Jugalbandi On The Tabla And The Mridangam

Natya Tarangini Institute Of Kuchipudi Dance is presenting Andhri, in the Parampara Series of the National Festival Of Music And Dance, from 31st August to 2nd September, at the Ravindra Bharathi auditorium. This 3-day festival will feature some of the topmost dancers and musicians of the country, like Kuchipudi dancers Raja & Radha Reddy, Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan, mridangist Dr. Yella Venkateshwara Rao, tabla player Bikram Ghosh, Odissi dancer Sharon Lowen and ghazal maestro Hariharan.

Today, the 2nd day, mridangam maestro Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao and tabla maestro Pt. Bickram Ghosh will perform a jugalbandi. Born on 16th December 1947 into a family of musicians (to Mahalakshmi and late Rama Murthy), Yella Venkateswara Rao was adopted by Yella Somanna, the mridangam maestro and disciple of late T S Palghat Mani Iyyer.

He was a child prodigy, who gave a public performance at the age of 7, even before any formal training in mridangam. Noticing his talent and interest, his adopted father and "guru" taught him the art, and the kid went on to become the ultimate in playing the instrument.

He has accompanied a galaxy of top Carnatic vocal singers like Chambai Vaidyanadha Bhagavathar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, G N Balasubrahmanyam, M S Subbulakshmi, D K Pattammal, T R Mahalingam, Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, Eemani Sankara Sastry, Balachandar, S P Balasubrahmanyam, Mangalampally Balamurali Krishna and T N Krishnan. Through 30 hours of non-stop playing, he made it to the Guinness Book of World Records. He is currently the Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Head of the Department of Music at Telugu University, Hyderabad.

Son of the great tabla maestro Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Pt. Bickram Ghosh has also learnt the nuances of Carnatic percussion from Pandit S Sekhar. He performed for over a decade with the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar, who honed the latter's skills in the art of accompaniment.

He has over 50 recordings as soloist, composer and collaborator, and has performed in almost every top venue in the world, amongst which are The Royal Albert Hall, London; The Kennedy Centre, Washington DC; The Palais De Beaux Arts, Brussels; and Carnegie Hall, New York.

Natya Tarangini is an institute of excellence devoted to the Kuchipudi dance. It's run by Padmabhushans Raja and Radha Reddy, and Kaushalya, over the last 29 years, with the aim of propagating the rich Indian heritage of a glorious music and dance tradition.

As part of its endeavor to redefine and rejuvenate this heritage in the arts, dance and music, Natya Tarangini has been organising major dance and music festivals titled the Parampara series. Under the series, Natya Tarangini has organized this series as Vaangmayee in 2004, Layaalayam in 2005 and Sambhavami Yuge Yuge in 2006, all in Delhi. This year, it is being held for the first time in Hyderabad, and is being called Andhri.

The entry to the festival is free for all. Please contact Natya Tarangini at 98662-67980 for further details.