This is a recap of the music season this fall. Having volunteered for SIFA //www.southindiafinearts.orgin Spring and being backup photographer for many events, this season got to be the primary photographer for most of the season. The primary “aasthana photographer” was tied up on multiple days. Fortunately the one time I was hiking Angels Landing, he was back.
It was an interesting experience playing photographer for music events given arangetrams and dance programs are my forte. One can only capture moments and moods in the concert. Add to that weird lighting, requests from artists to cut back lighting, it makes up for some challenges with high ISO photography. Translation, you end up spending hours editing. Enough of photography.. lets talk music.
Except for a Sonu Nigam concert which we attended last weekend to celebrate Jr’s birthday, all the other concerts I attended were thanks to SIFA. Attended every concert, except Malladi brothers.
it was a lovely lineup of artists new and seasoned, and included a dance program to start the season. Using this as a cover for this post…
This group works really hard to bring good music to our doorsteps. Have been fortunate to be a part of this group this year. Had a lot of fanboy moments with the artists.
Given I keep wandering around the auditorium, behind the stage, left to right, my phone showed that I walked anywhere from 2-3 miles in each concert!! talk of combining three favorite activities..
Took 2000+ photos this year in all the concerts and had fun sharing them with the group and the artists. Here are a few of those to remember the season..
The season opened with a visual treat. Dance by Priyadarshini Govind and her dance group.
There was a music competition the following week and I was planning to go take pictures. Fell sick and had to stay home.
This was followed by a double header. Two back to back concerts. A music overload of sorts. The first vocal concert was by Vid. Aishwarya Shankar. Vid. R.K. Shriramkumar and Vid. K. Arun Prakash, two seasoned pro's gave her support that would make any parent proud when it comes to supporting the younger generation. These senior performers showed the meaning of the word "accompaniment". Was happy to see smiling faces everywhere.. the artists, the audience, the camaraderie with the artists supporting each other.
The second concert of the double header was an outstanding performance by Vid. Ashwath Narayanan, accompanied by Vid. Trichy Sankaran, Vid. V.V.S. Murari and Vid. Anirudh Athreya. Just superb.. My mom was thrilled to hear that I got the chance to listen to and take pictures of Vid. Trichy Sankaran. He was her favorite from a long time ago! This is the second time listening to Ashwath and his music is reminding me of my grandmas naarthangai oorugai that tastes better as the years go by!
After this I got to attend and photograph “songs of my heart” by San’s guru Jaya Vidyasagar. She did this for the Amma foundation and she dazzled everyone with her voice! It was a mix of Hindustani, Carnatic, Jazz, fusion and Cine music. There was something for everyone!
Then we hiked Angels landing the week after and that meant missing the Malladi brothers. Hopefully I get to listen to them live next year!
Then the Trichur Brothers performed, accompanied by Vid. Janardhan Srinath and Vid. Vijay Natesan. The entire concert was "vibrant" from start to finish. The brothers are unique in the way they do harmonies, engage the audience and of course make us smile.. They included Beethovanapriya created by Ramesh Vinayagam as part of the RTP! A concert that will stay in our minds for a long time.
The next concert was "Jannal Oram" Vid. Sikkil. C. Gurucharan. Have been a big fan of his carnatic music, but an even bigger fan of his Youtube series where he bridges the gap between film music and Carnatic music. He was accompanied by brilliant artists Vid. Sanjeev Venkataraman on Violin, Vid. N. C. Bharadwaj on mridangam, and Vid. Sriram Ramesh on kanjira. Have not heard a thaniavarthanam on the mridangam like this in a long time. As a photographer who is optimizing for low light conditions, high speed movement is challenging to capture. His fingers were flying. Stopped looking through the view finder and just enjoyed the rhythm. The ganjira and violin were equally amazing.
At the end of the concert, the winners of the SIFA Sangeetha Sreshta competition got awards from the artists. Very glad that SIFA is now hosting competitions for kids to encourage them to learn this art form.
Vid. Kalyanapuram S Aravind, wrapped up the SIFA fall season with a fantastic concert accompanied by Vid. H.N. Bhaskar and Vid. Delhi Sairam. They mesmerized us with the thematic concert on Rama Bhakti. Photographing a dance performance is one thing. Trying to save memories of a music concert is another thing. The smiles, the expressions, are all we can capture. The music just stays in your head.. Using photography to capture a music concert is like trying to capture the essence of the smell from a vaththakuzhambu my mom makes in words. One endearing thing about this concert was the supporting vocals and the encouragement of the next generation. The way the student got an applause during Shankarabharanam and the pride on the teachers face, priceless! My carnatic music idols are GNB and TNS. Sometimes I feel folks who know nothing of carnatic music will still be moved just listening to these two guys.
Vid Aravind reminds me of TNS. The vocal clarity when singing at that speed is something that you hear yourself to believe!
Right when we thought that was all the music we were going to get for the year, Jr. wanted to go to Sonu Nigam’s concert on her birthday. So off we went along with half the desis in the bay area. A full stadium, Sonu singing duets with an AI generated Mohammad Rafi, singing all our favorites old and new.. it was fun.
Came home thinking how come carnatic concerts where the artists need similar or higher level of mastery don’t get this crowd.
The answer came during a hike over the last weekend where I ended up just walking with San’s music teacher. There was a discussion of musical styles, flexibility, Hindustani vs. Carnatic and the impatience of the audience to have a gradual buildup .. cine music appeals to folks because you do one line plain and repeat the line with the most fancy highlight of the same line in that raga and the audience appreciates the contrast.. a gradual buildup needs an appreciation of the journey as much as the destination. Not everyones cup of tea or coffee.. or coconut water!
I did take a few video clips while walking around.. have pieced them together in this video..
Many video clips have disappeared during my effort to offload photos from iPhone to laptop. Missed a bunch of clips from Aishwarya, Ashwath, Jaya…
Hoping that work travel schedules will allow me to keep attending concerts next year!
My apologies if I have misspelt any names here or have missed some folks in pictures..
A heartfelt thanks to bay area South India Fine Arts for another amazing season!
