TWIN CITIES PIANO FESTIVAL 2017

A Celebration of Music Played on Piano

     Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, Musee Musical and Vidyaranya School, whose hallways and playgrounds are imbued with the sound of music, created this two day ‘Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017’ on the 11th and 12th of November.

     The 'Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017' was really a tribute to pluralism and the composite culture of the twin cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad. It was also a tribute to the parents of music students, and music teachers, proving that the people of the Twin cities appreciate and encourage good music, even music that is not rooted in local culture.

     Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Musee Musical were very clear on why this was called a Piano festival. It is a festival because it was not a competition; it was a celebration of the music played on a Piano. And why piano? Why not keyboard? Because the Piano is an acoustic, wooden musical instrument that produces a sound in which the tone colour and timbre is natural and rich. It is the true instrument to bring out the beauty of Western Classical music. A Yamaha Grand Piano was provided for the festival by Musee Musical (Western Musical Instruments and Music education), to celebrate their 175th year in the service of music.

     Western classical music, as we call it, can be described as ‘art’ music that stands the test of time and remains relevant to generations after it has been composed. It is music that’s been composed and written in music notation so that musicians can play it by reading the musical notation, and so Western Classical music, or, really, all Classical music, ‘Carnatic’ and’ Hindustani’ Classical music is played and listened to for centuries after being composed, just as plays by Kalidasa or Shakespeare are ‘classics’ because they are still read, performed and enjoyed even today, centuries after they were written.

     So, the music of Western Classical composers such as J.S Bach (1685-1750), W.A. Mozart (1756-1791), F. Schubert (1797-1827) and F. Lizst (1811-1886), live on even today, and pieces by these composers amongst other older and more recent composers, were performed by the young pianists/musicians on the 12th of November.

Day Two - Grand Finale of the Piano Festival

     The 18 pianists selected out of 42 who auditioned, displayed their musical abilities on the piano on the 12th of November. And it was impressive to hear so many young piano students aged between 7 and 16 show an interested audience how well they could play.

     It was such great mix of young people and the names of the 18 pianists that played showed how music brings together people of different communities, and regional cultures.

     The order of the young pianists who played, according to the programme, was: Samuel A. Marcus 30 (announced as a special guest), Vivek Mathur - 15, Ananda Gopalakrishnan - 11, Akundi Indravandith Karthikeya - 11, Rushabh Musthyala - 16, Lakshay B. - 12, Samyuktha Nandineni - 13, Dhriti Agarwal - 14 & Omi Vegada (four hands), Bindu Sravanthi - 16, P. Vishal Reddy - 14, Kshittiesh Bharadwaj - 15,& Khiyati Bharadwaj,  Kashvi Aggarwal - 7, P. Harshith Reddy - 13, Ananya Achanta - 13, Christine Grace Khumuckcham - 14, Devulapalli Sai Sri Vaishnavi - 13, Yash Agarwal -13,  Saketh Ram Josyabhatla - 15.  
     You can hear the whole evenings performances here on youtube:-  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh5PcTm3UjY

     Music is the greatest communication in the world and these young musicians were so proficient; of course, some more so than others - a few showed so much promise that it looks like there will be more concert pianists from India in the making - so that we in the audience marvelled at their gift of music. Both Mamta & Jagruti of Musee Musica, and Joe Koster of Hyderabad Western Music Foundation acknowledged that it is the parents and teachers of these musically endowed young musicians who have to be lauded, for recognising the children’s need for music and for encouraging them to learn, practice and develop their talent. 
Day One The Concert Pianists of the Piano Festival

     We will now come back to the first day of the Piano Festival, the 11th of November 2017. As part of the two day piano festival, two judges who were brought in from Ahmadabad and Mumbai to audition and select the pianists for the 12th of November, performed a selection of classical pieces on the 11th November.

     The musicians were Shantanu Patel, a concert pianist from Ahmedabad who has returned from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a Masters of Music (MU) in performance and conducting, he is also an B.A. (Hons.) in music, specialising in performance, from Middlesex University, London. Cecil Vineet is a composer orchestrator, singer/songwriter, with a Masters degree in scoring for Film, Television and Video games from the Berklee College of Music, Boston, he also holds a Licentiate Diploma in Piano performance.

