Artist - Mannarkoil J. Balaji
Instrument - Mridangam
Your thoughts on the grand music festival.
The entire music fraternity and rasikas from across the globe converge in Chennai. Everything is different – the venues, artists, srutis and slots. It interesting for both the artist as well as the audience. The festival is an opportunity for us to learn new kritis, set new moharas and korvais for new and existing talas, learn RTPs and play for them. And ofcourse, not to forget the variety of kritis and styles. Each year, I play about 40 to 50 concerts; this year, it’s 48. Most of them are by experienced artists. It’s an acid test for your ability to cope with the challenges, both physical and mental.
The artists whom you have accompanied this Season…
Neyveli R.Santanagopalan, Sikkil Gurucharan, Dr. Prema Rangarajan, Dr. Pantula Rama, Gayatri Venkatraghavan, Gayatri Girish, Dr. Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam, Lakshmi Rangarajan and a host of others musicians.
Any special attributes…….
I consider every Season to be a special one; it’s close to my heart. The best part is be able to adapt yourself within a short period of time, which requires high skills and sharp thinking. You have to play at a particular sruti at 4 p.m. and a completely different sruti at 7 p.m.. But when you play successful, you feel happy. This year, I prepared a special mohara for adi talam 2 kalai. Year after year, the challenges ahead humble you and the goals motivate you. I keep myself humbly motivated towards my goals always.
Artist - Adambakkam Shankar
Instrument - Ghatam
The Music Season and what it means to you…
We try to perform to our full potential. It’s a golden opportunity to showcase our talent to a global audience. Every artist, veteran or up and coming, takes this very seriously and presents his or her best.
Artists you accompanied…
O.S.Thyagarajan, Neyveli R. Santhnagopalan, Dr. Ganesh and Geetha Bennett, among others.
Difficulties you have to overcome…
Maintaining the ghatam, particularly during December, is tough. Right from morning, I keep correcting the pitch to be ready for a concert. Despite all our efforts, minor pitch variations do occur sometimes. So, I always carry wet clay to adjust this. This is important as the pitch variation may hinder the concert as a whole.
Artist - S. Venkataramanan
Instrument - Ganjira
Your thoughts on season…
The memories of sitting along with my father, ganijra vidwan C.K. Shyamsundar, during his concerts as he played for stalwarts, is still vivid in memory. Now, I too play for vidwans. It is a great opportunity. Happy that vidwans who know my father, encourage me a lot now.
Artists you accompanied…
T.V.Sankaranarayanan, Sanjay Subrahmanyiam and Suryaprakash, to name a few.
Something special…
My father was a child prodigy who was formally trained by Pudukottai Swaminatha Pillai. I try my level best to foster this Pudukottai tradition by applying whatever I learnt from my father at concerts.
Clarification: In the interview with mridangam and ghatam vidwan S.V. Ramani, which appeared in this column (FR, Dec 31) the artist would like to add: “After being trained by my father in the basics, I was further moulded into a performer only after I had advanced training from the mridangam vidwvan Guruvayur Dorai.”