Celebrating Tributes to Krishna 2014

Deepavali celebrates with great joy and festivity the triumph of good over evil as Lord Krishna vanquished the demon Narakasura. This year, the SIFAS Alumni organised a series of six concerts during the weekend of November 15-16 in praise of Lord Krishna. While the artistes were blessed to have a supportive audience, the crowd in turn enjoyed experiencing the Krishnanubhava that weekend.

The concert series opened with the vocal recital of Smt. Mythili Rajaraman, who has learnt from Sri NR Prashanth in SIFAS and from Sri OS Thyagarajan in India. She started her concert impressively, with the ever-pleasant Vasantha varnam and a hearty rendition of Gaanamoorthe. She continued with another Thyagaraja composition, Brindavana Lola in Hanumatodi, which she adorned with a soulful alapana and fluent kalpanaswaras. Her main piece, Pankaja Lochana in Kalyani, was brilliantly rendered and her creative variations were uplifting to the late afternoon audience. Kum. Shreya Gopi provided outstanding support throughout on the violin and Sri Krishnan Subramanian accompanied heartily too, with a memorable thani avarthanam.

The next performance was by the talented Kum. Aarthi Devarajan who displayed her aptitude in rendering both soothing and complex pieces such as Jagadhodharana and a marvellous RTP in Mohanam and Ranjani. Kum. Aarthi sang the intricate pallavi, set to Kanda Chapu, effortlessly and admirably as she switched between the two ragas smoothly. The accompanying artistes, Sri Sharadh Rajaraman on the violin and Sri Devarajan Varadarajan on the mridangam gave enthusiastic support  and handled the difficult pallavi well.

Sri Nishanth Thiagarajan, who was awarded the prestigious “Best Vocal Artiste (Male)” award following his Spirit of Youth 2014 concert, wrapped up the series of performances for the evening. His rendition of Pankaja Lochana in Kalyani was well embellished with a captivating alapana that kept the audience spell bound. He explored the beauty of the ragam with enormous inspiration, traversing the mantra and tara sthayis effortlessly to enchant the audience. Guru Sri Nellai N Ravindran and Sri Mahesh Parameswaran provided excellent support on the violin and mridangam respectively. On the whole, the repertoire that Sri Nishanth rolled out for the night was well-appreciated by the audience.

Kum. Vaishnavi Vasudevan commenced the second day’s events with a rare varnam in Mandhari. Accompanying her were Kum. Sowndarya Kalyanaraman on the violin and Sri Narayanan Balasubramanian on the mridangam. Kum. Vaishnavi also performed the Thygaraja keertanam Vasudevayani, in Kalyani, during which Sri Narayanan Balasubramanian played an enthralling and dynamic thani avarthanam. Kum. Vaishnavi mentioned that she prepared for the performance by training intensively and by listening to manodharma sangeetham. Kum. Rachana Murali, a member of the audience, added that Vaishnavi’s soulful singing was very pleasing to the ears.

Sri Sharadh Rajaraman, who clinched top prize in the recent NAC Indian Music competition, was the second vocalist of the day and began with a unique Swathi Thirunal composition, Gopalaka Pahimam set to Revagupti. A spate of intermittent power cuts plagued Sri Sharadh’s performance, but despite these technical issues, he persevered and continued on with gusto to put up a riveting “unplugged” show. Sri Sharadh later mentioned that he was very thankful to have received energetic accompaniment from Sri Surup Sowmitri Thathachar on the violin and Sri Sudarshan Narasimhan on the mridangam, both of whom took the technical difficulties in their stride as well.

The concert series culminated in a recital by one of the founding members of the SIFAS Alumni Orchestra, Sri Sai Vigneshwar VM, who was accompanied by Guru Sri Nellai N Ravindran on the violin and Sri Sai Akileshwar on the mridangam. The centre-piece of his repertoire, Sri Krishnam Bhaja Manasa in Thodi, was furnished with intricate sangathis and elaborate kalpanaswaras that were executed skilfully. Sri Vigneshwar ended his resplendent repertoire with an uplifting rendition of Krishna Kaho, a Meera Bhajan in Madhukauns and a Sindhubhairavi thillana which moved the audience very much.

The SIFAS Alumni will be holding concert series such as this on a regular basis.  Keep a look out for event details and updates on our blog (http://sifasalumni.blogspot.sg/) or on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sifasalumni).

