Other States - Puducherry   

Music takes her to newer heights

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

A BAND OF FOUR: The four finalists of the Pondicherry Idol show (from left) S.J. Maitreyi, Aurotaranti Maiolini, Shree Lakshmi Radhakrishnan and Suryan Stettner.

PUDUCHERRY: She teaches computer science at St Joseph of Cluny School. She is a Western classical musician having won the Grade 8 piano duet exhibition award in 2003. And Shree Lakshmi Radhakrishnan is the first Pondicherry Idol.

The song ‘Hero’ sung by Mariah Carey clinched her the title at the show organised by Casablanca and the Promenade. “I actually got the application form for a student of mine but since he had his exams I ended up filling the form myself,” she said.

The other songs that she sang in qualifying rounds were ‘You got a friend in Me,’ the title song of ‘Toy Story’ by Randy Newman and ‘Enaa meena deeka.’

Shree Lakshmi will have the chance to record a single in a professional recording studio, Sound Garden, from Puducherry. The evenings when the show was held at Promenade were made lively by show host Aubert Defoy. There were three others who reached the finals – S. J. Maitreyi, Suryan Stettner and Aurotaranti Maiolini.

The youngest of the lot, 12-year-old Maitreyi is a great admirer of M.S.Subbalakshmi.

Song writer and artist Aurotaranti Maiolini was born in Puducherry and grew up in Auroville, in France, U.S. and Middle East, enthralled the audience with her own compositions. In the finals she sang a song titled ‘Pegasus,’ which she dedicated to the memory of her grandmother, who passed away this year. A VI grade teacher, Taranti, as she is known among her friends, says her dream is to help, facilitate and finance the construction of the Auroville Youth Center through her work and hobbies.

Suryan Stettner grew up in Auroville and also in Germany. He moved to England in 1997 and returned 2 years ago. A trained musician, presently living in Auroville, he writes records and performs his own music.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Conference on nano, microelectronics at PEC
More cash awards for young scientists planned
Separate crime wing in police likely
Music takes her to newer heights
RPI urges Left parties not to withdraw support to UPA regime

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu