Mysore/Mysuru: The 159th birth anniversary of Mysore Vasudevacharya (1865-1961) is being celebrated this weekend, at the legendary composer’s residence in Agrahara, Mysuru, by the musicians of the city in association with Shri Purandaradaasar Trust, Chennai.

Fondly called as ‘Abhinava Tyagarja’ during the latter part of his illustrious career, Sri Acharya lived in Mysore up to 1953 promoting Karnatak music. The house in which he lived and served in the city has of late become a centre of cultural activities and has hosted concerts by artistes from across the globe.

The birth anniversary celebrations this weekend will comprise two concerts on May 27 (Saturday) and a series of 10 concerts on May 28 (Sunday), which incidentally is the day (according to the Solar calendar) on which Sri Acharya was born.

The first concert for Saturday, a vocal duet, will be presented by Vidu. P.K. Saisree Varma and Vidu. Vijayalakshmi Madhavan, from Bengaluru. They will be accompanied by Vid. C. Chetan on violin and Vid. Shyam on mridanga. This concert will last two hours from 10.30 am.

In the 2nd programme for the day, scheduled to be held from 4.30 pm, members of city’s Surabhi Gana Kala Mandira will present songs from the different varieties of compositions Sri Acharya has delved on, furnishing a deep insight into the possibilities of their use in routine concerts. It is directed by renowned vocalist and guru Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar.

The programme for Sunday, scheduled to be held between 9 am and 6.30 pm, will feature 10 concerts of 40 minutes each, by AIR graded artistes from Chennai, Mysuru and Bengaluru. The schedule is as below: Varalakshmi Ananda Kumar (9.20 am); Hiranmayee Srinidhi (10.05 am); Srihari Bhat (10.50 am); Koviladi Archana (11.35 am); Sangita Tharanathan (12.20 pm); Keshavachandra (Flute, 2.30); Santosh Subramanian (3.15 pm); Manasa Nayana (4 pm); Calcutta V.N. Shankar (4.45 pm) and Vasudha Keshav (5.30 pm).

The accompaniments will be provided by Meera Sivaramakrishnan, Veena Suresh, C.V. Shruthi, M. Keshava and T. Yashaswi (all on violin); A. Radhesh, Raghunandan Rao, Sanjay Tharanathan, G.S. Ramanujan, Vikram Bharadwaj, S. Chandran, Villivakkam S. Raghuraman, Manikudi S. Chandrasekaran, K. Ramakrishnan, Neyveli K.V. Ramkumar, H. Harikrishnan and A.S. Krishnan (on percussion instruments).

City organisations dedicated to the cause of music, including Sri Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha, Ganabharathi, Raaga Music Academy and N.R. Mohalla Sangeetha Sabha, have sponsored the celebrations.