JOIN USClassical music lovers were treated to an evening of soulful music by the budding musicians of ‘National Level Carnatic Music Youth Festival’ that was held in the City recently.
The festival that was organised by the Karnataka Fine Arts Council (KFAC) culminated with the much-awaited award ceremony and a performance by Carnatic vocalist Abhishek Raghuram.
The award ceremony was indeed an exciting affair with Apoorva Krishna, an upcoming violinist, bagging the top slot.
This is perhaps for the first time that a violinist has received the prestigious ‘Kalavanta 2014 Award’.
She did well to surpass all the vocalists with her perfect rendition of ‘sruthi’ and ‘laya’.
Apoorva is a student of the ‘Lalgudi tradition’ and has performed at several leading ‘sabhas’, including the Music Academy.
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Mridangam player NC Bharadhwaj and violinist Vittal Rangan bagged the second and the third place respectively.
“The evenings were extremely enjoyable as all the musicians performed well,” said Apoorva.
The festival had two concerts a day and in all featured 14 budding artistes from most Southern states.
Music lovers witnessed a wonderful performance by vocalist R Ashwathnarayan and Manda Sruti Ravali. Ashwath, a student of the legendary Phalghat KV Narayanswamy, captivated the audience with his powerful voice and interesting rendition of ‘swarams’.
The concert reached an interesting pitch with ‘Sarasijanabha’ in ‘Naagagandhari raga’ or the final ‘Thillana’ being rendered to perfection.
The music came alive with Sruti Ravali’s voice which was not only power-packed but mellifluous as well. Admirable was her control over the ‘raga’ and crisp finish in ‘swarams’.
“It is not possible to sing lengthy ‘kritis’ in a long concert, so I chose songs that were catchy and would help me keep to the time,” said Ravali.
GV Krishnaprasad, the secretary of Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira and trustee of KFAC, said that the artistes were chosen to sing based on their quality and past performances.
KFAC was formed after the culmination of 10 leading sabhas — The Bangalore Gayana Samaja, Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira, BTM Cultural Academy, Ananya GML Cultural Academy, Nadasurabhi Cultural Association, Sree Guruvayurappan Bhajan Samaj Trust, Bharatiya Samagana Sabha, MA Narasimhachar Music Foundation, Vishesha Fine Arts and Ranjani Fine Arts.
This festival, is yet another hat that KFAC, proudly wears in its endeavour of encouraging young talent.