Music

It is common to see familiar faces at Indian classical music concerts. But it was not familiarity that made me take note of this elderly gentleman. It was clear he was no ordinary rasika. He always sat at the first row with two other familiar faces. He would request specific ragas as is expected of any rasika. But what was unique, was that he was able to recall when that particular raga was sung previously, by which particular artist, at which sabha or when it was sung for the first time by the particular artist. This is what sets apart…

Bangaloreans gathered in thousands to witness the staging of an unique event "Sahasra Veena Jhenkara" at the Palace Grounds. Jointly organised by the Art of Living and Ranjini Kala Kendra. Event was held on March 28, Pic: Sridhar C R The audience witnessed 1110 Veena Artistes of Karnataka from age groups 7-70. Prominent among those who participated in the show were noted Artistes Suma Sudhindra, D Balakrishna, Anuradha Madhusudhan and Dr Hema Ranganathan, Vijayalakshmi from Shimoga.The programme was inaugurated by Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji of the Art of Living along with Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda and Suparna Ravi…

 When I heard that "Stories in a Song", created by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, was going to be staged at Ranga Shankara, I was very keen to see what it would be about; because it promised something new. Both performances were sold out!The performance had been staged earlier, when it was created for Arpana, for the Baajaa Gaajaa music festival at Pune in 2011.It is very interesting to watch a practically new genre of theatre...one in which the music takes the centre stage, instead of being an accompaniment and an accent to the main performance, as it usually is.…

TAAQADEMY in Koramangala is the result of the band, Thermal and A Quarter's 16 year old tryst with music. This 3-month-old academy teaches music-making and song-writing as well as playing instruments and is also conceived as a space for musicians and bands to practice or hang out: ‘Make Space for Music' is TAAQADEMY's sweet demand of us.The Bangalore Rock Pic: Sushumna Kannan The story behind this academy started four years ago, on Queen's Road. It is intricately linked to the journey its members themselves made since starting as a band in Christ College in 1996. 23 thousand people ‘like' it…

A week long musical treat is in store at Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy, 3rd cross, 3rd phase, JP Nagar, from January 23rd. The event, ‘Aradhana Sapthaha' will witness about 60 musicians delivering vocals, whistling and instrumental music, over 6 days, under the guidance and expertise of Vidwans and Vidushis in Carnatic classical music. The stage will be on a high octane drive with all the musicians delivering Purandaradasa, Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar, Shyamashastry, Jayachamaraja and Kanakadasa's krithis. The concerts are organised by the BTM cultural academy. The vocalists and instrumentalists are disciples of very well known names in carnatic classical music.…

Moon Arra Pic: bengaluruhabba.co.in Bengaluru habba kicked off on 11 January, art lovers of Bangalore are in for a beautiful rendezvous with music, culture and art. So, for anyone who would like to get a hold of what's in store, here is a roundup of the bands that’ll be churning out the best of music across various genres, from funk to rock to contemporary and world music. The selected bands/musicians playing at UB city, for Bengaluru Habba are quite literally hand-picked for the expertise in their respective genre of music. Sanjay Divecha - World music will reverberate through Sanjay’s compositions…

Academy of Music, one of Bengaluru's premier music establishment, organised a glittering function at Chowdiah Hall on 27th November to confer the K K Murthy Memorial Chowdiah Award 2011 to Padma Bhushan Madurai T N Seshagopalan and the Rudrapatnam Brothers R N Thyagarajan and Dr R N Tharanathan. K K Murthy Memorial Chowdiah awardees T N Seshagopalan and the Rudrapatnam Brothers R N Thyagarajan and R N Tharanathan. Pic: C R Sridhar After vedic chanting and a prayer, the programme began with a welcome speech by Dr G K Veeresh, President of the Academy of Music. Later Subbaraj Urs, Secretary…

   Around mid August this year, 21 volunteers from 14 countries arrived in southern India to work and learn from marginalized communities about their challenges pertinent to health and sanitation. They were part of "Health on Stage", a six week project where they learnt to use forum theatre to initiate simultaneous dialogues on public health in low income areas of Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai. And on 30th September, the 3 groups of participants, their trainers and faciliators gathered in Bangalore to share their experiences with healthcare professionals, media persons and theatre artists.It is well known that water related illnesses are…

It was an evening that evoked an array of moods as versatile singer M D Pallavi performed at a musical fundraising dinner concert at Taj West End, Racecourse road. She sang compositions of famous poets like G P Rajaratnam, D V Gundappa, Shishunal Sharief, Da Ra Bendre and Chandrashekhar Kambar. The Music was composed by noted composers like Mysore Ananthaswamy and Kalinga Rao. Pallavi mesmerizing the crowds. Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi The concert was organized as part of ‘Joy of Giving Week’, from October 2nd to 8th, a national movement that hopes to engage Indians in “acts of giving”, be…

 On Sunday, 25th September 2011, discerning lovers of music flocked to Ravindra Kalakshetra, to attend the Radio Sangeet Sammelan.The Carnatic music program by Smts. Ranjani and Gayathri was followed by a flute recital by Sri Ronu Mojumdar.The foyer was beautifully decorated with this "AIR" floral rangoli.An enjoyable evening for everyone, followed by distribution of sweets by K C Das! ⊕