Carnatic Vocal By Sudha Raghunathan: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR CARNATIC VOCAL BY SUDHA...

Did you know that people are paying Rs. 100 each day to be in a series of Carnatic concerts. There's no question mark there for a reason. That should never have been a question.

The South India Cultural Association (SICA), one of the oldest cultural associations of the twin cities, is organising its 47th Annual Festival of Music and Dance from 17th to 24th February, at Ravindra Bharathi. The week-long festival will witness some of the best Carnatic musicians and classical dancers of the country, like Sanjay Subrahmanyam, U P Raju and Nagamani, Sudha Ragunathan, T V Sankaranarayanan, P Unnikrishnan, Dr Ananda Shankat Jayant, Gopika Varma, Revathi Ramachandran and Deepika Reddy, sharing the stage.

Today, the third day, Sudha Ragunathan, a leading Carnatic vocalist from Chennai, will perform. Sudha has been in the limelight for almost a decade now following in the footsteps of her guru M L Vasantha Kumari. She learnt music initially under her mother Choodamani and Vidwan B V Lakshman, before receiving advanced training under M L Vasantha Kumari. She received the Sangeetha Kala Sironmani award from the Nungambakkam Cultural Academy Trust in December 2001. She toured the US this year, and now runs the Samudhaya Foundation which raises funds for social causes.

SICA was founded in the year 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 Govt. of AP, is the present president of the association, and R Chakrapani is the General Secretary.

The entry is by season passes for the members and daily tickets of Rs. 100 & Rs. 50 per head per day are available at the venue. For further details, please contact R Chakrapani at 2742-5374, 2383-5222, 2351-6399, 98491-24675.