Every first Saturday, Radha Thiagarajan and Thiagarajan Venkatesan host 40-odd guests in their home in Bellandur. Some of the guests are known to them, others are strangers. But, what binds them is a love for Carnatic music.
For a few years now, the couple, who are Carnatic musicians themselves, have been organising chamber concerts for locals. The overwhelming audience response is what has led them to continue, they say.
While big-scale concerts by renowned artistes attract huge audiences to various sabhas in the the city, there is another set of music lovers and artistes in Bengaluru who enjoy music concerts in an intimate setting. And their number is fast growing.
Mr. Venkatesan started hosting chamber concerts while he was working in Dubai. “My wife and I have grown up on Carnatic music. When we went to Dubai, there weren’t many concerts we could go to, so we utilised the space in our house to organise one. We continued this tradition when we came to Bengaluru a few years ago,” said Mr. Venkatesan. He has organised 41 chamber concerts to date.
Lakshmi Varun, a music teacher, too, has put the space on her terrace at her independent house in Sahakar Nagar to good use. On realising that many of her students rarely got the opportunity to attend live concerts, Ms. Varun decided to bring in artistes to her home and invite the neighbourhood to come and listen. “The concept generated a lot of interest among locals and we received 60 people for the first concert that we organised,” said Ms. Varun, who organised concerts under the banner of Saamagaana Sangeetha Sabha.
In west and north Bengaluru
While love for music is one thing, what works in favour of these concerts is that they are meant for people in the neighbourhood.
“While both south and west Bengaluru have a lot of famous sabhas where big artistes perform, their is a dearth of them in western and northern parts of the city,” said Mr. Venkatesh.
For the audience, it means avoiding traffic and long travel to traditional music hubs such as Malleswaram and parts of south Bengaluru.
“The best part about the chamber concerts are that they conducted closer to our home. Though a music lover will travel all the way to sabhas for concerts, traffic is a big put-off. Also, these chamber concerts bring in fresh voices, which audiences don’t get to hear otherwise,” said Prahallad, a resident of Sahakar Nagar.
Nurturing young talent
Chamber concerts also serve as a platform for young artistes to showcase their talent. “Sabhas usually get senior and well-known artistes, but chamber concerts offer younger talent visibility,” said R. Vasudevan, who organises morning chamber concerts called Prabhatha Sangeetha at his house in J.P. Nagar and Koramangala once in six weeks. “Carnatic musician Saketharaman had just started singing when he performed for us. We have had young artistes such as vocalist Amrutha Venkatesh and violinist Rakshita Ramesh performing. They are well-known names now.”
House-hunting a big challenge for organisers
House concerts, the western music version of chamber concerts, are still a relatively new phenomena. In January this year, a group called House Concert Bengaluru brought the concept to the city. In the 11 months, around 9 concerts have been organised. But, getting hosts who don’t mind 30-odd strangers in their homes has been a challenge, said Jeffy John, in-charge of House Concert Bengaluru.
The group, which promotes the concepts through social media, is now looking at moving to newer locations. “Some people are ready to open up their homes in J.P. Nagar, Electronics City and Bellandur. Though we are not sure about the audience response, we will take the risk and move to these locations in the coming months,” he said.
