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Carnatic Music Reverberates in LDS Church
May 12th, 2009

For ages it has swayed the souls of all. It has turned ordinary humans into gods. Rich and poor, intelligent and heartless
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by Anand Rao

For ages it has swayed the souls of all. It has turned ordinary humans into gods. Rich and poor, intelligent and heartless, powerful and homeless regardless of their walk or talk have all experienced the sensual delight of classical carnatic music. The hypnotically metallic strums of the veena, the resounding rhythm of the mrudangam, the husky liquidity of the carnatic tunes played on the saxophone and the literary masterpieces in the form of ragas and talas (tune and rhythm). Set against the backdrop of the Wasatch Mountains at the LDS church on 100 South and 951 east, the ancient tunes of classical carnatic music blended divinely with aromas of fresh south Indian curry and spicy chutney flooding the early morning air with a surreal sublimity beyond words. It was definitively Indian and certainly not Bollywood.

Vikram Sundararaman-T.K.Govinda Rao-in-Concert
Vikram Sundararaman-T.K.Govinda Rao-in-Concert

Last weekend, about 80 members of the Indian community representing a few states from south India paid tribute to the two great composers of south India, Thyagaraja (18th Century) and Purandaradasa (15th Century). Between the two, some of the most memorable compositions of music have taken birth and enthralled music lovers for centuries now. It was a feast of carnatic music. For the uninitiated; carnatic music is an ancient form of classical music that originated in the southern part of India in the early 15th century. Steeped in a strong traditional system, carnatic music is considered one of the hardest forms of classical arts to master. It takes decades of intense training under an eminent teacher to perfect any aspect of the musical form.

The festival began early on Friday evening and continued late into Saturday night with a few hours of break in between. Accomplished artists were flown in from India and all over the US to perform at the festival. 81 year old T.K. Govinda Rao, who is one of the most respected artists in South India, had flown in to perform at the festival as its artistic director and led a team of incredibly talented carnatic artists. It was a very interesting assembly of extraordinary achievers in multiple disciplines. Vikram Sunderaraman, an excellent singer himself hails from a family of popular carnatic musicians, is also a Master in bio-engineering and post-doctoral student at the University of Buffalo. Sumanth Swaminathan is one of the rare carnatic saxophone players and a chemical engineer pursuing a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Northwestern University. Deepthi Navarathna, a proficient singer is doing her Post Doctorate at Harvard. Hemmige Srivatsan a chip designer from San Francisco is an exceptional talent on the violin. Mridangam percussionist extraordinaire Sriram Subramanyam is an Electrical Engineer pursuing MBA at the Carnegie Mellon University. The list is awe inspiring. Singers, violinists, flutists, saxophone players and percussionists of every kind with rare distinctions in different areas. Who says art and academics don't go together?

They were joined by Utah-based carnatic artists Divya Narayanan, Shreyas Hosakere, his grandmother Yashodamma, Pooja & Rohan Jairam, Malavika Giliyar, Sunita Avasarla, Sudha Velamuri, Archunan Muthiah, Viji Narayanan, Vijaya Raghnathan, Priya Raghavendran, Meera Nallur, Swathy Sekhar and their families, who had enthusiastically prepared for the event including donning the traditional south Indian clothes

As artist after artist took the stage in groups of three to thirteen, it was a spellbinding display of the depth of musical literature in south India and the artistic talent of its practitioners. An explosion of the exotic soothing balm that just got better as the day progressed. Guided either by the tanpura or the harmonium or both, the tunes flowed mellifluously, each artist leaving his or her own indelible imprint on everyone's senses. Starting from the early morning Aaditya Hrudayam (Salutation to Sun), to the percussion ensemble up to the closing of the event, only a handful of true connoisseurs of classical art had the good fortune of witnessing the memorable. Speaking to one of the volunteers, it was discovered that anything with a "classical" tag attached to it was believed to spurn the youngsters away and they had a tough time convincing a few associations. Amidst all the high profile artistry, the deterioration and decadence prevalent today stands out as a sore thumb. Most youngsters of today have become incapable of appreciating the classical arts.

Sumanth - A rare carnatic saxophonist
Sumanth - A rare carnatic saxophonist

The organizer of the event, C.K Ramachandran, a Phd himself who recently moved to Houston, Texas after 25 years in Utah, is one of the leading promoters in the US of this ancient and wonderful art form that with Hindustani music is the base for most of the music produced in India. Utah's steady opening of its cultural doors to the world will definitely bring in more exciting art in to the state.

The carnatic artists came; they performed and went back to their busy schedules. Whether creating cutting edge technologies or researching world altering sciences or humming a glorious new tune for their next performance, they are all pictures of absolute humility, each one an infinite volcano of talent who haven't let their quest for academic excellence numb their artistic abilities. Utah definitely needs more of them. Hopefully they will return soon.

More Carnatic Music on the Web

Carnatic India

Carnatic Corner

History and Origins

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