Carnatic Vocal By O S Thiyagarajan

For the classical music lovers of town, the next 9 days are going to be a breeze. And kick-starting them is a man who packs a gale!

The 17th Annual Cultural Festival and the 160th Aradhana of Sri Thyagaraja Swamy is being organised by Sharada Cultural Trust from 10th to 18th February at Srirangam Srimad Andavan Ashramam. The 9-day music festival will feature kacheris of renowned artistes, like I S Thiyagarajan, Sikkil Gurucharan, Malladi Brothers, Chinmaya Sisters, Sudha Raghunathan and Lalgudi G J R Krishnan.

Today, the inaugural day, renowned Carnatic vocalist O S Thiyagarajan will be performing. Thiyagarajan was born at Thanjavur and is the son of Sangeetha Bhushanam O V Subramaniam. Besides from his father, he had his early training under Tiger Varadachariar and Tanjore Ponniah Pillai. To enhance his knowledge, he had his advanced training under Lalgudi Jayaraman and T M Thyagarajan.

He works as an Accounts Officer in Shalimar Paints Ltd, Chennai. He is a senior vocalist of repute, besides being an ardent devotee of music. An A-grade artiste of the All-India Radio and of Doordarshan, he has been giving numerous concerts in India and abroad, that have been highly appreciated and relished.

Sharada Cultural Trust was formed in 2000 by a group of female musicians and music-loving housewives. The trust trains youngsters and housewives in Carnatic vocal and instrumental music. Every year during January-February, the trust conducts a grand Thyagaraja festival where renowned musicians participate, but utmost preference is given to youngsters. Without draining much resources on shamianas and garlands, the trust comes up with some of the best music festivals.

The entry to the festival is free of cost. For further details, please contact 2786-0680/2780-1662.