Gear up to drench yourself in sound of music

While it is stamina endurance for artists with a packed and busy schedule, there is a test for repertoire when they have multiple concerts in closer venues, making sure there is fresh set of items to deliver in a back-to-back schedule. Artistes try to deliver innovative and interesting concepts to keep the flood of music lovers on their toes.

With a welcome trend, this year the sabhas plans a balanced package for rasikas, featuring more slots for instrumentalists such as Chitravina N Ravikiran, Ganesh Kumaresh, Shashank Subramaniam, A Kanyakumari, Kadri Gopalnath, Mysore Brothers, Akkarai Sisters, Jayanthi Kumaresh and Nirmala Rajasekhar. It is always a delight to watch and listen to the legends perform. Of all the countless optimisms that are happening during this season, it is unfortunate for the rasikas to miss performances by celebrities T. M. Krishna and Sudha Ragunathan. Organisers like Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and Brahma Gana Sabha are also hosting an exclusive nadaswaram festival this year, encompassing the entire fraternity.

This year when there are several mushrooming organisers where the festival is extended to entire Chennai and its suburbs, one is spoilt for choice. Apart from the established sabhas such as the Music Academy, Brahma Gana Sabha, The Mylapore Fine Arts, Narada Gana Sabha, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha along with Indian Fine Arts in Mylapore, and Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Bharat Kalachar and Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha in T Nagar, there are many growing sabhas like Carnatica, Nadasudha, Rasika Ranjani, Nanganallur Anjaneyar temple extending the concert boundary to in and around Chennai. Support from sponsors has grown tremendously and they expect a good presence in their supporting venues to get more mileage and exposure.

The Narada Gana Sabha has included pallavi concerts in their morning schedule for those eyeing ragam tanam pallavi. Concerts will begin today in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Kartik Fine Arts, kickstarting the season early. Narada Gana Sabha has a pre-season in their mini hall. With the season, come the awards and titles from various sabhas to honour artists for their endless achievements in their respective fields. Although some sabhas have chosen to award young musicians this year, the Music Academy will be conferring the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi to Sanjay Subrahmanyam and veteran musicians T. V. Sankaranarayanan and Sikkil Neela Kunjumani will be awarded by the Narada Gana Sabha, following its tradition of decorating a senior musician every year. Students of music and dance eagerly wait to attend workshops and lecture demonstrations on south Indian fine arts that are organized in the morning hours by Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, a pioneer in lec dems along with the music forum and Indian fine arts.

Sri Krishna Gana Sabha not only restricts its annual festival to music concerts, but also supplements the extravaganza with visual dance performances by renowned artists. The season also gives a venue to people to meet and greet their favourite artists. Carnatic celebrity coffee chats give opportunities for rasikas to catch up with their most sought after artists. As an icing on the cake, the convenience of free sabha hopping transportation facilities across major sabhas has definitely helped rasikas to get maximum coverage of the concerts.

With booking artistes beginning as early as March for the sabhas, there has been constant upgradation in the quality of audio systems and technology along with the canteen and rest room facilities to enable a comfortable and smooth season. Long queues that build up as early as 5.00 am at the venues to purchase tickets for the concerts is not surprising. Online ticket booking is yet another advantage that some sabhas offer.

Hotels and taxi bookings peak for the cultural extravaganza. Several media channels and leading dailies like Maximum media’s Margazhi Maha Utsavam in Sun TV, Lakshman Shruthi’s Chennaiyil Thiruvaiyaru in Zee Tamil and Jaya TV’s Margazhi Utsavam have also joined the season by hosting traditional and thematic concerts featuring several leading artists in their own way. The boom of social media like Facebook and Twitter has made people cognizant of the happenings from time to time. To enable a better experience for everyone, rasikas ought follow basic etiquettes like avoiding walking during the performance, refraining from using cell phones, avoid recording, and treat thani avarthanam in par with the overall concert. The season is a bench mark in Chennai – the musical hub; one also hopes that rain will not play havoc.