     Though I love classical music, I am not a musician enough, or expert enough, to tell whether the pianist interprets a composer well or not, I will only say this about Shantanu Patel’s playing, that he plays very naturally, fluidly and effortlessly, he could bang the hell out of the piano and then play as softly as a whispered secret, he balanced lyricism and piano gymnastics skilfully, yet captured the sentiment of all the pieces he played.

    Shantanu Patel began the evenings programme with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Twelve Variations on theme "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman"(English: “Ah, Mother, if I could tell you”), K.265, based upon a French folk song.

    Mozart’s work began by stating the basic theme, the familiar tune “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and then with such a simple theme, Mozart creates variations of the theme with modifications and embellishment in rhythms, harmonies and texture and yet we recognise the melody throughout. Mozart's genius is mind blowing.

     Next he played Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31 by Frédéric
Chopin, composed and published in 1837. Chopin, many feel, is the best composer for the piano. Shantanu Patel introduced this piece by saying that though the composition is in B flat minor, most of the work is written in D flat major.

     The third work Shantanu played was Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5, by Sergei Rachmaninoff, which he completed in 1901. The pianist displayed speed and subtlety both in the very intense fast sections and also in the calm ones!

    Shantanu Patel concluded his programme with Prelude pour le piano, L. 95, a three movement piano suite, Prelude, Sarabande and Toccata composed  by Claude Debussy, one of the most innovative composers who completed this work in 1903. Prelude pour le piano did not seem easy to play but was played in a way that seemed effortless.

     Cecil Vineet Abhishek, the modest and self effacing musician, in his 

introduction, said, he had added orchestral accompaniment to Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2, one of Sergei Rachmaninoff's most famous Piano compositions, electronically, as is done in many movie and television serials. He then displayed his skill in not only playing the piano, but in programming, scoring and arranging the Rachmaninoff Prelude in C-sharp minor in a tasteful arrangement like a Concerto for piano and orchestra.

     The programme concluded with a surprise, with both the pianists getting together to play a four hand piece.    

     It is not common for the Twin Cities to hear a bona fide concert pianist play live, and so this was a rare auditory treat for this writer, and for all the other Western Classical music enthusiasts, thanks to the ‘Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017’ and the phenomenal effort put in by Joe Koster the chief organiser on behalf of the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation.

Pratap Antony / 15/11/2017/HWMF www.hydmusic.com

FEELING THE JOYOUS ENERGY OF FRESH YOUNG MUSICAL TALENT

 Lighting a path to a bright musical future
    I had the great pleasure of being in the audience at a very special evening of choral music by a choir of young people aged between, perhaps, 10 and 15, who presented the audience with a beautiful gift of lively and vibrant music.

     This 16 or 17 voice choir that brought so much joy to the audience was ‘Harmony Children’s Chorus’ from Bangalore. The choir consisted of students of Sandra Oberoi’s ‘Harmony’ Music School in Bangalore.
     Sandra Oberoi is a Western vocalist and music educator who is responsible for fostering the talent of these young musicians, and who, I’m sure, inculcated the young choristers with the astonishing self confidence that they displayed; and invested the singers with good intonation, verve, understanding, and the ability to sing well beyond their years. The natural clarity of the children’s voices while they shared their joy in making music gave us in the audience even greater joy.
    But, I’m getting ahead of myself, the evenings programme on the 5^th of November 2017 at Vidyaranya School was organised by the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Harmony-The Music School (Bangalore), and began with a short recital by the Deccan Voices, a twin cities based group of enthusiastic 

singers from a "medley" of backgrounds and cultures brought together by their shared passion for vocal music. 

The Deccan Voices sang, ‘The Music is Always There With You’ by the eminent composer, John Rutter, followed by ‘Suo Gan’, a Welsh lullaby. They then performed four songs from the Oscar winning movie ‘La La Land’, the songs were ‘City of Stars’, ‘Another Day of Sun’, ‘Audition - Fools who Dream’ and ‘Someone in the Crowd’. Kudo’s to the Deccan Voices for performing without looking at the music sheets and with minimal direction from Joe Koster the choir director who accompanied the choir on keyboard and who had also trained the choir for performance.
You can hear the Deccan voices on these youtube videos
Youtube - City of Stars from La La Land https://youtu.be/XIb1JOeXj-8
Another Day of Sun from La La Land https://youtu.be/BjgrApar0x0
Someone in the Crowd from La La Land https://youtu.be/laLNMzKB1L8
Audition – The Fools Who Dream from La La Land https://youtu.be/vAdnyCnMnQI
The Music’s always there with you – John Rutter https://youtu.be/fnpeQc-Gs9I
Suo Gan – Traditional Welsh Lullaby – Mark Burrows https://youtu.be/R4kq2S3fgwQ
     Let’s get back to the main event, ‘Harmony Children’s Chorus’ from Bangalore; they performed a selection of ten songs, the programming was well thought out and the songs were interestingly performed, the talented musicians

