The steep Learning Curve!

On route to appearing for the B.Music exams... its a steep climb to the learning curve on this trail.

With bits of inspiration from various great people, I am working hard to complete this milestone.

At my first December Music / Art Festival in Chennai 2011

Thank to the Almighty for the opportunity to perform at 3 Sabhas in Chennai for the very first time - 19th, 20th and 21st December 2011. Amidst work and family schedules, this seemed like a tough nut to crack, but managed them quite well.

I started my musical journey at my very first December Music season with the darshan of Lord Shiva at the Mylapore Kapaleeshwara temple, as the first concert hall was right behind the temple. Was lucky to see the arrangement of a 1000 Conches carrying Tirutam for Lord Shiva. I believed this was surely divine blessing prior to treading on the first few steps ahead.

The very first concert at Kartik Fine Arts on the 19th of December 2011, went off well. Himadrisute , Shyamashastri Kriti in Kalyani was the main piece that I presented, accompanied by a Mridangist from Los Angeles and Shri Shankaranarayanan from Bangalore. I received a good review from a critic with respect to the usage of brigas and the range of my voice.

The second concert was held at Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha on 20th December 2011. I was blessed to perform on the same stage and day when my musical inspiration Smt. Sudha Ragunathan performed, in the evening. That was a great moral booster for me and I was delighted. The main piece I performed was a Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi piece in Kharaharapriya ragam. Accompanied by Shrimati Shivkumari on the violin and Shri. Nellai Sri Krishnan on the Mridangam, it was a good concert with good reviews from the audience. I concluded the recital with a Meera Bhajan in raag Gurjari Thodi.

Post my concert in the evening, I got the opportunity to meet with Sudha M'am, after her mesmerizing concert at Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha, with all the concert pieces centered around Lord Krishna theme. Transported to the world of Bhakti, it was a treat to listen to her and carry an unforgettable moment with her with me.

The main focus of my third concert at Brahma Gana Sabha on the 21st December 2011 was a Shyamashastri piece 'Pahi Jagatjanani' in Ragam Vachaspati. I concluded the recital with a Thillanna in Ragam Surya composed by Shrimati Rukmani Ramani , daugther of the Vaggeyakara Shri Papanasam Sivan. I was accompanied at this concert by Smt. Aarti Shankar on the violin and Shri. Krishnan on the Mridangam.

To summarize my musical experience at my first December Art Music festival, I would say that it was a great learning experience and an eye-opener to the high expectations of the knowledgeable music rasikas in Chennai, in addition to the fact that I had explored my potential once again.