The Hindu : Kerala News : Music to weave monsoon magic

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Kerala

Music to weave monsoon magic

The soft drizzle of music and the gentle breeze of laasya will soothe the minds like the monsoon.

Monsoon Fest, a three-day cultural festival, will get underway in the town on Friday evening.

“The soft drizzle of music and the gentle breeze of laasya will sodden your minds like the monsoon that soaks the parched earth,” assures the organisers at Nadopasana, which had been a creative presence in the cultural l ife of the town for the past 16 years.

The cultural feast is brought to the town with the active involvement of the Department of Public Relations.

The festival will commence with the dance performance by noted Bharathanatyam exponent and cine artist, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, on Friday evening.

The second day of the festival has been earmarked for music.

Ganamanjari, the ghazal and Carnatic music mix will be presented by noted playback singer Manjari. She will be accompanied on the violin by Joby Mathew, on the keyboard by Ulliyeri Prakasan, on the mrudangam by Vipeen Satheesan and on the tabla by Maheshmani.

Curtains will come down on the three evenings of bliss with a mandolin vaadan on Sunday by U.P. Raju alias Mandolin Raju, a familiar and respected face in the various Music Sabhas in Chennai and a regular performer at the annual December Music Festival in the city.

He will be accompanied by Mahadeva Sarma on the violin, V. Ramana Moorthy on the mrudangam, Thripunithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam and Kottayam Muraleedharan on the morsing.

The inaugural function on Friday will also felicitate the Sangeetha Natak Akademi award winner Thuravoor Narayana Panicker.

Thiruvizha Jayasanker will preside over the function and P. Venugopal, director, Public Relations and Sharmila Mary Joseph, District Collector, will extend felicitations.

The valedictory on Sunday will begin with a function dedicated to the memory of Aranmula Govindankutty, veteran thavil exponent, who was a patron of Nadopasana.

Nadopasana, during the past few years, has emerged as one of the premier organisations in the town promoting classical arts.

The Sreerama Navami Sangeetholsavom held in cooperation with the Kottayam Brahmana Samooham, the “Rangolsavom” festivals held in 2005 and 2006, and the lecture-cum-demonstration programme of dance held in cooperation with CMS College, have created a niche for Nadopasana in the cultural sphere of the town.

George Jacob

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