#Throwback to the weekend when we were all soaked in Krishna bhakthi during the Tributes to Krishna concert series. #sifasalumni

A photo posted by @sifasalumni on Nov 11, 2014 at 6:16am PST

Celebrating Navarathri - Subiksha Raman

The entire concept of Navarathri has never failed to intrigue me since my childhood. Whether it was me eagerly trying to help with setting up Golu Bommais like the earnest squirrel that added tiny pebbles to the massive rock bridge in an attempt to help; or me tagging along with my mother to her friends’ houses simply to have my daily fill of Sundal; or merely the entire festive atmosphere that we get soaked in for the period of nine astounding nights.

Despite how Navarathri has become an integral part of our lives here in my family, it is only this year that my sister and I believe that we are making the most out of the complete experience. This year, we will not merely be confining ourselves to the four walls of the Golu Mandabam, but also taking one step further to perform as part of this event.

And what’s better than experiencing it with your own sister?

My sister and I set out to practise Navaragamalika Varnam, one of our favourites, and Mahalakshmi, a popular kriti by Sri Papanasam Sivan in Shankarabharanam. These were both songs we hadn’t played in the longest time, and reviving the intricate sangathis from the depths of memories took us a while. Given the contrasting schedules of the pair of us, with my sister having just graduated from university and me still a student at Raffles Girls’ School, we had to set aside our spare time to practice together and go over the details of the songs. A lot of standardizing our technique was necessary.

With only a few days left for our performance, we can’t wait to immerse ourselves in the festive mood that Navarathri has to offer at SIFAS. Undeniably, this day will be a memorable milestone in our violin journey. We thank SIFAS Alumni for this splendid opportunity and hope our efforts pay off on Saturday!

SIFAS Alumni is proud to present an evening of music & dance this Saturday, 27th September, at the SIFAS Auditorium. Subiksha Raman and her sister Sudha Raman will be performing a Violin Duet, accompanied by Viknash Balakirshnan on the Mridangam and Thulasidas Vasudevan on the Kanjira. The event starts at 6.30PM. See you there!

Celebrating Guru Purnima 2014

Guru Purnima refers to the Pournami day in the month of July, on which Hindus pay tribute to their spiritual and academic Gurus. This year, it fell on the 12^th of July.

This auspicious day was successfully celebrated in SIFAS via the hosting of a Ragam Taanam Pallavi (RTP) series of six concerts over the Guru Purnima weekend. The event was organised by SIFAS alumnus, Ganesh Jayabal, and was supported by the SIFAS Alumni. Special mention must be given to Sai Vigneshwar, Shreya Gopi, Deneshwari Singam, Priya Murali from SIFAS Alumni and Thirunavukkarasu (SIFAS Helper) for their extensive contribution to the success of this event. 

While an RTP concert is in itself a challenge, performers were encouraged to exercise their creativity further by adhering to one of three concert themes.

After discussion with SIFAS violin tutor, Sri Nellai N Ravindran, the three themes were fixed as:

1. The Pallavi should be composed in praise of a Guru

1. The Pallavi and ragamalika swarams should be sung in ragams from the same parent word (e.g. the family of ‘priyas’ – karaharapriya, shanmugapriya, etc)

1. The whole concert should be rendered based on ragams from the same parent word.

There can be no question that the main artistes lived up to the excitement generated, with engaging, enjoyable and interesting performances that had the packed room brimming with energy.

The series started off on July12th with 2014 NAC competition Vocal Open Category winner Sri Nishanth Thiagarajan, who sang a Guru-themed pallavi. He was given enthusiastic support on the violin by Kumari Priyadharshini Ramesh and mridangam by Sri Viknash Balakirshnan.

Following that, the lead vocalist for Pravaha (SIFAS Dance Production 2013),

Kumari Nandhitha Hari performed a Kalyani ragam-based RTP with the strong support of Srimathi Srividya Sriram on the violin and Sri Mahesh Parameswaran on the mridangam. She also performed a Hindustani composition with tabla accompaniment by

Sri Lakshmanan Senthil.

The third performance was by one of the founding members of the SIFAS Alumni Orchestra, Sri Sai Vigneshwar VM. He adopted the Guru theme for his pallavi, composed in Dwi Gathi (Thisra Jati Ata Thalam with Lagu in Thisra Gathi and Druthams in Kanda Gathi). Violinist Kumari Shreya Gopi and mridangist Sri Radhakrishnan Subramaniam handled the difficult pallavi well.

