Post the era of royal patronage towards art, many organisations and music sabhas became the supporting pillars for the cause of music. Founded in 1983 by Jagadguru Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji, JSS Sangeetha Sabha is among the prestigious institutions which strives for promoting classical music.

A firm believer in the good of one and all, he was at the helm of affairs of the Mutt for more than half a century. He dedicated his life for the betterment and upliftment of the society by establishing educational institutions and hospitals. Under the patronage of Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji, the current pontiff of Suttur Mutt, JSS Sangeetha Sabha aims at featuring top artistes and talented youngsters. In addition to monthly concerts, Sabha conducts a grand music conference in the memory of Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji.

JSS Sangeetha Sabha is the only organisation in Mysuru which conducts music conferences each year. This year’s  25th music conference will be held at Navajyoti auditorium in JSS Women’s College, Saraswathipuram, Mysuru, from Dec. 2 to 6, under the presidentship of Vid. V. Nanjundaswamy.

There will be two events a day, a lecture-demonstration in the morning by eminent musicians and musicologists; In the evening, a one-hour slot from 5.30 to 6.30 featuring young and upcoming artistes, followed by the main concert for the day.

A special lec-dem will be conducted by two renowned musicians who have been invited from Switzerland and Germany.

December 2

5.30 pm: The event will be inaugurated by MLA S.A. Ramadas in the divine presence of Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji. Ganabharathi Chief Patron Dr. C.G. Narasimhan will be the chief guest. Sangeetha Vidyanidhi Mysore M. Nagaraj will preside over the inaugural.

7 pm: Flute recital by Vid. Mysore A. Chandan Kumar. He will be accompanied by Vid. Mysore M. Sumanth on violin, Vid. K.U. Jayachandra Rao on  mridanga and Vid. Tumkur B. Sashishankar on ghata.

December 3

10 am: Naada Laya Lahari instrumental ensemble directed by Vid. Tumkur B. Ravishankar. Lec-dem by Vidu. Rama V. Bennur, Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar, Vid. S. Sudarshan and Vidu. Rajalakshmi Shridhar.

5.30 pm: Violin recital by Vid. Keshava Mohankumar. He will be accompanied by Vid. Vikram Bharadwaj on mridanga.

6.30 pm: Vocal concert by Malladi Brothers — Malladi Sreeramprasad and Malladi Ravikumar.  They will be accompanied by Vidu. Aditi Krishna Prakash on violin, Vid. Tumkur B. Ravishankar on mridanga and Vid. Raghunandan Rao on ghata.

December 4

10 am: Flute recital by Tarangaa troupe (disciples of Vidu. Smitha Srikiran). Lec-dem by Dr. Meera Rajaram Pranesh, Vid. V. Nanjundaswamy, Julius Gabriel (Germany) and Dr. S. Vijayaraghavan.

5.30 pm: Vocal concert by Vid. G.K. Manamohan. He will be accompanied by Vid. M. Sumanth on violin and Vid. Anirudh Bhat on mridanga.

6.30 pm: Veena recital by Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh accompanied by Vid. Tumkur B. Ravishankar on mridanga and Trichy S. Krishanswamy on ghata.

December 5

10 am: Flute recital by disciples of Vid. A.P. Krishnaprasad. Lec-dem by Dr. K.T. Uday Kiran, Gills Grimaitre (Switzerland),  Vid. N.R. Prashanth and Vid. G.S. Ramanujam.

5.30 pm: Vocal concert by Vid. Rao R. Sharath. He will be accompanied by Vid. Keshava Mohankumar on violin and Vid. Praveen Hariharan on mridanga.

 6.30 pm: Vocal concert by     Vid. Ramakrishnan Murthy. He will be accompanied by Vid. Mattur R. Srinidhi on violin, Vid. Arjun Kumar on mridanga and Vid. G. Guruprasanna on kanjira.

December 6

5 pm: Veena concert by Vid. Prajwal Rangarajan and troupe.

6 pm: Valedictory function. Conferring of Sangeetha Vidyanidhi award on Vid. V. Nanjundaswamy. Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji will grace the occasion. Vid. H.K. Venkatram will deliver the valedictory speech. Sangeetha Vidyanidhi Mysore M. Nagaraj will preside over the valedictory.

7 pm: Vocal Duet by Bangalore Brothers — S. Ashok and M.B. Hariharan. They will be accompanied by Vidu. Nalina Mohan on violin, Vid. Parupalli Phalgun on mridanga and Vid. Ranganath Chakravarthy on ghata.

Switzerland and Germany artistes to give lec-dem

Special lec-dem will be conducted by two renowned musicians who have been invited from Switzerland and Germany. While Julius Gabriel from Germany will present lec-dem on ‘Evolution of Soprano and Tenor – Saxophone’ on Dec. 4, Gills Grimaitre from Switzerland will present lec-dem on ‘New music in the West – An artiste’s perspective’ on Dec. 5.

ARTISTES’ PROFILE

Julius Gabriel is a saxophone artiste from Berlin. He started playing saxophone at the age of ten and graduated with the BA Jazz/ Performing Artiste from the Folkwang University of the Arts. He is an artiste in residence at the Indian Music Experience Museum. Gabriel has also undergone training with the Nadaswaram Vidwan Dakshinamurthy. He actively collaborates/ leads his own bands and plays with large ensembles such as the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. He has released several solo albums and played concerts all over Europe and in India. In this presentation, he will present the soprano and tenor saxophone, as well as a self-build twin drone saxophone and an antique diatonic saxophone curiosity.

Gills Grimaitre is a pianist/ composer based in Switzerland. Active in the field of contemporary creation, his artistic work is particularly attached to collaboration, with various composers and artistes. He has  founded Hyper Duo with the percussionist Julien Mégroz. The duo explores as much stylistic contrasts, the search for new forms of performance as intimate collaborations with artistes from extramusical backgrounds. He developed a personal instrumentarium made of analog synthesisers and samplers, which he uses in his own compositions. Gills Grimaitre got granted a residency in South India from the Swiss Arts Council to study Karnatak Music and more specifically Konnakkol with Vid. B.R. Somashekar Jois and ghata with Dr. S. Karthick.