TM Krishna to keep off December music season

Chennai: In what seems a radical break with the classical music concert tradition nurtured in this southern metropolis for nearly a century now through various music ‘sabhas’, famed Carnatic vocalist and author T.M. Krishna announced on Thursday that “henceforth (beginning December 2015) I will not be singing in Chennai’s December music season.”

In a dramatic post on Facebook, Krishna said though the music season here has been “part of my musical universe and I have learnt so much from musicians, musicologists, scholars and rasikas, unfortunately at the place I am today, I am unable to reconcile my musical journey with that of the December season.”

“I have communicated this to the concert organisers,” he said.The December music  season in Chennai draws classical music lovers from different parts of the country and even abroad, coinciding as it does every year with the auspicious Tamil month of Margazhi. But the music season has also come under flak from diverse quarters for its commercial orientation.