By Dr. Padmavathi  Narasimhan

Sri Prasanna Vidya Ganapathi Mandali Charitable (SPVGMC) Trust, 8th Cross, V.V. Mohalla, Mysuru, has been playing a crucial role in preserving the music of great masters. It is celebrating its 57th Heritage Music Festival  with Ganeshotsava music series from Sept.13 to 24.

Great maestros of Karnatak music right from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, T.N. Krishnan, S. Rajam, T.R. Mahalingam, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, T.N. Sheshagopalan, D.K. Jayaram, Paroor Gopalakrishnan, Umayalapuram Shivaraman, Vellore Ramabhadran, R.K. Srikanthan, Palghat Raghu to young performers like T.M. Krishna, Abhishek Raghuram and Sanjay Subramanyam, have performed here a number of times. Maestros of Hindustani music like Hariprasad Chowrasia, Rajeev Taranath and Gangubai Hanagal too have considered it a privilege to perform at 8th Cross.

Following is the list of this year’s Ganesha concerts:

Sept.13 at 6.45 pm: This year’s concert series begins on the day of Ganesha Festival with an auspicious opening of a Nadaswaram recital by Melukote M.G. Sridhar. A graded artiste of Akshvani and Doordarshan, Sridhar has performed for various sabhas at Chennai, Selam, Delhi apart from the music sabhas of Mysore. He is a recipient of ‘Karnataka Vibhushana.’

Sept. 14, 6.45 pm: Abhishek Raghuram will present a vocal concert with Akkarai Subbalakshmi on violin, N.C. Bharadwaj on mridanga and Vazhapalli R. Krishna Kumar on ghata.

Performing from the age of six, Abhishek is nurtured by his grandfather Palghat Raghu and later by P.S. Narayana Swamy. Also a performer of mridanga and khanjira, Abhishek is popular for his jugalbandi concerts and lecture demonstrations. He is also a recipient of the ‘Best Senior Vocalist’ award at the Madras Music Academy. Abhishek has also some compositions to his credit.

Sept. 15, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Entry into Viratanagara. Vachana: Lalita Shekhar, Vyakhyana – Suma Kiran.

6.45 pm: Akkarai Sisters Shubhalakshmi and Swarnalatha will  present a violin duet accompanied by K.U. Jayachandra Rao on mridanga and Vazhapalli P. Krishna Kumar on ghata. Hailing from a family of musicians, Akkarai Sisters are known for their vocal and violin performances. Trained under stalwarts like PSN and Chitraveena Ravikiran, Shubhalakshmi has accompanied almost all leading artistes of today.

Sept. 16, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Keechaka Sairandhri. Vachana – Vasanta Lakshmi Venkatasubbiah, Hassan. Vyakhyana – T.V.Meera, Kengeri.

6.45 pm: Aditya Prakash from Chennai will give a vocal recital with Nishant Chandar on violin, Ambur Padmanabhan on mridangam and B.Rajashekhar on morching. A disciple of T.M. Krishna and R.K.Sriramkumar, Aditya is known for his rich voice. A versatile personality, Aditya has also learnt mridanga from Neyveli Narayan and has composed music for several  Bharathanatyam programmes.

Sept. 17, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Keechaka episode-1. Vachana – Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan, Vyakhyana- C.S. Sudarshan.

6.45 pm: J.B.Shruti Sagar will present a flute recital accompanied by Mattur Srinidhi on violin, B.C. Manjunath on mridanga and S. Manjunath on ghata. Greatly appreciated for his flute recitals, Shruti Sagar is a mechanical engineer and a post graduate in music. He is an ‘A’ graded artiste of Akashvani and has released  a few CDs.

Sept. 18, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Keechaka episode-2. Vachana – Indira Gopinath Shastri, Chennarayapatna. Vyakhyana – Santosh, Chennarayapatna.

6.45 pm: Dr. Nityashree Mahadevan from Chennai will present a vocal recital with M.A. Krishnaswamy on violin, Nanjil Arul on mridanga and Srishyla on ghata. Grand daughter of D.K. Pattammal, Nityashree has performed for various prestigious sabhas in India and abroad. She also has the credit of bringing into light many compositions of Gopala Krishna Bharatiyar. Nityashree’s songs directed by A.R. Rehman have made her a popular playback singer too. She has more than 100 albums to her credit.

Sept. 19, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Keechaka episode-3. Vachana – Bhagyalakshmi V.K.S., Mandya; Vyakhyana – Nagalakshmi Chandrashekar.

6.45 pm: Nemmara N.R. Kannan and N.R. Anand will give a Nadaswara recital and will be accompanied by Srilanka RVS Srikanth and Kanthukur Manohar on Tavil. The brothers have given more than 2,500 concerts so far and are the recipients of several awards including Kanchi Kamakoti Peetha Asthan Vidwan and Shanmukha Sangeeta Shiromani Award.

Sept. 20, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva- Uttara’s valoor. Vachana- Sujata Niranjan. Vyakhyana – A. Niranjan.

6.45 pm:  Vinay Sharva from Bangalore will render a vocal recital with M.A. Sundareshwaran on violin, Arjun Kumar on mridanga and M.Gururaj on morching. A young and most promising artiste of today, Vinay has had his music training from Nedunuri Krishnamurthy. His singing is marked with a melodious voice, precise laya and clarity in diction. Vinay is known for his Eka Raga concerts and singing Pallavis with Sankeerna Talas.

Sept. 21, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Uttara Gograhana. Vachana by  Lata Phani; Vyakhyana by Srinivasa Phani.

6.45 pm: Ashwath Narayan from Chennai will give a vocal concert with M.A. Sundareshwaran on violin, K.V. Prasad on mridanga and M.Gururaj on morching.

A disciple of Palghat K.V.Narayana Swamy and later his wife Padma Narayana Swamy, Ashwath Narayan has won many awards — Vishwanath Iyer’s Youth Excellence award  and Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial award to mention a few.

Sept. 22, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Uttara Gograhana-2. Vachana by  Praphulla Jagannath,  Vyakhyana by M.N. Prabhakar

6.45 pm: A. Ananta Padmanabhan and Anand Koushik will give a veena duet with K.V. Prasad on mridanga and G.S.Ramanujam on ghata.

Known for gayaki style in his veena, Ananta Padmanabhan has served for 36 years in Akashvani. He has also directed music for a few Malayalam film songs.

Sept. 23, 5.30 pm: Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva- Abhimanyu-Uttare’s Parinaya. Vachana by B.N. Swati, Vyakhyana by Dr.B.S. Anil Kumar.

6.45 pm: Vighnesh Eshwar from Chennai will sing with Vittal Rangan on violin, Umayalapuram Shivaraman on mridanga and Guruprasanna on khanjira.

Vighnesh is taking his advance training in music from T.M. Krishna. Leading accompanists have accompanied this young man, who is also a post graduate in Sound and Technology from The University of Barcelona.

Sept. 24, 5.30 pm:  Kumaravyasa Bharata – Virata Parva – Abhimanyu-Uttare’s Parinaya-2.; Vachana- Dakshayini Nagesh Rao;  Vyakhyana – Padmini Hegde.

6.45 pm: Sikkil Gurucharan’s vocal recital with Vittal Rangan’s violin accompaniment, Umayalapuram Shivaram on mridanga and Chandrashekhar Sharma on ghata.

Grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, Gurucharan has also trained under B. Krishna Murthy. Gurucharan is the recipient of Nedanuri Krishnamurthy Award and Yagnaraman Award.