Mysuru: The 64th death anniversary of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Mysore Vasudevacharya is being celebrated through a concert at the residence of the legendary composer near Agrahara in city tomorrow (May 17).

Vidu. Charumathy and Dr. Shivashankari, popularly known as Bangalore Rajarajeshwari Sisters, will be presenting a Vocal Duet on the occasion. They will be accompanied by Vid. Vishwajit Mattur on violin and Ganakalashree Vid. A.S.N. Swamy on mridanga. Music enthusiasts are welcome to attend the programme, scheduled to start at 10.30 am.

Sri Vasudevacharya (1865-1961), who was fondly called ‘Abhinava Thyagaraja,’ was born and brought up in Mysuru. A 2nd generation follower of Sri Thyagaraja parampare, Sri Vasudevacharya went on to become one of the most popular vocalists of his days.

Convinced by the advice of his friends and co-artistes in the Mysore Palace, he started composing in the early years of the 20th Century and by the time of his demise at 96, he had been recognised as the greatest of the post-Trinity Vaggeyakaras.

He lived in his residence on New Sayyaji Rao Road in city, donated to him by the people of Mysore in 1933. He taught music to innumerable youngsters, promoted cultural activities and composed about 200 songs.

He was persuaded by the famed danseuse Vidu. Rukminidevi Arundale to move over to Chennai in 1953. With the music fraternity of the city having evinced interest, his residence in Mysuru, which had been orphaned for nearly a decade since 2008, has been revitalised.

Of late, it has grown into an active centre for music related activities and a much sought after destination for musicians visiting the city. The concert being held on the ensuing Saturday forms a tribute to one of the greatest sons of this land, on his death anniversary.

Artistes’ Profiles

Sisters Charumathy and Dr. Shivashankari have been trained under Vidu. M.A. Meera and Vidu. Dr. Meera Rajaram Pranesh of Bengaluru and by Vidu. Lalitha Sivakumar of Chennai. Both the sisters, the former an MA in Music and the latter a Ph.D in Music, are B-High Graded artistes in All India Radio and have served the RAAGAM channel of AIR.

They have been performing on stage since their young age of ten and have been on the regular concert circuit in Bengaluru. They have presented many Lecture-Demonstrations on very rare topics, including on Mysore composers and composed music tunes for 21 verses from Adi Shankaracharya’s Bhaja Govindam.

Vid. Vishwajith is a professional violin artiste, having learnt under Vid. Hosahalli K. Subbarao and Vid. Hosahalli V. Raghuram, belonging to the Lalgudi School. He has learnt vocal music from Vid. Rajeshwari Nagendra Prakash and Vid. R.N. Thyagarajan. He has been performing and accompanying senior musicians for the past 16 years across the country and abroad.

Vid. A.S.N. Swamy, a leading percussionist from the T.A.S. Mani School, is an A-Grade artiste of AIR and works as a faculty member at the Department of Performing Arts, Bangalore University. Over the decades, he has accompanied leading performers across the country.