Venkat Raman
Auckland, December 26, 2020
Twenty virtual events over five weekends from Jan 2 to 31 and nightly from Jan 4 to 8, 2021
Auckland couple Mani and Leena Narayanaswamy have announced that two Carnatic Music Festivals will be featured on Facebook and YouTube commencing next week to provide opportunities for young artistes of growing talent.
The two Festivals will run concurrently involving local and overseas artistes.
The first Festival, titled, ‘Nada Tanum Music & Arts Festival January 2021’ will be held over five weekends from January 2 to January 31, 2021 with young musicians residing in New Zealand and Australia. In addition, an artiste each from India and USA will also participate in ten programmes over the five-week period.
The second Festival, called, ‘Carnatica Global and Nada Tanum Global Heritage Music Festival,’ will showcase young artistes performing in New Zealand and Australia. This is being organised in collaboration with K N Shashikiran, known for his mastery of Carnatic Music.
According to Narayanaswamy couple, the two Festivals will account for 20 concerts in total, of which eleven concerts will be recorded at his home.
They hope that the forthcoming events will place the New Zealand Carnatic Music scene on international platform and showcase local artistes.
About Nada Tanum Festival
Mr Narayanaswamy said that the idea of a virtual concert was conceptualised since many junior artistes and beginners are not be able to participate in the ‘Margazhi Musical Festival’ in Chennai, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Editor’s Note: The Margazhi Music Festival is being held for the first time in its 91-year history as a virtual event with the participation of a limited number of well-established and upcoming artistes. The Festival, which began on December 24, 2020 will conclude on January 31, 2021. The concerts, reduced from the usual line-up of 83 to just 27, will have shorter duration of 90 minutes for senior artistes and 60 minutes for others. No titles, including that of ‘Sangita Kalanidhi,’ will be awarded this year, again, a first since the Festival began in 1929.
“Each Saturday and Sunday during January 2021 will feature one concert each, with participation of artistes residing in New Zealand and Australia. In addition, our Nada Tanum Festival will feature a Bharata Natyam artiste from India and a musician from the USA,” Mr Narayanaswamy said.
The eight-weekend Festival will feature 16 Artistes, including Arun Ravindran (Violin and Mridangam), Dr Ashok Malur (Violin), Avinash Jeyashanakar (Mridangam), Chirag Mani (Vocal and Mridangam), Dheeraj Venkatachalam (Vocal), Parur M S Anantha Shree (Bharata Natyam), Pavan Mani (Vocal and Violin), Puttur Nishith (Mridangam), Raj Nivas (Mridangam), Rishab Ranganathan (Violin), Shriram Balachandran (Mridangam), Soham Kaje (Mridangam), Tarun Muralidhar (Vocal), Uma Ramakrishnan (Vocal), Vishnu Koilkandadai (Violin) and Viswajith Mattur (Violin).
The Bharata Natyam performance on January 3, 2021, titled, ‘Thrimurthy Vaibhavam,’ will pay tribute to the Trinity of Carnatic Music Shyama Sastry Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, revered as the ‘Three Jewels of the 18th Century Carnatic Music.’
About The Global Heritage Music Festival
Mrs Narayanaswamy said that ‘The Global Heritage Music Festival,’ is annual event organised by ‘Carnatica Global’ as a part of The Margazhi Music Festival in Chennai and that this year, Nada Tanum is organising the New Zealand-Australia Chapter from January 4 to January 8, 2021.
“The five-day Festival will feature two concerts each evening. This Trans-Tasman Festival is the first of its kind to be held as a joint venture in Carnatic music. While many artistes from both sides of the Tasman regularly travel to participate in concerts or witness them, we have thus far not organised a Festival featuring artistes from both countries,” she said.
The Performing Artistes
This Festival accounts for 22 artistes, 17 from Australia.
From New Zealand: Ashok Malur (Violin), Chirag Mani (Violin, Vocal, Mridangam), Dheeraj Venkatachalam (Vocal), Pawan Mani (Violin) and Raj Nivas (Mridangam)
From Australia: Agalya Pavalan (Violin), Ashwin Narayanan (Violin), Balaji Jagannadhan (Violin), Balaji Ravi (Violin), Balaram Ramagiri (Mridangam), Balu Mallela (Mridangam), Gopinath Iyer (Veena), Kranti Kiran Mudi Konda (Violin), Krishna Ramarathinam (Vocal), Mahathi Balajee (Violin), Malathi Vasudevan (Veena), Pallavarajan Nagendran (Mridangam), Peraveenan Jayarasa (Ghatam), Ramana Paheerathan (Mridangam), Ramnath Iyer (Veena), Siddharth Adityan (Mridangam), Sivakumar Sethupathi (Mridangam) and Sudharshan Ravi (Vocal).
Mrs Narayanaswamy said that the forthcoming Festival will be featured on YouTube and Facebook, although the latter will be the promotion platform for performers and their families.
The Narayanaswamy couple said that while there is ample interest among the youth to learn and achieve higher levels of proficiency in various forms of Carnatic Music (including vocal and instrumental), there is a need to develop ‘Manodharma’ among these budding musicians.
About Manodharma
In music, especially in Carnatic and Hindustani formats, ‘Manodharma’ refers to the spontaneous (always at the place of performance) improvisation arising from a musician’s creativity but within the confines of musical grammar defined by the chosen Ragam and Talam.
The key elements involving improvisation including the Neraval elaboration and Improvisation of a melody in a particular line), Kalpanaswaram (melo-rhythmic improvisation of a specific Ragam and a specific Talam), Ragam Alapana (developing a Ragam) and Tani Avartanam (solo performance). Exposition of Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi is entirely based on the Manodharma of the performing artiste.
Manodharma is shaped by the repertorie of the artiste and exposure to music, which in turn influences ‘Kalpita Sangeetam’ (the set music or pattern) since creation of new musical pieces is governed by the creativity of the composer.
This Reporter has had the privilege of experiencing the Manodharma of such stalwarts as Dr M S Subbulakshmi, D K Pattammal, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Maharajapuram Santhanam, M L Vasantha Kumari and many others. What made M S Amma a singer of utmost distinction as a shining star in the constellation of grammarian musicians, was her melodic, soulful singing well within boundaries of traditional music, never caught in the web of austere classicality.
About the Narayanaswamy Couple
As well as being Carnatic Music enthusiasts, the Narayanaswamy couple have been involved with the New Zealand Carnatic Music Society (as members and office-bearers) over the past 15 years and have encouraged their sons (Pavan and Chirag Mani) to evince interest and improve proficiency in vocal as well as instrumental music.
“It is gratifying that younger members of our community are keen to learn Carnatic Music. There is therefore a pronounced need to create opportunities for them to promote their talent on the global platform. One of the positive aspects of Covid-19 lockdown is virtual concerts, crossing borders and other restraints,” Mr Narayanaswamy said.
The couple have been conducting Chamber Music (defined broadly as small ensembles of instrumentalists) in their home, according opportunities for young people to present mini-concerts of longer duration with an informal get-together dinner. The initiative has helped to explore and expose many new talents.
The Chamber Music sessions, accounting for audiences of about 35 music enthusiasts, have also had the presence of teachers and visiting professional musicians.
The Narayanaswamy couple named their initiative ‘Nada Tanum’ in 2019.
https://www.facebook.com/NadaTanum
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