UPCOMING SRUTI EVENTS Uma Prabhakar (Chairperson) I Wish You All a Great Summer and Hope to See You at Our Next Program
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SRUTI The India Music & Dance Society A Publication of SRUTI Volume 1, Issue 3 Summer 1998 Board of Directors From the President’s Desk President Sudhakar Rao Dear Sruti Supporter, 610-277-1607 As we take a break from our concert series, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the Vice President just concluded concert season. We had a very successful Spring season with two excellent instru- Prabhakar Chitrapu mental concerts by Dr. Ramani on flute and G.J.R Krishnan on violin and equally exciting vocal 215-616-0486 concerts by Sanjay Subramaniam and T.M.Krishna. I hope those of you who attended the concerts enjoyed them and would continue to support us with your presence at future concerts. Recording Secretary Poornima Narayan We have an impressive line up for the Fall season which includes a Bharatanatyam performance 215-493-9091 by Shoba Sharma, a vocal concert by Sudha Raghunathan and an instrumental concert by Chitravina Corresponding Secretary Ravikiran. The dates for these concerts are published in this newsletter. I hope you will mark the A. Srinivasa Reddy program dates on your calendar and attend these concerts with your friends. 215-576-1392 On another programming note, we had mentioned in our earlier newsletter about the possibility of Treasurer conducting a workshop on ‘Carnatic Music Appreciation’ with Chitravina Ravikiran. Due to time Usha Balasubramanian constraints we are unable to have the workshop this summer. We have rescheduled it for the early 215-699-2827 part of next year. The details of the workshop will be sent to you as soon as they are finalized. Members at Large Santi Kanumalla I am extremely pleased to report that Sruti has recently been the recipient of a number of grants 610-277-8955 from Philadelphia based organizations to support our programs. On behalf of the Board of Directors N.V. Raman and members of Sruti, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to CoreStates Bank, the 302-421-9392 Philadelphia Music Project, Stockton-Rush-Bartol Foundation and Lockheed Martin Corporation for their generous contributions to Sruti. The continued support from these organizations will go a long Resource Committee way in establishing Sruti as the premier organization for presenting Indian classical music and dance Ramana Kanumalla programs in this area. I would also like to thank the Resources Committee of Sruti for an (Chairperson) excellent effort in helping us secure these grants. 610-277-8955 Dinakar Subramanian Vasanthi Raghavan, our recording secretary, has resigned from the Board of Directors as she has 610-962-0526 P. Swaminathan relocated to the west coast with her family. I would like to thank her for serving Sruti and wish the 215-643-2145 Raghavan family success. The BOD has nominated Poornima Narayan to take over as the recording secretary for the remainder of the term of this Board. Library Committee UPCOMING SRUTI EVENTS Uma Prabhakar (Chairperson) I wish you all a great summer and hope to see you at our next program. 215-616-0486 Dance Performance By Shobha Sharma - September 19, 1998 Rama Gundurao SudhaVkaor Rcaol Recital By Sudha Raghunathan - October 11, 1998 610-292-8120 For Board of Directors. M.M. Subramaniam Chitravina Concert By Ravi Kiran - November 7, 1998 610-275-5627 Viji Swaminathan 215-643-2145 CONTENTS ♦ From the President’s Desk ♦ Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu. Article By Santosh ♦ From the Editors Adipudi E- mail ♦ Upcoming SRUTI events ♦ Some facts about Chitravina ♦ [email protected] ♦ Resource Committee Report Upcoming Events ♦ ♦ Please visit our Web Site SRUTI Concert Reviews Community News ∗ ♦ Quiz [email protected]/~srutipa GJR Krishnan (Violin) ....... .......R. Jayaraman ♦ SRUTI Concert Tapes ∗ Sanjay Subramanian (Vocal).....Praba Subramaniam ♦ SRUTI Discussion Forum 1 From the Editors Dear Sruti Friends, UPCOMING SRUTI EVENTS FOR FALL’98 Thanks to the unreserved cooperation from several of you, the Library Dance Performance By Shoba Sharma Committee has been successful in (September 19, 1998) bringing out three fairly well stacked Vocal Recital By Sudha Raghunathan issues of Sruti Notes, including the (October 11, 1998) present one. The informal feedback we Chitravina Concert By Ravi Kiran received so far has been very encouraging too. Actually, a letter to the (November 7, 1998) Editors would be ideal! If you so wish, Please mark your calenders for these events. Details to follow. we can withhold your name at your request, but no anonymous letters please! The LC has adopted a guideline Resource Committee Report to disregard any such submissions in the future. The resource committee had a busy spring season preparing and submitting five grant proposals. The committee along with the Board of Directors met with Walter As usual, this issue of Sruti Notes Barry Associates, independent consultants. Their services to