The ninth Tamizhisai Vizha, organised by Sadhana Sadhan at Sanmarga Sangham, Coimbatore, attracted many musicians, music teachers and their disciples from the city. R. Rajendran, principal, Tamil Nadu Music College, Coimbatore, who presided over the inaugural function, stressed upon the therapeutic powers of music.
The participants, belonging to various age groups, came from different schools of music. Among them were musicians such as S.R. Krishnamurthy and Padma Thirumalai and well-known gurus such as Rajalakshmi Padmanabhan and Vijeya Jeya. Three generations of singers — Dr. Uma Maheshwari, principal, Government Music College, Tiruvaiyaru, her student Vijeya Jeya, and accompanied by Vijeya’s disciple Sneha Sivakumar, shared the platform. Twins Sai Krishna and Sai Santhosh, students of Lakshmi Sangeetha Vidhyalaya, sang and played the dhol. Padmanabhan’s performance stood out for its novelty — he whistled Carnatic notes and produced the notes of the mridangam, vocally.
While most singers rendered compositions of Oothukkadu Venkatakavi, Papanasam Sivan, Ambujam Krishna, Bharatiar, Arunagirinathar and Lalgudi Jayaraman, some like M. Venkatalakshmi, sang their own compositions.
Chandramouli gave a scintillating violin performance along with his daughter and disciple Madhuvanthi. ‘Maamayoorameethileri Vaa’ by Mazhavai Chidambara Bharathi and ‘Senthil Andavan’ by Papanasam Sivan were full of depth and verve.
Vadasithur Ramachandran’s family presented three songs. Wife Chithralekha Ramachandran and daughter Sriranjani Ramkumar, both vocalists, were supported by Ramachandran on the mridangam and son-in-law Ramkumar on the ghatam. They sang the vibrant and moving ‘Janani Janani Janani’ in Revathi by Kadalur Subramanian, and ‘Kurai Ondrum Illai.’
Played with confidence
A student of medicine in Australia, Sowmya Ramachandran, who was in Coimbatore on a holiday, volunteered to play on the veena. She presented ‘Chitham Irangaadhadhen Ayya’ in Sahana, ‘Kaa Vaa Vaa’ in Varali and ‘Thunbam Nergaiyil’ in Desh. Despite a long break, she played with confidence and her presentation was smooth and soothing. Twins Ajeesh and Aneesh sang ‘Kannanidam Eduthu Solladi’ and a lively tillana in Desh.
The concluding programme was a group bhajan by the students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Riverside Valley. Trained by Bhagavat Chaitanya, who also played the mridangam, the students’ performance included the rendition of Tiruppugazh. Shivali Arora’s rendition of tough stanzas of Arunagirinathar in chaste Tamil, was an aural treat.
Violin support for the concerts was provided by Chandramouli, Shankari, Sriranjani Ramkumar and Madhuvanthi. Kadayanallur Narayanan, Vadasithoor Ramachandran, Ramkumar, Devasenapathy, Nandha K. Samy and Manikantan gave percussion support, effortlessly switching over to mridangam, ganjira or ghatam.
The events were organised by A. Hariharan, founder, Sadhana Sadhan.
