Venkat Raman
Auckland, February 24, 2017
Followers and performers of Carnatic Classical Music can expect to experience a unique concert of upcoming and senior professionals in Auckland later this month.
Vidwan Ramakrishnan Murthy will take the centre stage at the Mount Roskill Intermediate School Hall (Denbigh Avenue) on Sunday, March 19, 2017 at 5 pm – a stage that would also have the prominence and perhaps dominance of Dr Umayalpuram Sivaraman, one of the foremost and talented Mridangam artistes of all times.
Nagai Sriram will be the Violinist at the programme being organised by the New Zealand Carnatic Music Society.
Entry is free to all members of the Association with current membership.
But non-members would be required to pay $20 each.
Seizing opportunities
Ramakrishnan has had a career that is impressive and inspiring. Born and raised in Irvin, near Los Angles in America, he evinced early interest in Carnatic Music. With a strong view that commitment to this great art should be definite and well-rooted and not tentative or meandering, he migrated to Chennai to pursue his goal and become a professional vocalist.
He speaks in fluent Tamil and the non-slippery American English when I meet him at his grandparents’ aesthetically done-up home. The young vocalist wears his ‘South Indian’ origin by donning a white dhoti and T-shirt.
Famous mentors
In an interview published in The Hindu, he said that among his mentors have been Delhi Sunderrajan, Chengleput Ranganathan, Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan and Vaikom Jayachandran.
“It is a great opportunity to learn under one guru directly. Since I lived abroad, I had no option but to utilise every opportunity I got to meet these artists to learn from them. I was also advised to listen to the recordings of great masters and improve my knowledge. I have had good guides and well-wishers who showed me the right artistic path,” he said.
New Zealanders would remember that Dr Umayalpuram Sivaraman was in Auckland almost eight years ago, as a support artiste at the Concert of the late Dr Balamuralikrishna. His mesmerising talent on the Mridangam was a source of endearment at the event organised by Sangeetha Bharathi School of Music on October 2, 2009.
The 82-year-old master has been the uncrowned king of percussive music for more than 70 years with his repertoire extending to Hindustani, Jazz and Fusion music.
He has documented his unique ‘bani’ through his book “The Voyage of Mridangam and its high voltage art, covering all facets of the instrument. Among the awards that he has received is ‘Padma Bhushan,’ the second highest civilian honour conferred by the Indian government.
For further details of the forthcoming Concert, please contact NZCMS President Mani Narayanaswamy on 027-9531077.
*
