Carnatic Vocal By Poornima Krishnan: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR CARNATIC VOCAL BY POORNIMA...

Kalasagaram is organising its annual Youth Festival of Music, from 22nd to 24th February, at the Keyes High School for Girls, Secunderabad. The 3-day festival will feature 3 young and upcoming vocalists of Carnatic music, Poornima Krishnan, Maharajapuram S Ganesh Viswanathan and N Harish, performing everyday at 6:30pm.

Today, the inaugural day, Poornima Krishnan from Mumbai will be performing a Carnatic vocal recital. Krishnan hails from a family steeped in music and dance, and is carrying forward the 3rd generation in these fields. She started learning Carnatic music at a tender age of 7 under the able guidance of her mother and guru Meena Krishnan (disciple of Kovai Srikrishnan Brothers). A diploma holder in Carnatic music from Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha in 2002, she graduated in philosophy from Mumbai University in 2005, and has a Masters in Music from the Madras University in 2007.

Krishnan has taken part in several music competitions and won a number of prizes, including a gold medal from the Mumbai Tamil Sangam. She has given vocal music performances at several places under various sabhas at Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Madurai and Delhi. She was awarded the Sangeetha Bhaskara title from the Gnanaskandan Trust, Chennai, in 2007 and the Shanmukha Sangeetha Mani and the Kalki Memorial Award from the Sri Shankukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha in 2006.

Besides vocal music, Krishnan has also been learning mridangam for over 10 years under the guidance of guru Nandakumar, and has won a number of prizes in mridangam, too. Currently, she is undergoing advanced training from Mannargudi A Eswaran.

Krishnan is also learning Bharatanatyam under guru Jagruti Mehta, and has had the privilege of learning under Late Kalaimamani T S Kadhirvelu Pillai, and did her arangetram in 2001. She performed at the Shivali Festival (Mumbai), and received the title Nritya Shivali in 2005.

She will be accompanied on the violin this evening by Peri Thyagaraju, son and disciple of the noted violinist Peri Sreerama Moorthy of Hyderabad, and on the mridangam by P Vidyasagar, disciple of V Kamalakar Rao.

Kalasagaram is a South-Indian cultural association situated in the East Nehru Nagar of East Marredpally, and has been organising Carnatic music concerts for more than 35 years. The concerts are usually held in the open-air theater of the Keyes High School campus. The singers are generally from outside Hyderabad, usually amateurs and upcoming artistes, and quite competent. Kalasagaram also occasionally stages South-Indian classical dances and Tamil plays.

Please contact Rajagopalan of Kalasagaram at 2773-1775 for further details.