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A face-to-face learning session with R.K.
Srikantan for Boston kids
By Durga Krishnan
BOSTON, May 7: If one is either a lover or a student of music,
Boston was the place to be this past week. Sangeetha Kalanidhi
R.K. Srikantan spent the past week-end in Boston, teaching 15
children in the age group of 10 to 17 the Navarathri kritis
composed by Swathi Thirunal Maharaja. He did this in a week-long
teaching workshop, spending three hours each day with the children.
Last Sunday, at the end of the work shop, the children performed
these songs in front of an audience that consisted of delightful
parents and relatives of the students and other music lovers.
"The children, born and being raised in the U.S., so far
away from India, are amazing. They have learnt all these songs
with total commitment and enthusiasm and their pronunciation
is second to none," said the proud teacher.
On Saturday last, Srikantan, with the vocal support of his son
R.S. Ramakanth, gave a three-and-a-half hour concert at the
Chinmaya Centre in Andover, Massachussetts. This concert was
organized by the Chinmaya Mission Boston with the co-operation
of the New England Kannada Koota. The audience exceeded the
capacity of the concert hall, and many of them sat on the carpeted
floor.
Srikantan started the concert with the traditional rendition
of the famous Nattai Kurinji varnam. The concert simply took
off with his beautiful alapana in Atana and followed by the
Thyagaraja kriti ``Ela nee dhaya radhu…,’’
set to Adi talam. He then moved on to a more elaborate alapana
of Sriranjani, which he shared with his son. The chosen song
for the evening was Marubaga with swarams in mel kalam. It was
followed by a quick `Sarasa sama dhana…’’
in Kapinarayani. The next song was Thyagaraja’s "Durmargachara"
in the ragam Ranjani set to Rupaka talam. The maestro started
the alapana in the lower octave and stayed there for a while,
weaving beautiful swara patterns and then slowly building up
to the upper octave. Kalpana swaram, with interesting mathematical
calculations, was done in mel kalam at Paluku Koti by both the
father and the son. The 17-year-old violinist Suhas Rao, born
and brought up in the U.S., who accompanied the vocalist, answered
every one of their challenges. After a very soothing alapana,
the song "Rama Ika Nannu" by Patnam Subramanya Iyer
in Sahana was presented. Once again, Suhas Rao shined here with
his brilliant alapana.
The main raga for the evening was Todi. After a very elaborate
alapana by the singers as well as the violinist, Thyagaraja’s
kriti "Kadana variki" was performed with neraval and
swaram with koraippu at Arthambu. At the end of the song, the
mridangam artiste Pravin Sitaram (a local artist based in Boston)
and the khanjira artiste Ganesh Ramanarayanan (another local
artiste from the upstate New York area) gave a masterful and
appropriate thani. After this, RKS sang a few Dasa Padams in
the ragas Kamas, Behag, Suddha Saveri and Nadanamakriya, much
to the delight of the audience who stayed through the entire
concert including during thani. "Enjoyable and knowledgeable
audience" was how the Sangeetha Kalanidhi described the
audience after the concert.
Watching Srikantan perform was not only an amazing but also
an inspiring experience. The clarity in his pronunciation, the
way he separated the words, the sruthi suddham (adherence to
the pitch) and more than anything, how he was able to sing for
two-and-a- half hours before taking a little sip of water were
all an education in concert etiquette to the younger generation.
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