Geethanjali waits all year for September, when a long list of renowned musicians and dancers perform in the city. But, halfway through the month, she is a wreck. “My favourite musicians are playing in two different venues on the same day. How do I choose?” she complains. Two years ago, a similar situation played out when Bombay Jayashri and Ranjani-Gayathri performed on the same day.
For a city that is almost starved of music for the rest of the year, September and the first half of October mark the peak season. It starts off with Rajalakshmi Fine Arts’ (RFA) 10-day September Season before moving on to Manoranjitham’s (Sri Ayyappan Puja Sangham) concerts. In between is the annual dance fest, Natyanjali at Perur. And, these are followed by Navarathri programmes at various temples and sabhas. Often the clash in programme dates result in thin attendance.
Gayathri Prakash of Shivanjali, which organises cultural events, has herself been caught in a dilemma when there is more than one good programme on a given day. “We must understand the idea is to bring music and dance to our city. So, organisers must interact with each other so that we space out events accordingly,” she says.
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Mohan Sankar, who runs Alapana and Upasana that promote the fine arts, says that “in Coimbatore, every concert/programme draws the same set of listeners. So, when you repeat a programme, the number of listeners will come down”. He admits it is not possible to avoid the glut of programmes during the festive season, because every sabha wants to offer its members a great musical experience.
What they can do, he says, is coordinate better so that there is a suitable time gap before a performer is repeated.
S. Vijeyajaya, fine arts secretary of RFA, agrees. RFA leads the September season, and so they fix artists on their own. “But, for the past two years, for our monthly concerts, I check with other sabhas,” she says. “When you do that, the audiences are happy, because they get to hear something different.”
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Says V. Gopalakrishnan, convenor of Manoranjitham: “Coimbatore is fast turning into a cultural hub during September; that is most welcome. It is up to us organisers to speak to others so that we don’t repeat artistes or hold concerts in close succession.” Shortly after their week-long programme, the Sangham is organising a Vasanthothsavam-Navarathri festival that brings together classical music, dandiya, fusion music and chanting. And, part of that line-up is Coimbatore mapillai and vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan, who sang recently at RFA’s season. How difficult is it for artistes when they revisit a city so soon? “It’s a challenge because we will be on our toes to come up with rare compositions. It is not a hard task though, because we are used to doing it in Chennai, where most sabhas are in and around Mylapore. We sing for the same set of people!” Charan rendered a ‘general’ concert at RFA, but will mostly sing a Navarathri-themed one at Ayyappan Puja Sangham. He’s going to be back in November too, for a contemporary classical concert.
What is so special about September? “It’s a great time to hold concerts in, weather-wise and logistically too. In the summers, most artists head to Cleveland. In December, Chennai is the place to be. That leaves us with September,” explains Vijeyajaya.
Nine days of music
Vasanthothsavam: Ayyappan Puja Sangham, Ramnagar
Concerts at Sringeri Saradambal Kovil, Race Course
Music festival at Kamakshiamman Kovil, R.S. Puram