Venkat Raman
Auckland based New Zealand Carnatic Music Society deserves credit for bringing together five young artistes to celebrate its Winter Festival.
It is a fitting tribute to the Society which is marking its 20th Anniversary this month.
It has also been the training ground for beginners and achievers facilitated through regular classes, annual examinations and concerts.
Anahita and Apporva Ravindran and Vishnudev Namboothiri will present their Vocal Concerts, with the support of Gokul Alankode on the Violin and Akshay Anand on Mridangam at the Oranga Primary School Hall (Rangipawa Road) at One Tree Hill on Sunday, August 11, 2019.
Tickets for the Programme, priced at $30 (Adult) and $20 for children under 12 years of age are now available. The accompanying Poster provides all the details.
Anahita and Apporva Ravindran
The young sisters have accomplished a place of a reputation for themselves, proving the adage that age has little to do with talent.
Initiated and taught by their grandmother Shanthi Jayaraman, the siblings are currently being trained by N Ravi Kiran.
Their maiden concert occurred when they were respectively nine and eight years of age.
Both of them are recipients of the Government of India Scholarship for Carnatic music and the ‘M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship’ by Shri Shanmukhananda Sangeeta Sabha, Mumbai for three years.
While Anahita is also proficient in playing the Chitravina (a 20 or 21-string fretless lute in Carnatic Music), Apoorva is adept on the Violin.
As The Hindu mentioned in a review, “The sisters blend their individual energies in pleasing unison. While Anahita is a conscious custodian of the pace and dazzle that young artistes rely on for drawing a full house, Apoorva, the younger sibling is the older soul, who has a sustained connect to the Carnatic idiom. Her tonal intensity when vocalising pracheena pidis, particularly in Dhanyasi, provide ample proof. Once the duo begins to focus on greater internalisation, their music will gain an added dimension.”
The Sisters have won many awards, among which is the ‘Spirit of Youth Award’ given by the Music Academy of Madras, and the ‘Best Performers Award’ presented by several music academies and societies.
Anahita and Apoorva have been on concert tours to the US and have participated in the Cleveland Aradhana and the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego (USA) where they have been lead singers in many operatic Dance dramas.
Vishnudev Namboothiri
This young Vocalist has been applauded for his innovative and unique rendition of Classical Vocal Music. An IT expert, he recently quit his job in the US and moved to Chennai to pursue a full-time career in Carnatic Music.
Recently, he quit his IT job in the USA and moved to Chennai to pursue a full-time career in Carnatic Music.
Since his debut at the Guruvayoor Temple in Kerala in 2002, Vishnudev has presented concerts for various academies and sabhas in India and the USA.
Following his initial training under Chandramana Narayanan Namboothiri, he has been undergoing advanced coaching under P S Narayanaswamy.
Vishnudev has performed many concerts in India and overseas and have been awarded for his excellence. He is immensely committed to art and is determined to pursue it with passion and dedication.
Gokul Alankode
Alankode, a remote village in Malappuram (Kerala) has produced a string of musicians.
In that tradition, born and raised in a family of musicians, Gokul Alankode was initiated into Violin by his uncle Surendran Alankode when he was less than three years old.
Now under the tutelage of the A Kanyakumari, a renowned Master.
A recipient of the ‘M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship Award’ and the ‘Best Violinist Award’ in ‘Rising Star Series 2016’ of granting by Shri Shanmukhananda Sangeeta Sabha, Mumbai, he is regarded as one of the most noted and promising young violinists in Kerala. He is also known as V S Gokul.
Gokul has presented more than 300 concerts and he topped the Violin Competition held as a part of the Kerala Kalolsavam for the past four years.
Akshay Anand
Twenty-three-year-old Akshay Anand also belongs to a family devoted to Carnatic Music.
His maternal and paternal grandfather were highly knowledgeable in music.
His mother Sunitha is a Violinist while his father Anand Srinivasamurthy evinced great interest in the art.
With more than 175 concerts to his credit, Akshay was one of the youngest to perform at The Madras Music Academy.
