MY FESTIVAL
Project the season as an event
T.M. KRISHNA
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There is not one place in the world where you have such a festival.
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There should be a city-launch of the Chennai Music Festival. The Music Season has been part of my life from childhood.
I've been listening to concerts since I was four. I've been going season concerts by myself since say, when I was 12.
My mother would `autocharge' me in the morning — `go' — and from then I would be going from one sabha to another with friends, eating out most of the times.
The season is definitely the time when any upcoming artiste makes his or her name.
For a newcomer, it is a chance to test his talent on stage. First you sing in the 12 o'clock slot. About 20 people, 10 of whom are your family members, will make up the audience.
Then you move over to the 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. slot. Now, this is the most important slot when the artiste gets his big break. The audience is discerning, it wants to listen to young artistes and is full of advice for you.
Once you become an established artiste, the pressure is tremendous. People come to the season from all over the world. They always want more. Therefore the season is the time the artiste has to reinvent himself.
The season has changed a lot over the last 50-60 years. For example, in those days, an artiste could sing Todi in 10 cities consecutively and nobody would know. But now, people are SMS-ing concert lists soon after the concert. People are reviewing concerts big time. It means the artiste will need to be on his or her toes.
How does an artiste reinvent himself? You need to continuously refurbish your repertoire.
Learning more compositions plays a major role in expanding the artiste's manodharma. I think it is high time we projected the Madras Music Season as an international event.
There is not one place in the world where you have such a cultural festival.
We must have a joint city launch of the music season.
Chennai city should launch the music season every year. This means, musicians, companies, sabhas, should launch the Chennai music festival every year, say, on Dec 1.
Sabhas could also get together and jointly host concerts. The numbers of people attending will increase. Conversely, the pressure on the artiste will be reduced.
We need to work the audio systems in the city. The audio is not up to the mark in many places. Not many people realise what an important role the audio system plays in the quality of music.
Finally we should learn to present concerts aesthetically. Do you know the best colour to have on the stage platform? White. The visual effect will be fabulous.
(As told to M. Ramesh)
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