Vocal Concert By Nookala Chinnasatyanarayana: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR VOCAL CONCERT BY NOOKALA...

Kalasagaram's 42nd Annual Festival of Music, Dance & Drama is on at Keyes High School, from 28th November to 6th December.

On the first day of the festival, the evening starts with felicitations and the conferring of the title "Sangeetha Kalasagara" on Dr. Nookala Chinnasatyanarayana, V Kamalakara Rao and G J R Krishnan, followed by a grand vocal recital by Dr. Nookala Chinnasatyanarayana. Accompanying him are Lalgudi G J R Krishnan on the violin, V Kamalakar Rao on the mridangam and B S Purushotham on the kanjira.

Nookala started as a violin student under Kambhampati Akkaji Rao, who led him to Mangalampally Pattabhiramayya at Vijayawada, under whose guidance he trained for 3 years. He then made his way to Vijayanagaram to learn under the violinist Prof. Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu.

Nookala accompanied Prof. Naidu on his concerts all over India. Prof. Naidu later introduced Nookala to Dr. Sripada Pinakapani, under whom he learnt to modify and polish his style by introducing a unique element of infusing the raga bhava in every note and every phrase.

He has worked as a professor and principal at many music colleges, in Vizianagaram, Hyderabad, Vijaywada and Tirupati. He has also won several awards, some of them being Annamacharya Vidwanmani (Sri Annamacharya Project of North America, Chicago), Nada Nidhi, Nada Hridayagna, Nada Sudharnava, Sangeeta Sarvabuama, Sangeeta Ksheera Sagara, Lakshya Lakshana Marthanda, Sangeeta Sudhakara, Emipatus Fellowship from Govt. of India, President's Sangeeta Nataka Academy Award and Senior Fellowship of Deparment of Culture, Govt. of India.

Nookala also has the had honor of being the Asthana Vidwan of Sri Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam - Tirupati amd Pitsburg, Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham of Kanchi, Sringeri Sankara Peetham of Sringeri, Pushpagiri Peetham of Pushpagiri, and Ganapati Sachidananda Ashram of Mysore. He is a top-ranking performer on AIR and Doordarshan. He has travelled throughout the world, covering the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius. He has given performances, lectures and demonstrations, and has conducted workshops in several prestigious universities such as Cambridge and Oxford, and in places like Edinburgh, London and Wakefield in the UK, and Wesllien, Wisconsin, Colomba and Colorado in the USA.

The schedule of the 9-day festival is as follows:

28th November

5:00pm - Nadaswaram By D A Ramulu & Party

6:00pm - Felicitations & Conferring Of The Title "Sangeetha Kalasagara" On Dr. Nookala Chinnasatyanarayana, G J R Krishnan and V Kamalakara Rao

6:30pm - Vocal Recital By Dr. Nookala Chinnasatyanarayana

29th November

5:30pm - Prize Distribution To Winners Of Annual Music & Dance Competitions

6:30pm - Bharatanatyam By Priyadarshini Govind

30th November

6:30pm - Violin Duet By Lalgudi G J R Krishnan & Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi

1st December

6:30pm - Carnatic Vocal By Sudha Raghunathan

2nd December

6:30pm - Carnatic Vocal By Neyveli Santhana Gopalan

3rd December

6:30pm - Carnatic Vocal By Malladi Brothers

4th December

6:30pm - Fusion Music By Rajesh Vaidya & Party

5th December

6:30pm - Tamil Comedy Play Meesai Aanalum Manaivi

6th December

6:30pm - Tamil Comedy Play Chocolate Krishna

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 now. The concerts are usually held in the Keyes High School campus in the open-air theater. 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.

The entry to this cultural festival is by daily donor passes of Rs. 100, Rs. 50 & Rs. 25 per head. Season passes are also available for Rs. 400, Rs. 300 & Rs. 200 per head. Please contact V Rajagopal, General Secretary of Kalasagaram at 2773-1775 for further details.