SRUTI are funded by a contains our regular features including grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. They are preparing a research re- Association News, Upcoming Events port on a marketing strategy to help SRUTI expand its membership. and Reviews of the last three SRUTI concerts. We also have an original The following grant awards were received this year: article by Santosh Adipudi. Award Amount Purpose In addition, we are introducing two Lockheed Martin Corporation $500.00 Concerts in 1998-1999 new features in the present issue. One is CoreStates Bank $3,000.00 Concerts in 1998 a Quiz on Classical Music and Dance, Philadelphia Music Project $3300.00 Workshop on Carnatic Music which we hope will become a regular Appreciation feature. Although the LC has put this Philadelphia Foundation $3,500.00 Concerts in 1998 together for this time, we hope that the Stockton-Rush-Bartol Foundation $2000.00 Workshop on Carnatic Music future quizzes will be from you. The Total Received $12300.00 second is a SRUTI Discussion Forum, which is meant to be essentially a Lockheed Martin is a new corporate donor to SRUTI. Award from the CoreStates bulletin board for YOU and by YOU. Bank (now First Union) is a repeat award: SRUTI has received this award or the past You can submit your questions relating three years in a row. This year’s award from Philadelphia Music Project is 30% to Classical Music and Dance (all those higher in value than last year’s award. Philadelphia Foundation award is a result of a you always wanted to know but were grant proposal submitted by the previous RC during the Fall of 1997. afraid to ask!) to this section. Anyone knowledgeable enough to shed insight We expect continued growth in external funding. During the Fall’98 we plan to is welcome to respond. apply to more foundations and corporations. The growth and success of SRUTI’s future rests directly on the efforts of all of us and the results presented here are quite We hope you will enjoy reading this encouraging. issue of Sruti Notes. Have a great summer! Ramana Kanumalla For the Resource Committee Uma Prabhakar For the Library Committee Oops! We inadvertently missed out the some names from the list of acknowledgements that appeared in the last issue of Sruti Notes. We thank Dr. Ponnal Nambi for her help with the food arrangements at the Thyagaraja Aradhana (March 1998) and Mr. Vinit Khanna from the Overseas Keyboarding Services for his generous do- nation of the Coffee Maker to SRUTI through Mr. Ramana Kanumalla. 2 SRUTI CONCERT REVIEWS GJR Krishnan’s Violin Nanubrovu Ramaneeya nama” was also considerably. Concert rendered in ragas Sahana and Saranga and other ragas. The Hamsanandi keerthanam “ His Todi, in which he rendered R Jayaraman Srinivasa Thiruvengadamudyan”, com- Thagaraja’s well known Kaddanu posed by Papanasam Sivam, brought the variki, was embellished with some The violin concert of GJR Krishnan on audience to a sublime mood. It was fol- beautiful panchama varga prayogas. May 16, 1998 began with a Varnam in lowed by popular Keerthanam He delivered an elaborate neraval for raga Bauli composed by Lalgudi Jayara- Venkatachala Nilayam. Then a Bhajan in Niddura Nirakarinchi and included man. It is one among the ragas tradition- Misramandu was rendered. The song Chi- the kuraippu in the kalpana ally rendered in the early morning . The nam chiru kiliye was appreciated by the swarams. Earlier, during a well- listeners were put in proper mood to fol- audience with a continued applause. We rendered alapana in Shankarabha- low the concert. The next Kriti was had Thirupugaz in raga Amirkalyani fol- ranam, he impressed me by singing a Rama Bakthi Samrajya in Raga lowed by Thillana in Raga Goula. The seldom heard kriti Bagumeera of Suddhabangala. The Bhakti element concert concluded with another Thillana in Vennai Kuppu Iyer. The neraval moved the rasikas. The Kalpana Swaram Mohana kalyani. The Thillanas were swift, and kalpana swarams for Nilavan- was crisp and elaborate reminding one of brilliant and sparkling. yamu were noteworthy. the Great Madurai Mani Iyer. Vellore Ramabhadran accompanied Sanjay began with the famous Then Sri GJR Krishnan played Krishnan with his effortless mastery. The Bhairavi Ata tala varanam ‘Viriboni’ “Ananda nadamadu var Thalli” a Tamil Mridangam was so pleasing, one was re- of Pachimiriam Adiyappayya. This song composed by Neelakanda Sivam in minded of Thyagaraja Krithi “ Sogasuga piece set the mood for the next 31/4 the raga Poorvikalyani. The neraval in Mridanga Talamu”. Sri Nagarajan playing hours. He then offered a crisp Sam- “Kallalum Villalum” indicated the mas- kanjira ably supported the artist. hashti Charanam kriti Vallabha tery of the instrument. The next piece in nayaksya of Dikshitar in Begada Kambhodi is one among the Lalgudi Sri R. Jayaraman is a lawyer in Tanjore, ragam, followed by a brief alapana Pancha Ratnams of Thyagaraja. Even by Tamil Nadu, India, who was visiting his in Anandabhairavi ragam and the the first stroke of the bow, the artist fully daughter Mrs.