 A
blanket of snow may be covering the streets in downtown
Cleveland, but the music (al) blanket enveloping the town for 10
days in March/April, every year, provides the warmth and comfort
for thousands who congregate year after year.
The Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, that is going on, is truly
a mammoth festival. The festival lasts for 10days – Friday thru
2 Sundays. More than 60 artistes are flown in from India,
housed, fed, made to feel at home, honored and they perform in
front of a discerning audience.
You cannot but be impressed, particularly if you are
attending the festival for the first time, by the number of
children who are part of this festival. It is something unique.
These children, with parents in tow travel huge distances to be
part of the show. The other impressive fact is the festival has
been going on uninterrupted for 31 years!
The first three days of the festival is the most attended
–nearly 1500 people assemble very year, around the same time of
each year, in the same place. The children come here to
participate in music competitions – vocal, instrumental,
percussion, harikatha and many more categories. Some of the
children and adults get a chance to go on stage to sing, to play
their instrument of choice or to accompany some of the leading
vidwans.
 The
daily schedule over the 10 days is tightly packed. Typically the
concerts start at around 9 am and end anywhere between 10 pm and
11 pm.
The highlight of the festival is the competition for children
which is very popular and certainly the major crowd puller; next
in popularity in terms of participation and attendance is the
rendering of Pancharatna Kirtis by vidwans and commoners alike,
a la Thiruvaiyaru.
The organizers go to great lengths to present a variety of
programs. We understand, in the last 2 years or so, children,
hand picked by Mr VV Sundaram, whose name is synonymous with
Cleveland Aradhana, and trained by some of the best teachers
around have gone on stage and performed exceedingly well. This
year was no exception.
(To Be Continued)
Please click here to get the full schedule of all days
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