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 MACA_MUSIC*,
a major association of music lovers in the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA), celebrated Women Composers Day on June 16, 2007, at the
Dutta Yoga Center in Brampton. A sunny afternoon, a good turnout
of local rasikas, the quiet spiritual ambiance of the large
hall, and the brilliant orchestration of the organisers - Gana
Ganapathy and Srini Srinivasan - all of these elements added to
the aura of Carnatic sangeetham and the making of an event
successful and grand.
 The
rationale for this endeavour was essentially to revive, salvage
and showcase not only our cultural heritage but also, in
particular, to highlight the emotional and intellectual insights
of Indian women composers.
Carnatic music is primarily devotional in content and the
compositions are often in praise of various deities of the Hindu
pantheon and this theme was illustrated well in the songs
selected by the participants who presented a selection of
compositions from Auvaiyaar, Andal and Mirabai of yonder years
to contemporary composers such as Andavan Pichai, Ambujam
Krishna, Indira Natesan, Neela Ramamurthy, and present-day
living composers such as Suguna Purushothaman, Dr Rukmini Ramani,
Padma Veeraraghavan and Lakshmi Rajangam.
 The
invocation piece on Lord Ganesha, (Auvaiyaar's composition) by
Sheela Bharat and
Hamsika set the tone of the function to a fine start. Following
this, Bhuma Krishnan illustrated the clever choice of wordplay
evidenced in the compositions of
vAggEyakAraas such as Rukmini Ramani's 'Parthasarathi' in
sumanEsharanjani. This was
particularly well demonstrated as she sang the lines…nAyakan,
VinAyakan, VaLLi nAyakan, karpaga nAyakan etc... from
Rukmini Ramani’s 'kapAliswara Pancharatnam'
in nAttai.
 Supraja
Sridharan’s rendering of the bEgada krithi
- (en manam urugi) composed by
Padma Veeraraghavan in praise of the deity Upilliappan - was a
mellifluous example showing the added advantage when in fact it
is a vaagyekaara’s composition that is rendered.
One can especially appreciate this both in terms of rAgA choice
and musical connectivity to the words etc., within the
composition.
 Other
highlights included stories and a lec-dem featuring Andavan
Pichai by Thara Krishnan and Malathi Venkataraman both being
acquainted well with the composer herself! Vasumathi Nagarajan,
a senior disciple of the late Dr S Ramanathan and a long time
music teacher in GTA, sang a soulful Indira Natesan composition
- Neelakanta Mahadeva highlighting the nuances of the lesser
known ragam kuvalaiyabharanam, a janyam of Vakulabharanam.
 Sandhya
Srivatsan's ragamalikaa 'KaNNan yendradumE',
an Amujam Krishna kriti, Uma Mayuranathan's pleasant
kunthalavarALi (akhilandakOdi naama
swaroopiNi- Indira Natesan) and Neela Ramamurthi’s Dheena
SharanyanE in Karnaranjani by Harini Anand merit special
mention.
Throughout the 3-hour-long programme, it was delightful to see
the concerted involvement of rasikas and the singers in
remembering and glorifying women composers - past and present.
 Sridaya
Srivatsan as an MC and Supraja’s commendable efforts on the
brochure and Power Point presentation made for a lively
afternoon. Fine support by accompanists - Anand Srinivasan and
Balamurali on the violin and Keerthanan, Prashanth and Anantha
Padmanabhan on the mridangam, made for a music, wholesome and
complete.
Prof S Pasupathy proposed a vote of thanks.
Raji Iyer
Photographs - courtesy of Prof V S Ananthanarayanan
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/MACA_Music/
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