/vocalists sang with zest and exciting musicality, the sound was always clean, the diction clear and they kept the rhythms strong, spicy and accurate while maintaining pitch with amazing ease and composure. 

     All the songs were sung from memory. The children in the choir were so musically gifted that it was hard to believe that they were just school children. And so we must  give credit to their teacher Sandra Oberoi for song selection, programming of the music, for her wonderful attention to detail; for arranging some of the songs and for training and bringing out the children’s talent and musicianship and preparing them perfectly to express their joy in making music without inhibition, and for making them shine like the little stars that they were, so that we in the audience could experience their musical gifts through their smiling eyes, swaying limbs and their heartfelt singing. . 

     Worth mentioning is that Sandra Oberoi had designed this programme, so that every singer got to sing either a solo, or be part of a duo or trio along with the choir to display their talent. The eminent pianist, Irina Tsarenko accompanied The Harmony Children’s Chorus. Since all the soloists and the chorus performed much more captivatingly than I ever expected, I will not describe how they sang each song, suffice it to say they displayed impressive musicianship. This is the programme in the order that they performed.

The first song they performed was Flower Duet – This pretty song, composed by Leo Delibes for the opera, ‘Lakme’, was sung by two sopranos, a boy and a girl along with the chorus. They next performed Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Reqiem. This too, was sung by two sopranos and chorus. Next was Lord make Me An Instrument of Thy peace - this acapella (unaccompanied) piece by Michael John Trotta is based on a French poem that used soft harmony and counterpoint brought out the beauty of this song. Tomorrow, from the musical 'Annie', and arranged by Sandra Oberoi, was sung by a soloist and 
chorus. The well known song  I Could Have Danced All Night, from My Fair Lady, was arranged by Sandra Oberoi for soloists and chorus. Memory - from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s ‘Cats’. Sandra Oberoi expressively rendered this song 

accompanied by Irina Tsarenko, and listening to this song moved me inside out, despite having heard the song by many singers both live, recorded and on youtube by the original cast of ‘Cats’, so, this became the most beautiful rendition of the song I’ve ever heard. Rise Up by Swiss DJ and composer Yves LaRock was next by soloist and chorus. An Evening Prayer from Hansel Gretel  and opera by 19^th century composer Engelbert Humperdink. Next was the charming song How Far I’ll Go from the Disney animated movie ‘Moana’ again for soloists and chorus. It was this tune I think, which had a young little dancer in a tutu dance, while this song was being sung. It was endearing, to say the least. The next song, Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better, from the movie ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ was rendered so dramatically and well by the two fiercely competitive singers that the audience was thoroughly amused and entertained. The song Chili Con Carne – was next, by Swedish composer, Anders Edenroth, who sings in the acapella singing group ‘Real Group’. This song is a simple recipe for a Mexican dish that is insanely hard to sing, especially to maintain its rhythmic vitality and tempo, and more than ever while dancing, which the Chorus did so well. The last part of the set was called Bollywood Medley, this medley of ‘Bollywood’ songs was arranged by Sandra Oberoi and was good fun.

     Sandra Oberoi and the Harmony Children’s Chorus from Bangalore are talented and committed singers that brought to us the freshness of young musical minds that are lighting a path to a bright musical future.
     You can hear Sandra Oberoi's Harmony Children's Chorus - the whole concert here: -  Youtube https://youtu.be/cMSjtmHcyuc

     The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation (HWMF) once again brought the Twin Cities a good musical experience. The indefatigable organiser-in-chief, Joe Koster, founder director of HWMF, and musical director of Deccan Voices, thanked the Vidyaranya School for supporting HWMF and the Deccan Voices, who use the school premises for practices and for concerts, for their quiet but resolute support to music in the twin cities.

