Sydney Music Festival is an event that is growing in quality, size and popularity.
The Seventh annual Festival held at the Riverside Theatre Parramatta (Sydney) from June 8 to 10, 2013 attracted Carnatic music lovers from both sides of the Tasman.
It was a fitting engagement to commemorate the long (Queen’s Birthday) weekend, just as Carnatic Music lovers did the previous weekend in Auckland, attending ‘Sangeethothsavam,’ a three-day festival of the New Zealand Carnatic Music Society (Indian Newslink, June 15, 2013).
The Sydney Festival is a proud product of Swara-Laya Fine Arts, headed by Kanagasabai Jeyendran and his wife.
Paramatta Riverside Theatre is beautifully set in the main street of the North West Suburb in Sydney, with the Paramatta River gushing in the background. Once you enter the theatre, you do not feel that you are in Sydney, as it resembles any fancy sabha in India, with bejewelled women rustling about in their designer silk sarees and the men in their silken attire to cope with the blustery winter weather. There was a high sense of excitement and anticipation as the concert schedules are checked and friends/fellow music lovers exchange greetings at the foyer.
I have been attending this festival the past few years and have seen it expand and grow into a wonderful musical timeout giving music lovers an absolute treat.
Eclectic mix
The Festival this year featured an eclectic mix of artistes. Among them were Kadri Gopalnath, Nityashree Mahadevan, Hyderabad Brothers Raghavachari Seshachari, Suchitra Balasubramaniam, Carnatica Brothers K N Shashikiran and Ganesh Parthasarathy, Mysore Brothers Nagaraj and Manjunath, P Unnikrishnan, Ganesh Parthasarathy, TNS Krishna, Ranjani Gayathri and Sanjay Subrahmanyan.
They were ably supported by H N Bhaskar, Nagai Sriram (Violin), Mushnam Raja Rao, Tanjore K Murugabhoopathy, Poongulam Subramaniam (Mridangam) and Thirupungoor Muthukumaraswamy (Thavil).
Several local talents were also given an opportunity to provide support on instruments like Kanjira and Morsing.
With such a huge line-up of stars, the concerts were just pure brilliance!
Festival Highlights
Following were among the highlights of the Festival:
Hyderabad Brothers: ‘Sankharabharanam’ Raga delineation followed by the famous ‘Swara Raga Sudha.’
Mysore Brothers: ‘Chandrajyoti’ rendition of ‘Bagayanayya’ the majestic Madhyamavathi and Thyagaraja’s ‘Rama Katha Sudha.’
Unnikrishnan: Exposition of ‘Kalyanavasantham’ Raga and ‘Malayamarutham.’
Nithyashree: Rendition of ‘Shanmugapriya’ with an emotive ‘Aandavane Unnai Nambinen.’
Carnatica Brothers: ‘Shubhapantuvarali’ Dikshithar’s gem ‘Pasupathiswaram.’
Ganesh Parthasarathy: ‘Simhendramadhyamam’ Raga and ‘Ragamallika Tanam.’
TNS Krishna: ‘Hindolam and Dwi Raga, ‘Ragam Tanam Pallavi’ in Kalyani and Lalitha Ragas
Ranjani Gayatri: ‘Bairavi,’ followed ‘Koluvai Unnade Kothandapani,’ a master piece by Saint Thyagaraja
Sanjay Subrahmanyan: A grand finale for the three-day Festival. His main piece in ‘Gowrimanohari,’ ‘Amba Neelayadakshi’ in Neelamabari and ‘Ragam Tanam Pallavi’ in Sama were breath taking.
Suchitra Balasubramaniam: Harikatha (narration of story with delineation of characters) on Krishna Leela with a team of musicians
By the end of the third day, the rasikas were utterly soaked in the nectar of music.
As part of the Festival, music competitions in Vocal, Mridangam and other instruments were held for students.
Local artistes were given an opportunity to display their talents on the first day.
Priya Srinivasan is a former Secretary of the New Zealand Carnatic Music Society. She is currently Programme Coordinator at Raskias New Zealand.
Photo :
1. Hyderabad Brothers
2. Suchitra Subramaniam
