Concert blends Kannada poems and Carnatic music

A Carnatic musician will perform a concert of songs based on Kannada poetry spanning the 10th to 20th centuries on Friday.

An initiative by Carnatic vocalist Krithika Sreenivasan, this is an attempt to bring the rich history of Kannada poetry out of textbooks and take it to a wider audience.

In the three-hour concert called ‘Kannada Kavya Kacheri’, she will cover the works of poets from the 10th to 20th centuries chronologically. She will demonstrate individual aesthetics but also trace the evolution of Kannada poetry as an art.

“From Pampa, Raghavanka, Srivijaya and Kumaravyasa to Kuvempu and Pu Thi Na, each poet has handled Kannada poetry differently. Forms like Vrutta, Shatpadi and Geethe have gained their own identity over the centuries, which I will highlight in my songs,” shares Krithika.

She will weave the poems with varna, raga, tana pallavi, tillana, kriti and other compositional formats of classical Carnatic music. She will be accompanied by Vishwajit on violin, Deepika Sreenivasan on mridangam and Bhagyalakshmi Krishna on morsing. The concert is part of a larger project she is running on YouTube to drive appreciation for Kannada poetry, under the guidance of renowned critic and writer C N Ramachandran. The series is called ‘Kannada Kavya Kamanabillu’.

* ‘Kannada Kavya Kacheri’ at Gayana Samaja, K R Road, on November 11, at 5 pm. Entry free.