Written for Hyderabad Western Music Foundation www.hydmusic.com

ENJOYABLE, CLASSIC, STRAIGHT AHEAD JAZZ BY THE ADRIAN D’SOUZA QUARTET

STANDARDS AND MORE WITH STRONG AND INVENTIVE MUSICIANS

Secunderabad Club  8^th May 2017

Written for The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation www.hydmusic .com

    What a good time we had! Yes, we really had good time, a great time actually. It was a delight to hear some superb, ‘straight ahead’ jazz music - music that was not influenced by any sort of fusion, rock oriented beats or heavy electronic effects, but Jazz in its most elemental form: jazz standards, swinging rhythms, bossa nova, and the blues.

     And responsible for giving us such a good time was the Adrian D’Souza Quartet comprising Adrian D’Souza on Drums, Karan Joseph on Keyboard and bass, Lydia Hendrikje Hornung, Vocals, and Pawan Benjamin on Tenor saxophone.

     But before these strong and inventive musicians came on stage and put a brand new spin on some of the old Jazz standards with mainstream jazz, Latin music and blues ballads, the evening began with a performance of a few songs by a local eleven member vocal ensemble the ‘Deccan Voices’.

      The Deccan Voices began with a rendition of an old Duke Ellington jazz standard ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’. A pop song by Toto, ‘Africa’. A hymn, ‘All Things bright and Beautiful’, and a choral version of ‘Take 5’, the eleven singer choral ensemble ended with ‘Balleilaka’ a Tamil song by AR Rehman. The ‘Deccan Voices’ directed by Joe Koster on keyboards looked like they were enjoying themselves and dealt with the rhythms and harmonies well. All-in-all a good performance!

      Let’s get back to the main event, and the music and the musicians of the Adrian D’Souza Quartet .

     Though the leader of the band is usually the main protagonist, with Adrian D'Souza on drums, it is an ensemble cast, with every musician playing their part. Yet Adrian does steer, guide and support by listening and responding. Adrian’s lightly swinging drumming is spare and elegant, and sometimes quite rambunctious as the tune needs, but his drumming is always in good taste, with a refined emotional sensitivity to the feeling of the song.  

    Lydia Hendrikje Hornung, has a light, jazz soaked, crystalline tone of voice that is sweet and flexible, textured and emotionally strong. Most of all she is so refreshingly easy to listen to. She demonstrated super vocal control, elasticity and command in the vocal twists and nuances when she improvised. Generally an insightful, able and classy singer.

   Karan Joseph on the keyboard is the backbone of the quartet. Karan is a resourceful arranger, very expressive keyboard player, sometimes a powerhouse who cuts loose, opening up free-flying improvisation, sometimes quiet and sensitive, hunched in concentration, sometimes head-back and smiling, neck stretching with bird-like movements, always maintaining an inventive but steady bass with his left hand.

    Pawan Benjamin, what can one say about this tall, thin, long haired young Tenor Saxophone player, who plays such touching, tender, and sometimes blistering and blazing solo’s; his saxophone sounding like a thoughtful voice as though he was thinking through his solos, with every phrase always connecting to the other and being completely meaningful.

     The audience saw the inner enjoyment that the musicians felt while the Quartet  played, not the overt show of rock musicians, but simple smiles of pleasure when the musicians heard one of them or the other playing a passage that that they had just created, and which grew wings and soared away, whether it was the singer singing an emotional passage or the keyboardist playing a piquant passage, or the saxophone saying something so meaningful, or the drummer playing an appropriate variation, they shared the pleasure of the musicians bringing out the best in each other, and giving pleasure to the audience at the same time.

     Whether the Adrian D’Souza Quartet played a beautifully put together slow blues, or a Brazilian samba, or a ballad or a jazz standard like 'Tenderly', or ‘East of the Sun’, or ‘Speak Low’, or the beautifully rendered ‘Moonlight in Vermont’, or a Wayne Shorter classic, the music was about joy. It was not music played for musicians. It was music played for everyone to enjoy. It was music that was completely accessible, completely understandable, completely empathetic. it was music that left the audience feeling good and elated. This was without doubt, the best Jazz show that the twin-cities have seen in the last two years.

