 108 poems dedicated to Lord Rama, the son of Dasaratha. |
| 06.12.2013 | Dr M Chandrasekaran, the violin maestro and direct disciple of Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar, the contemporary composer, presented a stunning vocal concert of his compositions. A disciple of Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer in music and Sri Madurai Narayana Bhagavathar and Saraswathy Bai in Harikatha, Sambasiva Bhagavatar performed more than 1,000 music concerts and 7,000 harikaha performances all over India. A composer since his 14th year, Bhagavathar composed more than 3,000 songs in many languages for Harikatha Nirupanam and also different musical forms such as Geetham, Krithi, Javali, Thillana and Ragamalika. His sahityams are compiled and published as Sangeetha Ratna Mala. |
| 07.12.2013 | Dr Sunder presented a concert of Annamacharya’s Compositions. Annamacharya is believed to be the reincarnation of the precious sword of Vishnu. He is widely regarded as the Pada kavita Pitamaha. Annamacharya is said to have composed as many as 36,000 songs on Lord Venkateswara, of which only about 12,000 are available today. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era. |
| 08.12.2013 | Tadepally Venkata Subrahmanya Sastri is another contemporary composer, whose compositions were presented by Dr Tadepally Lokanadha Sarma, his son. Tadepally Venkata Subramanya Sastri, also known as Swami Pranavananda Bharati Kumar is the author of various forms of poetry, classical compositions, harikathas, burra kathas, dramas, short stories, novels and 1000 krtis on Lalitha Parameswari corresponding to her 1000 names in as many ragas. |
| 09.12.2013 | Shri. R. Suryaprakash presented a concert of Arunachalakavi’s krtis followed by the lecture. Arunachala Kavi was fluent in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. He wrote Rama Natakam, a musical drama based on the Ramayana. Kavirayar was honoured by Maharaja Tulaja, the King of Tanjavur, and by several other patrons of that time. He also composed Seergazhi Sthala Puranam, Seergazhi Kovai, Hanumar Pillai Tamil, Ajomukhi Natakam and a few Keertanas. |
| 10.12.2013 | Dr Rajshri Ramakrishna presented a lecture and concert on the compositions of Manambuccavadi Venkatasubbayya and Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan. Akumadugula Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayya was a cousin and a direct student of Saint Tyagaraja. He was an accomplished singer and a renowned teacher. Five of Venkatasubbayya's students, Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer, Patnam Subramanya Iyer, Saraba Sastri, Tyagaraja (the grandson of Saint Tyagaraja) and Fiddle Venkoba Rao went on to become famous composers and musicians of merit. Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan and his elder brother, Ramaswami Sivan, were the earliest performing duo in the history of Carnatic music. He is credited with the magnum-opus composition, the 72 Melaragamalika. |