Accolades and awards sit light on his artistic shoulders. Titles, he has by the dozens. He receives them all with humility and happiness, but reputed vainika Ayyagari Syamasundaram, says, “my real joy and fulfillment as an artiste lies in being appreciated by the audience at my performance. I derive immense satisfaction when someone from the audience comes up to me later and compliments me on a piece I may have played somewhere.”
This year began with the Ugadi Puraskar by our State government, then the Kanchi Kamakoti Asthana vidwan status and now he is the only classical artiste to bag the prestigious national Sangeet Natak Academy award for veena. Born into a family of vainikas, Syamasundaram took to the veena like fish to water. His father Ayyagari Someswara Rao was his guru from whom he imbibed the best traditions. “Ours is a veena lineage. My father-in-law Pappu Someswara Rao was also a veena vidwan and related to my father. I married my pupil Jayalakshmi (my uncle's daughter). We perform as a couple. I play the ‘gayaki' style which means the instrument sounds close to a human voice singing,” he elaborates.
Syamasundaram served as a faculty at Vijayawada Music College and later as Principal of other music colleges in the state till his superannuation in 2005. An ‘A' grade artiste of the All-India Radio, he has had a music career that spans across 55 long years. Known for his innovative approach to arts, this vainika is also a trained vocalist. His broad views on music are testimonials to the real artiste that lies within. “I believe that music emanated from the creator and ultimately has to reach the source from where it sprung. All else are means towards this undeniable end,” he declares.
To him pure music is that which has universal appeal. The nomenclature, be it eastern or western, is but a limitation imposed to vest the music with a framework. He finds the younger generation moving towards classical arts as a healthy outcome. “There is talent, there is abundant scope to nurture it and varied platforms to showcase talent. This was not available in our times. But encouragement and encomiums should not lead to smug self-satisfaction. Prizes should be viewed as an impetus to hone skills further and strive for perfection. Then perhaps we would be able to sustain classical music for ages to come,” he signs off.