      And for this pleasure we must thank The Secunderabad Club, Bharati Cement, The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Goethe Zentrum.

All Photographs by multi-man Joe Koster 

THE ART OF JAZZ WITH THE ROTEM SIVAN TRIO

Written for www.hydmusic.com   website of the the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation
JAZZ AT SECUNDERABAD CLUB ON 8^th APRIL 2017

     Jazz is a music that is partly planned and partly spontaneous. Jazz is a very technical form of music. It is a musical art form.

     The art of the musician in jazz is their ability to play freely and inventively within the rigid structure of the music. Jazz has a disciplined musical structure that uses sophisticated harmonies and progressions in its many styles and genres within which improvisation takes place.

     Good jazz musicians know how to improvise without getting lost in the improvisation. In a band, jazz musicians must together know how to bring each piece of invented music to a fitting conclusion within the chords and rhythmic changes of the tune that they are playing and make a meaningful whole out of it. 

     Jazz usually, but not always, has a swinging rhythm that characterises jazz as Jazz. And Jazz musicians also play certain seemingly dissonant notes and harmonies in unusual ways during the course of the music that is typical of jazz.

     So jazz is a very special musical art form that is quite often challenging to the listener. Jazz is also an involving music, and so the listener is better served by being an active listener and by being aware of what they are listening to. Jazz is listening music and so it does require certain intelligence from a listener to relate to it. Jazz therefore is played by highly intelligent, highly proficient, and very technically advanced musicians, and this was indisputably the case with the Rotem Sivan Trio.

ROTEM SIVAN, GUITAR & MISHKO M'BA,  BASS   

     Rotem Sivan, the guitarist, leader, composer and arranger, is originally from Israel but settled in New York, and he has just finished his term on the faculty of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Chennai.  Mishko M’Ba, the bass player was born in France, but lives in mainly in Pondicherry when not shuttling between France and Reunion. And Karina Colis, Drums and Vocal, is from Mexico, but is based in New York and is now in India as faculty in the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Chennai.

     On listening to the trio, we would never believe that the three musicians met and got together only recently - in India. Yet, the music was energetic, entertaining and inventive. The harmonic and rhythmic changes were complex and interestingly created. And all the compositions were tightly arranged and structured. But the Trio was so in-sync that they were in a ‘zone of empathy’. Each musician was ‘in the zone’, mindful and aware of what each was doing; each receiving and dispatching secret messages to and from each other to keep the musical ideas flowing. They were so tuned-in to the music that didn’t have to look at each other to have a complete understanding of what each was doing.

     Rotem Sivan was a musical mastermind; every song, whether it was one of his own compositions like ‘Antidote’, or a jazz standard such as ‘In Walked Bud’ by Thelonius Monk, or a Bob Dylan song ‘Make me feel your Love’, or an originally slow Jazz blues ballad like ‘Angel Eyes’, or, any of his other compositions, the arrangements were unique, the harmonies and rhythms, and treatment were always interesting and had his distinctive stamp on them.

       Even Rotem Sivan’s guitar was unique, a Gibson semi hollow body guitar that he had modified to produce the most unique sounds that he hears in his musical imagination ... which he makes come true. Some of the modifications were - an extra pick-up inside the body through which he could get every shade of sound that he could get out of his finger-picking or plucking, or, from his percussive style of playing on the fret board. There was a modification even near the bridge for getting some effect that he had innovated, and even the back of his guitar had a snare from a snare drum, attached to it in case he needed a particular sound while playing percussively on the back. And to top it all Rotem Sivan used every bit of the guitar to produce the most beautiful sounds that he could imagine; and not only that, he produced some most interesting melodies and improvisations one could hear on a guitar. He was a high level improviser, whether his phrases were long or short, they were more often than not, melodious and meaningful.

     And Mishko M’Ba, what and fine musician he is, always in time, always playing the right notes in the right place; always playing perfect harmonies; and always being supportive and imaginative, whether he played along with the lead and drums or soloed. His solos too were always sympathetic, melodious and empathetic.

