In this digital age, classical dance and music are facing several challenges, N. Ravi, editor-in-chief of The Hindu , said at the Yagnaraman July Fest held at Krishna Gana Sabha on Friday.
Building and running a sabha, such as this one, comes up against two key challenges, he said. There is now the option of listening to top artistes at home and on mobile devices. Live music, as provided by the sabha, has an alternative in CDs and digital music downloads. In these circumstances, to promote live concerts was a definite challenge, he added.
At a time when classical music and dance have to jostle for space, it is indeed a great deal to get people to listen to classical music, Mr. Ravi said.
Remembering late R. Yagnaraman, the founder member-general secretary of the sabha, he described him as a man with tremendous foresight who saw the difficulty in retaining audience for classical music and dance.
“He advised musicians to vary their repertoire and asked the audience to show respect to art,” he added.
L. Sabaretnam, industrialist and chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, said Yagnaraman treated old and young artistes just the same. Flautist N. Ramani also recollected his long association with him.
The programme was followed by a fusion music concert by Saashwathi Prabhu.