Starting the series on the second day were Sri Ganesh and Sri Sriram Balasubramanian. Their concert used ragams from the Priya family and they performed an engaging pallavi in Thisra Jampai Thalam Kanda Gathi with strong accompaniment from Sri Sharadh Rajaraman on the violin and Sri Narayanan Balasubramanian on the mridangam.

Sangeetha Visharad Sri Sudarshan Narasimhan performed the next concert in which he sang a song each for the five Gurus that he has learned from. He adopted the Guru theme for the pallavi which was composed based on his late mother’s name. The violinist, Sri Srinath Iyer and mridangist, Sri Sai Akileshwar VM boosted the energy of the overall performance, giving the audience a very engaging experience.

The concert series concluded with invited artiste, Sri Rajaraman Iyer who sang the entire concert based on the bhairavi family of ragams. The violin accompaniment by Sri Srinath Iyer and mridangam accompaniment by Sri Muthu Subramaniam were excellent.

If you missed the concert series during Guru Purnima, you can still catch it online by searching for ‘Guru Purnima RTP Concert Series’ on YouTube.

The SIFAS Alumni is planning another Carnatic concert series this November. Interested Alumni members kindly send an email to sifasalumni@gmail.com and we will get back to you shortly! 

Bhakti Shringara - A Tapestry of Emotions by Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society

Featuring senior students on vocals, sitar, violin, mridangam, tabla and keyboard with music arrangements by teachers of SIFAS, Bhakti Shringara will take you on a musical journey that winds through various poetic compositions to capture the soul & essence of two rasas - bhakti and shringara. 

This week, we spoke to SIFAS tutors Guru Nellai N Ravindran, from the Carnatic faculty & Guru Sonali Biswas, from the Hindustani faculty to learn more about their experience working on this unique production. 

Bhakti signifies the pure devotion of an eternal relationship with divinity whilst shringara, considered the mother of all rasas, signifies pure love. Presented by Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) in collaboration with Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay as part of the Raga series. 

Get your tickets here: http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/bhakti0714

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1) SIFAS ALUMNI: Traditionally, rasas have not been given as much importance in Indian Classical Music as in Indian Classical Dance. What inspired you to present rasas and specifically, Bhakti and Shringara through the SIFAS Orchestra?

GURU RAVINDRAN: It seems that Rasas are dominant in dance, more than in music, with more varieties. But rasas are always in-built in Indian music forms. Dance too needs the help of music to bring out the rasas in proper perspective, so that the audience get the feel, listen, see and enjoy the performances. (Music is an integral part of dance.) In both forms of Indian Classical music, Carnatic and Hindustani, Bhakti is very common rasa and Shringara is philosophically, a beautiful branch or another form of Bhakti. Different Ragas arouse different rasas when performed by the right artistes and listened by a matured listener. These were the thoughts behind the idea of having rasas as theme for a music concert.

GURU SONALI: The rasas were first described by Bharata Muni in the context of drama in his theoretical treatise, the Natya Shastra. While the nine rasas can be expressed through dance, the emotions they denote can only be fully evoked with the help of music. The rasas play an important role by bringing out the aesthetic of a musical composition, making it pleasing to both the artist and listener. Even the definition of raga is incomplete without rasa. Two of the most important emotions of human beings are Bhakti (devotion) and Shringar (erotism). For this production, we have chosen those ragas whose swaras and lyrics depict these emotions and can easily touch the heart of the listener

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2) SIFAS ALUMNI: This presentation features SIFAS alumni and senior students from both the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions of Indian Classical Music. Was it challenging to arrange compositions catering to both these styles? 

GURU RAVINDRAN: It was not challenging, but needed an understanding between the tutors, who are in-charge of the affairs, to decide the course of the concert. Discussions went on, as to how to start the concert and how to end the concert, like proceeding from Guru to Lord Ganesha and various deities. We will try to induce various emotions from the Rasikas, with the inclusion of variety of ragas and compositions.

GURU SONALI: The Carnatic and Hindustani students will be performing in their own styles for the majority of the performance. The finale will see some fusion where Hindustani students are singing and playing a thillana, which is really interesting and somewhat challenging also.

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3) SIFAS ALUMNI: How is teaching and conducting an orchestra different from the day-to-day solo or group classes? What are your thoughts about the SIFAS Orchestra? 