   KARINA COLIS, DRUMS & VOCAL   
  
    Karina Colis’, drumming was the highlight of the show for this audience. Karina was always listening and tuned in to the complicated arrangements that Sivan had conjured, and, she shifted the rhythms and changed her dynamics to serve the song with real empathy and grace. She was loud and explosive, when needed; responsive to the melody with soft cadences, when needed. Her flexible wrists allowed her to play with the lightness of touch or the heaviness of a rock drummer. But where she won the hearts of the audience was during the encore, when she sang a most unusual version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, Rotem Sivan’s ingenious and interesting arrangement of this old classic, in a clear singing voice that made the audience wish they could hear more songs from her. But the time was up, and the concert had to come to an end.

     The Secunderabad Club, deserves a credit for having the foresight, the heart and the spirit of cultural responsibility to present the city with this opportunity to listen to Jazz which is a very technical art form. And sponsoring and presenting Jazz is indeed a way to develop and grow musical culture in a society that is in need of a cultural revival.

       Before we forget, the Roten Sivan Trio was preceded by another trio, Abhijith Gurjale on Violin, Nicole Connoly Bhatia on Flute and Joe Koster, the multi-purpose man, on piano, these three are teachers at the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation School of Music, and they performed proficiently on three different classical pieces: Talented Abhijith Gurjale on violin, and the skillful Nicole Connoly Bhatia on flute, displayed their skill as soloists, and then performed along with the competent, multitasking Swiss Knife, Joe Koster, as a trio, showing that the teaching of Western Classical music in the twin cities is in good hands. 

NICOLE CONNOLY BHATIA, FLUTE & ABHIJITH GURJALE VIOLIN 

JOE KOSTER KEYBOARD & ABHIJITH GURJALE VIOLIN

The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, The Goethe Zentrum and Secunderabad Club must be jointly thanked for bringing ‘live’ music of such a high standard to the twin cities.

All photographs by Joe Koster except the last by Parvathy Krishnan 

CONSCIOUS OF RHYTHM, LINE AND FORM SHREYA SRIDHAR – BHARATA NATYAM

     Bharata Natyam is safe! No need to worry about the direction or misdirection this art form may be taking when young and passionate dancers take to the stage.

     This is what crossed my mind whilst watching Shreya Sridhar perform. Shreya is student of the great Hemamalini Arni, the inspirational guru of some of the finest dancers in the country such as Kiranmayee Madupu.

     Shreya Sridhar showed her ability and promise in a good performance at the Kalasagaram Annual Youth Festival of Dance on 18^th March 2017.
     The musicians performing on stage merit special appreciation for their excellent musicianship and outstanding performance that made watching a good Bharata Natyam performance an even greater experience.

      The musicians were: Nattuvangam - Renuka Prasad. Singer- Sweta Prasad

Mridangam- Sridhara Chary. Violin - Sai Kolanka. And assisting the guru, Hemamalini Arni, on stage with the musicians - Kiranmayee Madupu.

     Shreya performed four pieces opening with the prayer extolling Ganesha, the Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles: ‘Vaataapi Ganapatim bhaje ham’ in Ragam Hamsadhwani in Talam Adi and composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

     The next Varnam, the centerpiece of the prerformance expressed the feelings of an ardent devotee of Krishna.  Varnam: Pachai mamalai Ragam Ragamalika. Talam Adi. Composed by Tondaradipodi Azvar. Shreya depicted the words of this piece in dance so that we in the audience could understand what the composer described: “Lord Krishna as a green mountain, with coral red lips. He says he would rather not go to the most beautiful Indralokam even if he were sent there, but worship at the feet of the Lord. He is his only refuge. He wishes to have a glimpse of Lord Ranganatha in Srirangapatnam and attain moksha at his lotus feet”. Uma Sridhar

     The third item was a Padam: Natanam Aadinaar, where Shreya competently illustrated in dance the sheer beauty of the dance of ecstasy and abandon of Lord Nataraja, where the composer Gopala Krishna Bharathi describes the sheer beauty of the dance of Lord Nataraja, where The eight sides of the world shook as he danced, the Ganga overflowed her banks and Adishesha, the great snake on his body trembled with fear. The composition was in Ragam Vasantha, Talam Ata.

     The last item of the programme was a Thillana, a pure dance composition by Vazhuvoor Somu Pillai in Ragam Surati in Adi Talam. Shreya peformed this Tillana with nimble footwork and held poses like classic temple sculpture.

     The dancer’s faultless sense of timing and rhythm and her consciousness of form and line spoke well of her understanding of her meticulous training in dance.

