Weaving imaginative laya patterns
SULOCHANA PATTABHIRAMAN
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Kamalakar Rao's dignified stage demeanour, team spirit and keeping in step with the main artiste have made him a successful accompanist.
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TEAM MAN: Kamalakar Rao
The contribution of Andhra Pradesh to spirituality, art and culture, especially South Indian music is quite unique, what with saints, poets and performers adorning the galaxy with great distinction. In the sphere of laya, Kolanka Venkata Raju, Yella Somanna and others have been household names in recent times. V. Kamalakar Rao, one of the contemporary mridangam vidwans, is an artiste who has had a long, commendable innings and is still going strong in his pursuit of a very active performing career.
Born in Rajahmundry on June 8, 1936, Kamalakar Rao is the son of G. Varadha Rao, philanthropist who belonged to Udipi, but settled in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, to start a flourishing business in hoteliering. A devoted Congressman, he provided food and shelter for party men. His love for music prompted him to encourage his son's inherent laya sensibilities, and to place him under the tutelage of veterans such as Varanasi Yagna Narayana Sastri and Yella Somanna.
Mature finish
Kamalakar Rao, an Andhra University graduate was also privileged to have as his mentor, master mridangist Palghat Mani Iyer, who honed and moulded his skills to acquire a mature finish. As a concert performer, his dignified stage demeanour, team spirit, that hardly ever hankers after one-up-man ship, total understanding of the main artiste's musical mind set and prowess, and his alert brain that is always one jump ahead in anticipating the performer's next musical step, are telling attributes that have enabled him to receive global acclaim. His accurate, imaginative laya patterns well defined and pleasing to the ear, the rapport that he establishes with "upa pakka vadhyam" vidwans, and his sensitive support are his characteristic features.
Kamalakar Rao has shared the concert platform with many eminent musicians such as Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Alathur Srinivasa Iyer, G. N. Balasubramaniam, Emani Sankara Sastri, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu, M. Balamuralikrishna, Nedunuri Krishnamurti, K. V. Narayanaswami and others. That he cheerfully accompanies the younger crop of today's artistes, underlines his willingness to encourage talent. He is categorised in the top grade of All India Radio and Doordarshan and has participated in many national programmes and sangeet sammelans.
Titles and awards
He is the recipient of many titles and awards, some of which are Mridanga Vidwanmani, Mridanga Ratnakara, Mridanga Vidya Praveena and Mridanga Sudha Nidhi. He has also been honoured with the Palghat Mani Iyer Memorial award and the Sangeeta Natak Akademi award.
As a top ranking laya exponent, he has associated himself with Yehudi Menuhin, L. Subramaniam, V. G. Jog, M. S. Gopalakrishnan and the inimitable Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in a number of jugalbandi concerts. He has travelled far and wide accompanying Lalgudi Jayaraman, T. R. Subramaniam, Neyyantinkara Vasudevan, Lalgudi Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi in their programmes abroad. He has cut several disks in foreign countries and in India, and has trained several sishyas among whom are his son Yogesh, and Ramesh.
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