GURU RAVINDRAN: Composing and teaching for an orchestra is totally different from teaching individual students. Composer should understand various things, like capabilities of the participating students and composing accordingly, time available for practice, the use of instruments, selection of ragas and lyrics etc. After these, there are two ways to make an orchestra successful. While participating in an orchestra, students should completely forget their individualism, ability to improvise as individuals etc. and should become a part and parcel of the team and work for the success of the concert, following very seriously, the instructions of the composer/conductor.

GURU SONALI: The coordination and synchronization of the sounds are very important in an orchestra. In solo or group classes, we mentor the students by showing them proper guidelines. The teacher of an orchestra must first be ready with an idea of the production. The teacher then has to teach the compositions, music arrangements, coordination and harmony to the trained students to bring out the best result. The SIFAS Orchestra is doing well.

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National Indian Music Competition - S.T. Ramana

The National Indian Music Competition held from the 16th to the 22nd of June at the School of the Arts was a roller-coaster of a ride. This was my first time I was taking part in the competition, and I didn’t know what to expect. I took part in the intermediate flute category, with a song selection of Parat Para (Sri Papanasam Sivan, Vachaspati, Adi) for the preliminary round, and a choice of one song from the following three – Aananda Mruthakarshini (Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar, Amrithavarshini), Vaathapi Ganapathim (Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar, Hamsadhwani, Adi), and Bantureethi Kolu (Sri Thyagaraja, Hamsanadham, Adi) – for the final round. Slightly nervous but composed as I walked on to stage during the preliminary round to play in front of so many great musicians, including Dr S Sowmya and Mdm Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar, I had only eyes for my flute teacher, Sri V. K. Sivakumar, as I played Parat Para. 

I felt confident of getting through to the final round, which took place two days later. In the final round, I was told to play Aananda Mruthakarshini. A personal favourite, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the piece and I felt really confident while playing, and with that piece I won the first prize. It wouldn’t have been possible without the relentless and selfless guidance and tutelage of my teacher Sri V. K. Sivakumar. It is hard to come by teachers like him who are so dedicated in teaching, and the many practice classes he gave me, especially for this competition, have paid off. I’m really happy with the win as this is but a testimony of how much effort my teacher has put in. I’m really looking forward to more such competitions and concert opportunities in the near future.

National Indian Music Competition - Sharadh Rajaraman

The National Indian Music Competition is one of Singapore’s most prestigious such competitions, being hosted by the National Arts Council (NAC) itself. I participated in the competition twice before, in 2008 and 2011, and wasn't successful in securing a place in the top three, both times. This year however, I resolved to give it my very best, ever since I received an e-mail from the NAC about this year’s competition; this was while I was on vacation in New Zealand in January. Fast-forward two months and my preparations for the competition had begun in earnest, as I learnt two new songs just for the competition. I had done something similar for my 8^th Year exams in June 2012 as well: I learnt my main krithi the previous November, while I had begun practising for my RTP in January.

One main hurdle was singing a raga alapana, the krithi and kalpana swaram, all within the stipulated time limit of 8 minutes. It was even harder, as my tutor, Guru Nishant put it: ‘to sing an alapana within the time limit, without compromising the essence of the ragam in question.’ He emphasised this to me from the very start (Nishant sir has always been very particular about sticking to time limits, even in a 1 ½ hour concert). My habit was to not look at a stopwatch while singing and instead estimate how long each segment had lasted, because I realised that my quality of singing became worse if I kept referring to the time elapsed (perhaps I got nervous and rushed; I don’t really know exactly why it happens.) Slowly, a fifteen-minute song became halved; and the ‘essence of the ragam’ in each song was also more than satisfactory.

Not to discount my violin practice and this began slightly later, due to my performance at the music festival. I asked Ravindran sir to teach me Thanayuni Brova, a Thyagaraja krithi in Bhairavi. I had learnt this song in Carnatic Vocal before; hence I found it slightly easier. However, Bhairavi, no matter how experienced one is in vocal, is always a complex, challenging ragam to render on the violin without practise. My violin tutor, Guru Ravindran, put it this way: ‘To be as good a violinist as you are a vocalist, your skill and experience in playing the violin needs to be three times as much.’ A big problem as a violinist is keeping your own talam; you have to refer to someone else’s or use your feet. Doing the latter becomes quite distracting, as your focus is torn away from the music and is on the rhythm. Relying on someone else is also risky; what if they make a mistake or go off-tempo? This problem is exacerbated especially while doing neraval and kalpana swaras. Hence, it took a lot of time to practise the songs and the manodharma without someone keeping the talam, all while not going off beat. It’s honestly harder than quantum mechanics.

