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Celebration of classical arts

The 32nd Cleveland Tyagaraja Music Festival was conducted by the Aradhana Committee and the Cleveland State University from April 9-19. The ten-day homage to the saint composer, Tyagaraja, is perhaps the biggest music festival to be held outside In dia. This year, the festival was dedicated to Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, whose centenary is being celebrated. The vice-chancellor of the University of Madras, Dr. S. Ramachandran, was the chief guest at a function where senior musicians and dancers were recognised for their signal contribution to the arts with titles and awards. On April 11, Pancharatna kritis were rendered by vidwans and vidushis. The committee honoured senior disciples belonging to the Semmangudi School. It was indeed a moving tribute to the doyen who declined to travel overseas as his father did not want him to go abroad as it was ‘against the sastras’. In fact, members of Cemana, a music organisation of North America, travelled all the way to Chennai to felicitate and honour the Sangita Pitamaha.

‘Sustaining Sampradaya’ is a concept through which the Aradhana committee keeps tradition alive. This year, Semmangudi’s senior disciples taught songs popularised by Semmangudi, through Skype classes. Students who signed in for these classes learnt them diligently and practised them to near perfection.

The festival on Easter weekend saw a swelling crowd in Watzen Hall at Cleveland State University. Dressed in their finest best, the rasikas, who had travelled from different corners of the globe, were excited to meet old friends and several artists with whom they got a chance to interact. Stalls put up in the foyer sold CDs, DVDs and books on music. Most of the children who came to attend the fest, participated in the various competitions held by the Aradhana committee. The festival featured performances by local talent as well as artists from India. Competitions were held for different age groups, and it was notable to find some talented children among them. These competitions gave aspiring musicians an opportunity to showcase their talent and perhaps, it was an incentive for all the participants to attend the festival thereof. Teachers, parents and students seemed to have worked with missionary zeal that it was matchless. The festival had a few novel presentations on its itinerary. The Dhananjayans presented ‘Geetha Nrittyam’ on Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Nandanar Charitram.’ Leading artists sang for this presentation. A unique concert titled ‘Guru Samarpanam’ was organised. V. Subrahmaniam and Palai C.K. Ramachandran (who provided vocal support to Semmangudi for four decades) presented a concert together.

Comfort Inn located opposite the Cleveland State University was the official hotel for the festival. Here, one could spot well-known musicians and listen to discussions. Practice sessions for group presentations as well as workshops for dancers were also held here.

It is no mean achievement to organise a festival of this magnitude. The credit goes to V.V. Sundaram (also known as Cleveland Sundaram), the backbone of the festival. Also the volunteers of the Aradhana committee deserve a pat on their backs for their selfless service to promote the cause of Indian classical music and dance in North America.

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