ARTISTE'S IMPRESSIONS
    OF THE SEASON


    Shri T.K.Murthy(mridangist)
    Over the years, there has been an unwelcome proliferation of sabhas and concerts during the Season. It is nice to see that there are many youngsters who evince interest in Carnatic Music and perform. But the needed effort on their part is lacking. More practice and exposure is required before they are given a chance to perform. With this overcrowding of programs, audience get scattered, they are not sure as to which artistes' concert to go on which day, with most of the artistes performing in all sabhas. After all, these concerts are being organised for the audience, but the indifference from sections of the audience, makes one wonder, if the Music Season is really serving any purpose. In those days there were few sabhas and few performing artistes, but with a considerable no. of enthusiastic audience. Today there is a mushrooming of sabhas and increase of performances, with a decline in the strength of the audience, which is disheartening to the artistes. Hence, there appears to be a marked growth, but it is all widespread and shallow with hardly any depth.



    Shri T.N.Seshagopalan(vocalist)
    20 or 30 years back, only about 5-6 institutions were conducting the programs and it was only for a week or so. But today with the increase in the no. of sponsors, there are about 20-30 established sabhas conducting programs for 20-30 days with there being several categories like sub-junior, junior, sub-senior, senior etc., During the Season, one is treated to vocal and instrumental music, dance, demonstrations, lectures, etc., A healthy aspect is that all levels of artistes get a chance to perform. A person who has an aspiration to come up gets an opportunity to display their talent. The audience have a wide range to chose from and programs are available to suit their tastes. Youngsters and upcoming artistes do get their share to perform during the Season. As to whether the senior and accomplished vidwans get the recognition, their due, it is a point to be contemplated.

    Shri O.S.Thyagarajan(vocalist)
    Carnatic music by itself is a thrilling experience, both for artistes and the audience. In December, wherever you go there is Music, which makes it an even more thrilling experience, where the artistes try to give their very best. I have 18 programs in this Season, 16 in the city and 2 out of station. This is a very enjoyable Season and listeners from US, Australia, London and other places come down to Chennai to bask in this greatness. Music Season is like a super market where the audience get a fare that is rich with a wide range and variety from various artistes and the thousands of artistes bring out newer and novel ways to keep the audience enthralled. For me is a very thrilling experience.

    Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan (vocalist)
    Music, even if rendered repetitively, is always fresh and new. For the musicians, it is always a festive mood whenever they perform, but during the Season, the gaitey and festivity brought in by the audience enhances this spirit multifold. Rasikas visit from all over the world during the Season to listen and this proves beyond doubt that Carnatic Music is appreciated world over. More and more people are learning this art and they also want to perform and the more the no. of performers, the better the level of appreciation. Even for a seasoned artiste, the Season is indeed a prestigious affair, a great time to perform. There is a continuos arrival of new talent on the stage of music. With the world of rasikas and critics watching, the artistes are reviewed, criticized and judgement arrived at about their calibre. But ultimately all of this lead to the growth of the artistes and the Art. It is a great time of publicity for the artistes. Art organisations, artistes and rasikas all combine together to bring Heaven on Earth.
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    Kum. Priya Sisters(vocalist)
    It is very good exposure for the artistes. It is like an annual examination. We have the cream of the crowd visiting. Negative point, if any of the Season is that too many sabhas are conducting the concerts and this makes it difficult for the audience to select the event to visit. It is a time when people from different parts of India and the world come to Madras . Every artiste looks forward to the Season.

    Smt S.Gayathri(vocalist)
    Over the years, Music Sabhas have seen highly enthusiastic Rasikas during the Music Season. This overwhelming response has encouraged the emergence of many new Sabhas in the city. This year, will yet again, project a lot of highly talented youngsters.
    In my opinion, the lecture - demonstrations which are held in a few Sabhas in December are of a very high quality and it will be beneficial for all Rasikas if a few of the private Television Channels undertake the task of recording these highly educative programmes and telecasting them.
    A slightly alarming scene that is slowly emerging now is the absence of youngsters in the age group of 8-15 among the Rasikas. It is absolutely essential to inculcate the habit of attending concerts among children. We, at YACM (Youth Association For Classical Music) have undertaken a project called "Build A Rasika" which focuses on encouraging children to appreciate the various aspects of Carnatic Music.



    Kum. Ranjani and Gayathri(violinists)
    The Music Season is a very exciting and unique feature of Chennai. Audience from all parts of the globe visit, and artistes from outside Chennai also perform during the Season. Carnatic Music in different styles(banis) can be heard. There is also a chance provided for upcoming artistes to perform. Though there is a feeling that persons not competent to perform also get a chance, over the course of time water finds its level. Every year we look forward towards an educating and entertaining experience during the Season.



    Smt. Lakshmi Ramakrishnan(performer and writer)
    The Music and Dance festivals Season in December is undoubtedly a unique feature of Chennai. For the rasika, the best part about it is the festive atmosphere and the immense amount of music and dance events to chose from. Artistes, especially dancers, do try to come out with new creations and that is exciting.
    The downside of all this activity squeezed within a span of 2-3 weeks is that it all has become meaningless especially since there is hardly any audience at most concerts. The younger 'star' musicians do manage to draw some crowd, but on an average audience turnout is dismally low. It seems that artistes submit to some kind of cultural compulsion to perform in the Season and to perform in as many sabhas as possible, never mind if there are only 5-10 members in the audience.
    The Season is meaningless in another way. Chennai is filled with music/dance events through the year. So the public of Chennai cannot look for anything particularly different in the Season, other than the sheer number of concerts organised within so small a span of time.

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