Carnatic Vocal By O S Arun: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR CARNATIC VOCAL BY O...

The South Indian Cultural Association (SICA) is organising its 48th Annual Festival of Music & Dance from 10th to 16th March, at the Ravindra Bharathi auditorium. The week-long festival will feature several renowned artistes such as violinists Lalgudi G J R Krishnan & Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, flautist Shashank, dancer Vyjayanti Kashi, and vocalists S Sowmya, O S Arun, Maharajapuram Srinivasan and Madurai T N Seshagopalan.

Today the 4th day, O S Arun from Delhi will be performing a Carnatic vocal concert. He will be supported by Kandadevi Vijayaraghavan on the violin, Thanjavur Murugabhoopathy on the mridangam, A Kiran Kumar on the tabla and Srirangam Kannan on the morsing.

O S Vaidyanathan, or Arun as he is more popularly called, is undoubtedly one of the most gifted Carnatic musicians of the country. He is known for his sonorous voice that he wields with much confidence and musical personality, and which he employs in tandem with his superior stagemanship. He is also good in Hindustani vocal.

Arun inherits the mantle of singing from a family where music has been a way of life. He began his music lessons under the care of his father Vidwan O V Subramaniam, and later qualified for Alankar Purna from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. He also topped the Sangeetha Shiromani diploma course in Carnatic music conducted by the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts at Delhi University.

Arun's performances at various festivals include appearances at the Sanskriti Festival, London; the World Adelaide Festival, Australia; the International Delima Festival, Mauritius; and the 45th Independence Day, Kabul. His trip to Canada every year has given him new directions for collaborative works with jazz musicians.

Arun has several cassette/CD releases of bhajans, Carnatic music, fusion music and devotional music. He also sings for commercial films, and has composed music for private cassette recordings, video films, documentaries, and ballet productions.

SICA was founded in 1959 by Dewan Bahadur Aramuda Iyengar, the Finance Minister of Hyderabad's Nizam and a great patron of Carnatic music. The association has since organised more than 1,000 concerts. It has provided a basic platform for upcoming artistes like U P Raju and Nagamani, Mandolin Srinivas and the Malladi Brothers. It conducts workshops, felicitates artistes, and provides both moral and financial support to upcoming artistes. Dr S Chakravarthy, IAS, former Chief Secretary to the Govt. Of AP, is the current President of the association, and R Chakrapani is the General Secretary.

Entry is by season tickets of Rs. 300 per head for members. For others, it is Rs. 500 per head. Please contact R Chakrapani at 2742-5374/98491-24675 or V Ramachandran at 92461-61420 for further details.