Regular organisers of concerts at the December music season are sometimes identified with certain venues. Because, year after year, they conduct concerts at one venue. So, when they suddenly shift to a new venue, there is surprise.
Indian Fine Arts Society, which has been hosting its music festival at Bala Mandir German Hall, T. Nagar for the last 25 years, evoked that emotion recently when it announced its decision to shift its venue to Ethiraj Kalyana Mandapam, TTK Road, Alwarpet, this season.
“The German Hall is going to be renovated, so we had to look for a new venue,” says R. Radhakrishnan, honorary secretary of Indian Fine Arts Society.
Similarly, Naadhabrahman, a music journal which conducts concerts every December, is shifting its concert venue from Rukmini Arundale Hall in West Mambalam to a hall near Ramakrishna Mission School, near the T. Nagar bus terminus. Until 2012, the concerts of Naadhabrahman were held at P.S. High School, Mylapore.
“When compared to T. Nagar, Mylapore has many sabhas organising kutcheri during the music season. So, after 10 years, we shifted to T. Nagar from Mylapore. But, I again had to opt for a change of venue this year as the current place (near Ramakrishna Mission School, near the bus terminus) has facilities for car parking and canteen service which will draw more crowd,” says N. Subramanian, founder of Naadhabrahman.
Newly-renovated Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has also been getting many enquiries. But, the halls have been booked one year in advance.
RR Sabha, which is hosting its 20-day festival at Dakshinamurthy Auditorium, P.S. High School, hopes the “re-construction” of its auditorium at Sundareshwarar Street, Mylapore will be complete by next year. But does a change of venue matter to the rasikas ? “The facilities do matter. Very often, sabhas put up a raised wooden platform with chairs and poles to which tube lights are attached. This hurts the eye,” says a rasika.
