Carnatic Vocal Concert
Smt Sowmya
Accompanied by :
Parur MS Anantha Krishnan – Violin
Neyveli Narayanan– Mridangam
K V Gopalakrishnan – Kanjira
Sunday , October 7th, 2012 @ 4:00 PM
Venue:
Midwest Music Conservatory
15977 Clayton Rd.
Ballwin, MO 63011
Tickets: $15 General, $10 Students
Free for Sangeetha Members
A Carnatic musician by profession, Sowmya’s life has been soaked in melody from the very beginning. Growing up in a traditional South Indian family, she had her initial tutelage in music from her father Dr. Srinivasan, a Chemical Engineer with an enduring passion for Carnatic Music. Later she was singularly fortunate to be taken under the wings of Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. S. Ramanathan – exemplary musician, esteemed musicologist and extraordinary human being. She received further training from Smt. T. Muktha, of the legendary Brinda-Muktha duo. She attributes her success and achievements till today to these individuals and to the bountiful blessings of her beloved Ambal, the Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram. The desire to propagate the traditions of South Indian music worldwide led her to establish Carnatica, an institution dedicated to music & dance instruction, archival, talent search and other related activities. In addition to being an accomplished musician, Sowmya also has excellent academic credentials. She is a double postgraduate (Master’s in Chemistry as well as Indian Music) and was a top-ranked scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) and the University of Madras. Currently pursuing doctoral research under the guidance of Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy at the University of Madras, Sowmya is a widely traveled, popular vocalist who strives to adhere to the strict classical values imbibed from her gurus Dr. Ramanathan and Smt. Mukta
Website: http://sowmya.carnatica.net/
CD link: http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/S+Sowmya/a/albums.htm
https://www.celextel.com/cds-carnatic-vocal-sowmya-c-132_176.html
http://www.muzigle.com/album/bharat-sangeet-utsav-2005-s-sowmya-cd-1
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Kutcheri-Live-Performance-S-Sowmya-CD-Jun-2000-Charsur-/3505882
The concert by Smt. Sowmya was a wonderful event. The kids all enjoyed it immensely while engaging themselves with the interactive sessions. She gave a lot of tips and information after every song. The concert started off with a majestic Thodi, followed by a brisk Hamsadhwani ragam. Surutti ragam was then sung and it was very enjoyable with the violin accompaniment. After the song sung in ragam Surutti, an interesting tidbit was given-the composer of the song, Arunachalakavirayar, was part of the first Tamil trinity, unlike the great known to us today, such as Tyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Syama Sastri, Swathi Tirunal, etc, who were all part of a later trinity. Surutti ragam was followed by the main concert piece, and deep and intricate Bhairavi swarajathi (Kamakshi Amba). I particularaly enjoyed the niraval phrase, Bhaktha Janakal, which highlighted the beauty of ragam Bhairavi. This wonderful section was followed by an exciting Tani Avartanam by both the the mridangam and kanjira artists. The way I saw it, it seemed like the two instruments were having a conversation, going back and forth and finally finishing off grandly. This exhilarating section was followed by a Nama sankeerthana in Kapi, Krishna nee Begane in Yamun Kalyani, kavadichindu, desh, and finally, a mangalam in the concluding Sourashtram ragam. Overall it was a very wonderful concert and I think I speak for all the kids, atleast, when I say we all enjoyed it thoroughly.