Sugama Sangeetha  Academy Trust is the brain child of the well-known couple H.R. Leelavathi and late S.G. Raghuram. The Trust was founded more than 3 decades ago. The main objective of the Trust has been the promotion of Sugama Sangeetha  in Kannada language with an outreach of all the main stream poets like K.S. Narasimhaswamy, Shivarudrappa, Kuvempu, Bendre and many more stalwarts who have made Kannada richer than her sister languages of the country by their assiduous hard work and immense love for the vibrant Kannada.

The sweet fragrance, that the songs, created and penned by the aforesaid authors, acquired by embellishing them into metered musical scales, with appropriate ragas and thalas, has greatly enhanced the architectural beauty of the originals and has added veritable spice to the originals. This fragrance knows no boundaries and has crossed the national frontiers enlivening the ears and hearts of our brothers and sisters settled abroad.

Thus, all the three, the original poet, the person metering the song and the singer have all added their appropriate contributions to make the structured poems into an artistic piece of eternal beauty.

The Academy organises song festivals quite often and this is the first time this has strayed into the field of Medicine and Surgery by choosing a team of medical doctors, all well-known light music singers as well and put forth an event on June 10 at 6 pm at Sri Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha.

The repertory is well-structured and this is the first time that doctors have been called upon and groomed to give out a Kannada Light Music extravaganza, a novel experiment by the Sugama Sangeetha Academy. Now about the participating Doctors:

1) Dr. Madhavi Raja: A senior Pathologist by profession and the senior most disciple of Leelavathi. She is now well settled in Bengaluru and she has brought out several CDs also.

2) Dr. Rohini Mohan: Dr. Rohini runs her own clinic in Bengaluru and she is also proficient in giving lectures on music. Dr. Rohini has also organised “Kagga on Yana” on DVG’s MankutimmanaKagga. Dr. Rohini is also a “Karnataka Kalashri”.

3) Dr. Snehasri Nirmal Kumar: She is a dental surgeon and runs her own clinic. In addition to singing Light Music she is a flautist. She has brought out CDs.

4) Dr. Anupama Shetty: She is a Doctor attached to Narayana Hrudayalaya and an accomplished Singer.

5) Dr. Shushma Krishnamurthy:  Dr. Sushma in her own words is a “Surgeon by Choice and a Singer by Desire.” She is a student of Vidu. Leelavathi.

6) Dr. A. Jayaram:  Dr. Jayaram is a leading dental surgeon in Mysuru with a social bent of mind. He is an excellent anchor and has been the compere for many cultural and social programmes.

7) Dr. B.R. Padmanabha Rao:  Dr. Rao is a leading Ophthalmologist in Bengaluru since 1983.

8) Dr. G.D. Ravikumar: He is a leading Pathologist. He is a Veena player and guitarist. He is fond of light music.

The instrument support for the programme is by C. Vishwanath on mandolin, Nithin Rajarama Shastri on casio and Indushekhar on tabla.

The chief guest for the function is Dr. M. Jagannath Shenoi, a leading industrialist and a promoter of social and cultural activities. Guest of honour is Dr. Umesh Kamath, Medical Superintendent of Kamakshi Hospital and a light music enthusiast.

The programme will be chaired by T.R. Harish, a leading auditor and Vice-President of  S.S. Academy.

The programme is being held under the directton of H.R. Leelavathi. Entry to this novel programme is free. —MLK