     Yes, young Shreya Sridhar, currently a science student in class 11, gives hope that Bharata Natyam is indeed safe. We owe a debt of gratitude to the dancer, her guru and accompanying musicians for not just preserving Indian Classical Dance, but in lighting a path for the future.   

Photography: Abhijit Sridhar

THE MAX CLOUTH CLAN WITH VARIJASHREE VENUGOPAL

For Hyderabad Western Music Foundation/hydmusic.com/ 6/3/2017

     The hospitable and picturesque environs of the Sailing Annexe - Secunderabad Club, was opened to the music of the Max Clouth Clan on the evening of the 4^th of March 2017, and the Club was chock-a-block with fortunate listeners who had come to hear this terrifically talented German guitar trio.

    The Max Clouth Clan was, Max Clouth on Guitar, Jonathan Sell, Bass, and Martin Standke, drums.

     The Clan’s playing was stellar and the sound superb. Not just the band’s 

sound, but also of the perfectly balanced sound system. 

     Best of all was the Clan’s super-empathy that could be delivered only by players who are familiar with each other and play and jell together. Jonathan Sell on Bass and Martin Standke on drums provided a solid, inventive, melodic bass backbone and a shifting, swinging pulse that drove all the music forward like a swinging, swaying yet steady locomotive.

     The Max Clouth Clan, on first hearing, appeared to be mixing styles and crossing boundaries, the guitar had the gritty bite and bluesy yet smooth overdriven tone of a rock guitar, but through it all there was an unmistakable jazz sensibility that pervaded the music.

     Max Clouth played his own compositions, one of them, he had announced, was called ‘Noon’ that he had composed while waiting for a student in a German classroom. But all the compositions they played were tangy and tasty, and had a controlled and deliberate rough edge to them within the composer’s conception of his music which alternated between jam band music, rock, and sizzling, swinging jazz. And though they only played their own original compositions, I did hear references to a novel rendition of the classic ‘Summertime’.

     It is the second half of the concert that was remarkable surprise. The Clan was joined by a genre-busting phenomenon named Varijashree Venugopal, a young, yet well recognized Carnatic vocalist from Bengaluru with a love of Jazz.

     Varijashree Venugopal and the Clan explored Carnatic music, and though it was obvious that she was a true Carnatic classical vocalist, it became apparent that Max Clouth had also studied Indian classical music and was familiar with its syntax.

     Varijashree’s vocalisation in the arrangement of “Krishna Nee Begane Baro” composed by Saint Purandara Dasa in Kannada in Raag Yaman and on another one (a Carnatic composition), Amba Para Devate, in Raaga Rudrapriya, composed by Sri Krishnaswami Ayya, was consummate, and her voice was light and airy, her vocal inflections precise, delicate and rapid as the wing beat of a hovering hummingbird and her voice as melodious as a Malabar Whistling Thrush.

     The compositions were melodious and syncopated and Max Clouth changed the  tone of his guitar for this session to a more sweet and mellow tone to match the singers voice, The Clan, especially Max Clouth followed the singer with accuracy and understanding, and was able to take the singers fluid improvisation and the uncluttered linear conception forward smoothly.

     And though some jazz purists, or Carnatic classical music aficionados, may not have been pleased with this fusion, to this listener it was matchless. This kind of music, if listened to with attentiveness, I think, would unlock, engage, and provoke listeners’ imaginations and help open their minds. 

     The Secunderabad Club, Goethe Zentrum and the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation deserve kudos for bringing us lucky listeners this luminous experience. 

Photographs and video's - Joe Koster

You can listen to the Max Clouth Clan on youtube - Lassi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODUj4xpknOE

With Varijashree Venugopal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=986pd8B2mYg

KALA SAMARPAN - AN OFFERING TO THE GURUS - KATHAK

This Review appeared in Priya Laasya in December 2016
Kathak Recital - Mitha Vinay &  Students of the 
Tatvamasi Centre for Performing Arts
     On the 10th of December 2016, in Hyderabad, Mitha Vinay, a proponent of the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak transported us back in time, to an era of Mughal splendour. And though the stage was bare, we lost track of time for about an hour and travelled to the courts of the Nawabs of Oudh (Awadh).

