Violin concert by students of Smt.Anusha Sreeram as part of Sri Rama navami celebrations

Smt.Uma Ganesh and Sri Ganesh were generous enough to offer their premises for a violin concert by students of Smt.Anusha Sreeram as part of Sri Rama navami celebrations on the evening of 13th April 2019. Chi.Pradyuth, their son, is a student of Smt.Anusha Sreeram and he was also part of the performing team.

Guru and her disciples

Please find below an account of the event. The YouTube link is shared below the write up.

The following students of Sree Ramanuja Vidyalaya performed in the concert.

  • Shrivats Gopal
  • Shreyaas Sanjeev
  • Sivasubramanian S
  • Nithyashree S
  • Srinidhi Pennathur
  • Hiranmayee Sreeram
  • Pradyut G and
  • Priyanka Haresh

The programme began with the vasantha varnam – ‘Ninnukori’ composed by Sri Thachur Singrarachari in Aadhi Thaalam. This was followed by an invocation in Hamsathvani Ragam – ‘Vinayaka Ninnu’ composed by E.V.Ramakrishna Bhagavadhar in Aadhi Thaalam.

The next one was ‘Teleserama’ in Poorna chandrika Ragam – In this keertana Sri Sadguru Thyagaraja commands the Manas to chant the divine Rama Nama which is the only way to get rid of pains and vains.

a happy Guru

A Thematic Presentation ”EKAIKA RAGA KRITIS FOR OUR EKA PATNI VRATAN” followed next. on some of the ekaika raga kritis composed by Thyagaraja on Rama.

First was the song Meluko Vaiyya , Bowli Raga where in, Rama is woken up by Tyagaraja to protect his creation.

Second was ‘Manasa etulorthune’ in Malayamarutham Raga in which Tyagaraja  advises the Manas to chant the Taraka Nama to escape from the Dwigunas (Rajas, Tamas)

a cross section of the audience

Third was ‘Manavyalakincharadhate’ in Nalinakanthi in which Thyagaraja emphasises that rather than drowning in the sorrow of Karma, he yet again commands his Manas to concentrate on the Divine Human Form, the Ramaavatara.

Fourth is the one in which, being fed up with the manas which is still naive, Thyagaraja in ‘Aada Modi GAlade’ in Charukesi raga expresses his displeasure as Rama doesn’t respond to his calls as he is no where near Hanuman, the true Rama Bhaktha

a cross section of performers

In the next song, ‘Bantu Reethi Golu’, in Hamsanaadham raga, Thyagaraja pleads Rama to accept him as his Sevaka.

‘MARUGELARA’ in Jayantha Sri Ragam, Deshadhi Thalam was the next. In this Thyagaraja pleads with Rama to come out of his hidden form. He stresses that he will never worship any other divine form other than Raghava.

The concert was concluded with mangalam in Sourashtra Ragam.

The primary aim of organising this concert is to let the students have a feel of performing before an audience. There are definitely many areas of improvement in the way these budding artistes have run their fingers and bows on one of the most challenging instruments of music. We welcome any kind of constructive feedback.

after the concert

regards

Sreeram

Sri Vedanta Desika Stotra Pancaratnam – set to music

Swami Desika – a pencil sketch by adiyen

The ‘Sri Vedanta Desika Stotra Pancaratnam’ which was composed by adiyen and shared earlier has now been set to music – composed and sung by Smt.Anusha Sreeram, accompanied on the violin by Sow.Hiranmayee Sreeram (our daughter). To suit the composition which is a pancaratnam, five ragas have been chosen. The ragas are suddha saveri, revathi, brindavani, valaji and hamsanadam – all five being audava ragas – ragas that have five notes!

The link to the audio is

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5TNRFElGMV1d3Y3R18ybmNkQzQyNkF3bTJodDhJT2diQXc4

The link to the original post on ‘Sri Vedanta Desika Stotra Pancaratnam’ is as below:

Sri Vedanta Desika Stotra Pancaratnam – a stuti mentioning the names of Swami Desika’s 28 stotras

Dedicated to the divine thiruvadi of Kavitarkikasimham literally during our visit to Satyagala. My wife and daughter sang at the sannidhi of Swami Desika at Satyagala on 25th of April 2018. This picture is of the peepul tree (perhaps not the same tree, may be a new one planted in its place or an offshoot of the old one) on the banks of Kaveri under which Swami Desika is said to have done tapas during his 12 year stay in Satyagala.

SrImate NigamAnta MahAdesikAya namaH

Dr.Sreeram Jaganathan

The ABC of SaReGaMa – part 1

Smt.Anusha Sreeram guiding her students during a chamber concert

Learning carnatic music becomes complete only when we know more about what we are learning. With that idea, I am trying to impart some theoretical knowledge to my students who learn carnatic violin from me. While I teach, I try to throw light on the insights of the classical music and also on the nuances of playing the violin. To impart many other aspects of music to my students I began recently to engage with them through group discussions on the aspects of violin and vocal music. I make sure opportunity is given to each student to show case their talent during the interactive sessions. The intention is to continue with these sessions on a monthly basis and try to educate them with whatever I have learnt from my own Gurus. This gives me an opportunity to learn as well – learning is a continuous process!
The first session was recorded and the recording is shared in the below link:
Any constructive feedback is welcome. The quality of the recording is a bit naive during the first session. It will be improved upon during the coming sessions.
Anusha Sreeram.