Team Carnatic

January 08, 2015 07:41 pm | Updated 07:41 pm IST

K. V. Prasad

K. V. Prasad

Artist - K.V. Prasad

Instrument - Mridangam

About your Guru…

My first guru was Ernakulam Narayana Iyer. Later I learnt from Professor. Parashala Ravi and for advanced training, I joined T.K. Murthy.

What the Season means to you...

It is 30 years since I started playing during the December Season. It has a thrilling experience to have been part of the festival all these years. However, the number of concerts has increased multi-fold, affecting the attendance of rasikas. It is sad that only popular artists draw a full house.

Your thoughts on the present trends…

Lack of commuting facilities may be a reason for dwindling audiences. Web-casting is another new phenomenon that is keeping the rasika at home. Web-casting may done for areas other than Chennai.

Artist - Bangalore V. Praveen

Instrument - Mridangam

Tell us a little about your guru.

My father M.L. Veerabhadrayya was my first guru, who had learnt from Palghat Mani Iyer. Later I too learnt directly from him.

Your first Season…

I played for the first time in the My first Season in 1969 when I was just seven. 7 years old. I first played for Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. At a young age, I had the opportunity to play for stalwarts such as Lalgudi Jayaraman, M.L.Vasanthakumari, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan and Maharajapuram Santhanam. to name a few.

Your thoughts on tradition…

Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar set a tradition which has been universally accepted. We have to adhere to that paddhati. We should never go against prakruthi. I strongly feel youngsters should strive hard for purity, originality and depth in music.

Artist - H. Prasanna

Instrument - Ghatam

You training…

I learnt vocal music from D. Pasupathi while at the Kalakshetra School. I also learnt mridangam from Palghat Sekar. And then I took ghatam classes in 2001 from when I joined my guru and mentor Ghatam V. Suresh.

The Season experience…

I have been performing since 2003. The Chennai Music Season is like the World Cup One Day International cricket tournament. It’s a great opportunity to learn new concepts and ideas in rhythm, both on and off the stage. Listening to veterans helps in widening your knowledge base. enhancement.

Your thoughts on this major cultural event…

I am really proud to be part of this world famous festival as a performer first. I like to travel along with my guru V. Suresh to his concerts, which is really an enriching experience. Watching him play with others is like on-the-job training.

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