At the competition itself, I realised just how much competition there was (repetition not intended): eighteen participants in the Intermediate Carnatic Vocal category, while there were six in the Intermediate Violin category. Thankfully, I passed through the Preliminary Rounds for both categories with relative ease. I really enjoyed singing and playing Sari Yevvaramma and Janani Ninnuvina, respectively, although I was told that I had gone off-talam while playing (ouch).

The Final Rounds were going to be much harder, and I hoped beyond hope that I would do well. To be very honest, there was a lot of pressure on me - especially from my Gurus. As already mentioned, I was determined to outdo myself this time. Fortunately I did, and clinched the first and third prizes in the Intermediate Carnatic Vocal and Violin categories. As a slight damper, I was told again that I had gone even more off-talam while playing Thanayuni Brova during the finals; five times according to someone (ouch again).

At any rate, both my parents and I are very happy with my performance at the competition, although there is the tiny twinge of regret that I could have done better on the violin. Nevertheless, it was an enriching experience, and a great way to keep in touch with music. I hope to do much better come 2017.

Besides this NAC Competition, I've performed several other concerts, and accompanied several more artistes. There are many lessons to take away from both this competition and other performances, which include 'controlling the stage', and while accompanying, subtly supporting the main artiste without them finding our music distracting or worse, disturbing. It's always an act of holding the equilibrium in a concert. A well-planned, well-rehearsed concert is always a joy to perform, as well as to hear. I hope that my next endeavours are up to this benchmark.

Generation Next - Nishanth Thiagarajan

The National Indian Music Competition organized by the National Arts Council, triennially, is perhaps the most anticipated and competitive event in the Indian classical music scene in Singapore. This year’s edition was no different, and having participated and won the Intermediate Category in Carnatic Vocal previously, I was looking forward to pit myself against some stiff competition this time. The unique thing about the open category is that you cannot predict who your competitor is; in the intermediate category you would roughly know who you are up against living in a small country with strong connections all around. The Finals was quite a challenge; I must say it was quite merciless of them to test me on Suddha Saveri right after a competitor sang Madhyamavati. I relished the task, though, and took conscious effort to distinguish the two ragams with my Raga alapana. Once that was done, the mood was set, and the rest followed. Creativity, perhaps, flourishes in an environment most testing.

I am definitely not the first SIFAS alumnus to win the Carnatic Vocal Open category, and I am sure there are many juniors learning from the esteemed Gurus of this institution, who will continue to bring pride to themselves, their families, and their Gurus. I wish that the classical music scene in Singapore continues to develop, and not stagnate, expanding beyond this triennial series and the occasional other small-scaled festivals which do not receive much publicity or attendance. We definitely could do with a culture and spirit that promotes, why even self-promotes the talent of our youth. While this may sound obnoxious, it is perhaps the best and only way for classical musicians to have a sense of pride in the art they so passionately pursue.

By brewing an environment that seeks to bring the best out of every musical talent we have in the Indian classical scene, through support, opportunities and publicity, it is even possible that more would consider taking the art as a professional career. With the huge advantage of proximity we have to Chennai (It takes only slightly longer to get from Singapore to Chennai as it does from say Delhi to Chennai by flight) it seems reasonable that we should be able to nurture musicians who are based in Singapore but regularly perform year-round in India along with the professionals from India. If there’s ‘Chennaiyil Tiruvaiyaru’, what stops there from being a ‘Singaiyil Mylapore’?

I am also glad to share that I have a few concerts coming up concerts in which I am singing. The first is the Ragam Taanam Pallavi series organized by our own alumnus, Ganesh Jayabal, on the 12^th and 13th of July. Also, I am privileged to sing at Trivandrum on the 20^th of July, for a Neelakanta Sivan festival. It thrills me that, right after my concert, at the same venue, Sanjay Subramaniam is singing!

Last but not least, I have been given a chance to perform at the Spirit of Youth Music Festival, a concert-competition series organized annually by the Madras Music Academy. I will be performing with and against some of the most talented Carnatic musicians of my age category. It’s going to be one serious challenge. The violinist accompanying me, for instance, is a child prodigy from the US! It’s going to be a steep learning curve as I prepare for this concert, along with the guidance of my Guru. I’m glad that I have these chances, and I have to thank SIFAS for being the nurturing institution it has been, allowing me to mature in my music and presenting me with ample opportunity to perform at places I would otherwise be unable to.