• Sammelana President Dr. K. Vageesh to be taken in a procession
• Madhuri Thathachari to be conferred Sangeetha Sevanidhi Award
• Valedictory address by Sangeetha Vidyanidhi S. Shankar on Dec.6

Mysuru, known as the cultural capital of Karnataka, was the capital of the Wadiyar kings who were great patrons of art and music and contributed significantly to make Mysuru a cultural centre. Their continuous patronage led to the evolution of a distinct style known as the ‘Mysore style’ in fields like painting, architecture and music. Asthana Vidwans in Mysore Sri Mysuru Sadashiva Rao, Mysuru Vasudevacharya, Sri Muttiah Bhagavatar and Piteelu Chowdiah are world famous personalities. In the due course of time, Karnatak music in Mysuru lost the royal patronage but the grandeur of music is still retained through music sabhas, organisations and enthusiastic musicians. One such Sabha is JSS Sangeetha Sabha, which showcases senior and upcoming artistes, holding interesting lecture demonstrations by local and international artistes and giving preferences to artistes from Karnataka.

JSS Sangeetha Sabha aims at featuring meritorious artistes and talented youngsters. In addition to conducting monthly concerts, the Sabha conducts a grand music conference every year. Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji is the inspiration behind the annual conference held every December from 2nd to 6th. While the morning sessions include educative lecture demonstrations from eminent musicians and musicologists, the evening sessions include two concerts — one at 5.30 pm by upcoming young artistes and the second at 6.30 pm by established musicians. The Sabha has already completed 24 successful conferences and is happy to celebrate the silver jubilee this year. Dr. K. Vageesh, senior vocalist, is chosen as the President of this year’s conference.

Dr. K. Vageesh: Hailing from a music family belonging to the illustrious Tiger Varadachar School, Vageesh had his training in Karnatak music in a traditional and systematic way under his aunt H.S. Mahalakshmi of Mysore who is also a Sangeetha Vidyanidhi. Vageesh got his Doctorate in Music from Delhi University for his research work on the compositions of Mutthuswami Deekshitar. He joined AIR in 1980 as a Programme Executive and served as Station Director later. He is presently engaged as a consultant at DG:AIR, New Delhi.  He has produced a number of innovative musical features and has won the Annual Akashvani Award for the Best Musical Production three times. He is also a top grade artiste of All India Radio.

He has visited France under the Cultural Exchange Programme besides visiting UK and US on concert tours enthralling the audience with his meritorious performances and lecture demonstrations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours which include the ‘Karnataka Kalashree’ award, ‘Best Musician Award’ from the Madras Music Academy and the Asthana Vidwan of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam to mention a few. Dr. Vageesh is associated with many cultural organisations including the ICCR and CCRT. He is also a composer of merit with many Varnas, Keerthanas and Tillanas.

JSS Sangeetha Sabha Trust, Mysuru, has organised the 25th JSS Sangeetha Sammelana from Dec.2 to 6 at Navajyothi Auditorium of JSS Women’s College in Saraswathipuram here. Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji will grace the occasion. The daily events are as follows:

Dec. 2 (Sunday)

5.30 pm: Dr. K. Vageesh, Sammelana President, will be taken in a procession from Saraswathipuram Fire Brigade Circle to the venue; 6 pm:  Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty will inaugurate the music fest. Pramoda Devi Wadiyar will be the chief guest. Art patron and Trust President K.V. Murthy will preside. On the occasion, Madhuri Thathachari of Bhramara Trust will be conferred Sangeetha Sevanidhi Award while achievers Vid. Narayan Iyengar (Vocal), Vid. K.U Raghavendra Rao (Flute) and Vid. M. Lakshman (Nagaswara) will be felicitated; 7 pm: Vocal recital by Vid. Dr. K. Vageesh accompanied by Vid. B.K. Raghu (Violin), Vid. B.C. Manjunath (Mridanga), and Vid. Narayana Murthy (Ghata).

Dec.3 (Monday)

10 am: Vidwat Goshti on various topics: ‘Raganusandana’ by Vid. N.R. Prashanth, ‘Aparaoopada Thalagalu’ by Vid. H.S. Sudindra and ‘Thaanada Bagegalu’ by Vidu. Shubha Santhosh. Vid. Arjun Kumar coordinates. Dr. K. Vageesh presides.

5 pm: Flute recital by Keshav Chandra, M. Keshav (Violin) and Nandan Kashyap (Mrudanga).

6:30 pm: Vocal concert by Vid. Abhishek Raghuram, Vid. Avanishwaram Vinu (Violin), Vid. Arjun Kumar (Mrudanga) and Vid. Guru Prasanna (Kanjira).

Dec.4 (Tuesday)

10 am: Vidwat Goshti on Dikshitar’s compositions by Dr. K. Vageesh; ‘Adhunika Pallavigala Vaividya’ by Dr. Hamsini Nagendra. Setting tunes to Annamacharya Songs – Experiences with Sangeetha Kalanidi Vid. Nedunuri Krishna Murthy by Malladi Brothers. Dr. S. Vijayaraghavan – moderator.

5 pm: Veena by Yuko Mathoba (Japan), Vikram Bharadwaj on Mrudanga.

6.30 pm: Vocal duet by Vid. Malladi Ramprasad and Vid. Malladi Ravi Kumar, Vid. Mathur Srinidhi (violin), Vid. Muruga Bhupati (Mrudanga) and Vid. Sunad Anur (Kanjira).

Dec.5 (Wednesday)

10 am: Vidwat Goshti on Panchamuki and Shanmuka Thalaavadana by Dr. Srikantam Nagendra Shastri, Ragada Parikalpane by Vid. Pattabhiram Pandit and Classical music teaching – then and now by Vidu. Vani Satish. Vid. K.P. Upadhyaya moderates.

5 pm: Vocal duet by Archana and Samanvi, V. Shruthi (Violin) and Vishnuvardhan (Mrudanga).

6.30 pm: Violin duet by Vid. Mysuru Nagaraj and Vid. Dr. Manjunath, Vid. V. Praveen (Mrudanga) and Vid. Giridhar Udupa (Ghata).

Dec.6 (Thursday)

5 pm: Valedictory Function followed by musical performance, Vipanchi-Mahathi (vocal duet), Pruthvi Bhaskar (Violin) and Pavan Madhav Masur (Mrudanga). Valedictory address by Sangeetha Vidyanidhi S. Shankar. Dr. K. Vageesh will be conferred Sangeetha Vidyanidhi Award; 7 pm: Musical Performance by Vidu. Vani Satish, Vidu. Aditi Krishnaprakash (Violin), Vid. G. Aravind (Mrudanga) and Vid. Sharath Kaushik (Ghata).

By Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan