The year when we curated a “TUB with a twist” – incorporating age-old story telling (kathakalakshepam) technique into the traditional concert concept. And we were very glad to have achieved this with none other than the exemplary Vishaka Hari, the uncrowned queen of this niche genre.
She elaborated on the teachings of Ramayana and Mahabharata and their influence on Saint Thyagaraja who included stories from these two great epics into his Pancharatna Kritis. Combining a 3-hr story telling session interspersed with seamless community singing, she had the audience spell bound from the word go! Ably accompanied by RN Prathap from the UK on the mridangam and Jeysri Balaji from Germany on the violin, it was an unforgettable afternoon for all.
A year of firsts it turned to be afterall: Amritavarshini school of Music, headed by Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan, unveiled their first-ever carnatic choir earlier in the afternoon. Children and adults singing in unison with veena’s, violins, flute and mridangam was an exquisite presentation by the whole team.