     Kathak as a dance form is derived from the Kathakars, the travelling storytellers and dance-dramatists of ancient India who regaled audiences with religious and mythological tales to the accompaniment music, mime and dance. And though originally very similar to Bharatnatyam, Kathak at some point assumed the form of courtly entertainment through the influence of Persian and Mughal traditions. So, the Kathak of Mitha Vinay’s Lucknow Gharana is recognisable for its Nawabi Nazakat (subtlety and grace), that exemplify elegance and natural expressive techniques of Abhinaya and Natya, the drama of dance.

     Mitha Vinay was the picture of regal graciousness, her backbone erect and perfectly aligned; her bearing, carriage and her pleasing  posture (Anga) were a dance aficionado’s delight. And her flowing movements were marvellously clean and her impeccable and eloquent displays of footwork (Tatkaar) amplified by her anklets (Ghungroos) matched the complex rhythmic cycles of the percussionist; her spins (chakkars), crisp, neat, streamlined, precise and powerful, her Hastak (Hand Movements) graceful and perfectly balanced, and her Chaal (kathak gait), elegant. 

     The first item choreographed by Sri Maulik Shah and Smt. Ishira Parikh was in Raag Saraswati, a beautiful melody that comes to Hindustani music from Carnatic Music and set to Teen Taal (16 beat rhythm cycle) which gives rise to small compositions like Tripalli, Tihaai, Tukdaa, Baant so that the audience could see the technical aspects of Kathak.

      The second item was a Sanskrit Ashtapadi by Sri Jayadeva [Sanskrit scholar] in Raag Shyamala Kauns set to Bhajan Taal, choreographed by Guru Nandini K Mehta, Mitha Vinay’s guru, it is about  Sri Krishna frolicking and playing with gopis in Brindavan garden while Radha awaits him. This Ashtapadi is actually a one-to-one discussion between Raadha and her Sakhi (friend) who explains to Radha Krishna’s delight in romancing with not one or two, but with many Gopikas.
     In Kathak, a Tarana is a technical piece usually 

presented as a final item and so Sargam Tarana in Raag Bhageshree and set to Jhap Taal (10 beats) and choreographed by Smt. Rani Khanam was the last item. In Hindustani classical music a Tarana has certain words and syllables like 'tadeem' 'dheerena' 'yalali' etc. based on Persian and Arabic utterances rendered at Madhya laya (medium pace) or Drut laya (fast pace) to show the beauty of rhythm and various combinations of rhythmic 

phrases, movements and stances.

    Mitha’s theatrical execution throughout the programme was nuanced, her facial expressions easy-to-read and her gestures, stylish. And she demonstrated her skill and technical precision in the exploration of rhythm and movement.

    But the report of the programme would not be complete without mentioning the students of Tatvamasi Centre for Performing Arts, founded by Mitha Vinay to spread the pure joy of movement and preserve and promote the art of Kathak.

     The students of Tatvamasi Centre for Performing Arts actually began the programme with a well choreographed and beautifully executed ballet, an invocation to goddess Saraswati.

Continuing on to a technical piece in Teentaal. The young dancers displayed a good understanding of Kathak as they danced with correctness and grace and displayed their form by doing the tatkaar with a good sense of rhythm, and they danced in the ensemble pieces with understanding and coordination, as one unit, not an easy task, as Kathak steps are much more difficult to do than they look. The students also looked good and were enjoyable to watch, showing  good promise for the future.

     Mitha Vinay has trained as a solo dancer in Bangalore under the guidance of Nandini K Mehta and K. Murali Mohan from Narthan Academy for Dance and Music (NADAM). She continues to be part of the NADAM ensemble and has performed across India and abroad as a soloist and as a part of NADAM ensemble. She holds a “Vidhwath” degree in Kathak, from Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board, and is an empanelled group artist of ICCR through NADAM and is a graded solo artist for Doordarshan. Mitha has also trained in folk dance forms of India, and due to her passion for dance has explored other genres like Odissi and Latin American dance styles-Salsa and Merengue. She has performed in these styles and in other Indian contemporary productions too and has done numerous corporate shows, workshops and lecture demonstrations on Kathak. Mitha has been teaching Kathak for over ten years. She founded and runs the “Tatvamasi - Centre for Performing Arts” (tat tvam asi” in Sanskrit means “this is you”) in Secunderabad since 2011.