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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