The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Music festival begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 06, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Music festival begins

Staff Reporter

Awards for Seetha Rajan and Aruna Sairam

HONOURED: Music teacher Seetha Rajan (left) watches Aruna Sairam receiving the Sangeetha Choodamani title from C.V. Karthick Narayanan, chairman of UCAL group, at a function at Krishna Gana Sabha on Saturday. — PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

CHENNAI: Music is divine and the only way to enjoy it is to have music within us, said S. Vaidyanathakrishnan, Coimbatore-based advocate and musicologist.

He inaugurated the two-month-long 51st Gokulastami music festival of Krishna Gana Sabha and presented the `Acharya Choodamani' award to Seetha Rajan. He praised her as an excellent teacher who understood music and was well versed with research methods also. C.V. Karthick Narayanan, chairman of UCAL group and trustee of the Music Academy, presented the `Sangeetha Choodamani' title to vocalist Aruna Sairam.

The awards included a medal and a citation. Tracing the birth of the Sabha, Mr. Narayanan recalled its services, which had shaped the career and nurtured the talent of many promising artists. A good singer ensured that the listeners were completely engrossed with the performer and Aruna Sairam could be placed among such singers, he said. Of Mrs. Rajan, he said teachers like her helped to preserve the tradition and heritage of Carnatic music in a society that changes every day. Vocalist P.S. Narayanaswamy noted that Mrs. Sairam's music had changed over the years while many of Mrs. Rajan's students went on to become expert musicologists. He recalled that most of his concerts were held at Kishna Gana Sabha. Mrs. Sairam replied that she was indebted to the rasikas and that the change in her style of performance was because she had learnt that she needed to bond with her audience and not merely do a good job of rendering compositions.

Mrs. Rajan recalled her long association with the Sabha and said the award had been made possible by numerous teachers, including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who taught her to appreciate music and teach others also. "Teaching is the best process of learning. I am learning much more than I am teaching."

Nalli Kuppusami Chetti, president, and R. Yagnyaraman, secretary of the Sabha, spoke.

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