Allam Durgaprasad (Gottu Vadyam)
B V Raghavendra Rao (Violin)
S V Ramani (Mridangam)
Madipakkam Murali (Ghatam)
Sunday, February 14, 7:00 PM
CDT
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About
the Instrument
Gottu Vadyam
According to ancient classification of Indian
stringed instruments, Gottu vadyam is also one
type of veena. Though both of them have
resemblance, Gottu vadyam (Chitra veena) is
unfretted, where as Veena is fretted. Veena
has got only 7 strings, where as Gottu vadyam
has nine (9) main strings and twelve
sympathetic strings. It is more difficult to
gain mastery over this instrument, yet capable
of bringing out finer nuances if played by
expert hands.
A very few musicians are gifted to handle this
rare instrument at ease. Shri Durgaprasad is
one among them. He is not only
traditional but also very innovative. After
many years of extensive research made several
changes in the design of the instrument in
order to improvise its tonal quality and
versatility, from its original form for better
resonance, and portability and named it as
“ATHI CHITRA VEENA”, the only one of its kind
and handled by him alone. The
instrument, gives full scope for the artists
to play with ease giving good sustenance play
phrases with depth, melody and play glides
(Jaaroo) effortlessly. So it is most suited
for the artist.
“ATHI CHITRA VEENA” has got the depth of
veena, felicity of Gottu vadyam, Sweetness of
Mandolin, Majesticity of Guitar and Grace of
Sitar and so is an embodiment of all these.
About
the Artists
Allam
Durgaprasad (Gottu
Vadyam)
Born in a family of rich musical
tradition, Durgaprasad, right from his
childhood showed signs of interest in
music. His initial musical training was
given by his father late Shri. Allam
Koteswara Rao a renowned Gottu
Vadyam exponent . Later, he was put under
the tutelage of KALASIKHAMANI late Shri
A.NARAYANA IYER. He also got well
trained in Carnatic Vocal music by the
great SANDHYAVANDANAM SRINIVASARAO. He did
his Teachers Training Course in Music.
Further he did his M.A.Music (Vadya
Praveena in Gottu Vadyam) at Sri
Venkateswara University, Thirupati. All
this enabled him to get recognition as an
“Top Rank” artist by the ALL INDIA
RADIO.
As an excellent performer over the years,
Durgaprasad is able to cater his listeners
with pure orthodox Carnatic music,
maintaining absolute tonal purity and
rhythematic balance, taking them to dizzy
heights. He has performed at various
prestigious Sabhas, organizations and
Music festivals all over the country and
abroad and won great appreciation and
laurels from listeners and critics.
He has also performed during ‘Radio
Sangeeth Sammelans’, ‘National Programmes
of Doordarshan & All India Radio, and
private Telivision channels.
Fusion music being a passion for
Durgaprasad, he has performed in
several parts of India and all over the
world, with outstanding Western Classical
Artists. Notable among the performances
are “Reorient Festival” of Sweden,
“Tampare Jazz Happening” & “Kerava
Jazz Ry of Finland.
Not only in the field of classical music
Durgaprasad has beautifully displayed his
talent in film music as well. With the
fine tonal quality of his instrument
he has allured and attracted music
listeners. Music directors and
Stalwarts like
IlayaRaja,A.R.Raheman,Deva,Harisjayaraj,Vidyasagar,Keeravani,Mani
Sharma and many others have made full use
of him and lost no chance to pick
him up and utilize his talents.
Even at an early age he had the
fortune of great Mridangam stalwarts such
as Shri. Karaikudi R.Mani, Shri. Vellore
Ramabadran, Shri.Yella Venkateswara Rao
and others was accompanying during his
concerts.
Durgaprasad has received the
following Titles, Awards and prizes.
¬
”Yuva
Kala Bharathi” from Bharath Kalachar in
1998-1999. ¬
”Nadakkanal”
title in Bharathi Music festival 2002.
¬ “KALAIMAAMANI” the
Tamil Nadu State Government Award for the
Year 2006
¬ “Kanchi Kamakoti
Peetha Aasthaana Vidwan” in the year 2006
¬ “Gandharva
Vidhyadhara” from Iraippani Mandram
Chennai 2013
¬ "Sangeetha Kala
Vipanchee" from Vipanchee Chennai in the
year 2016
¬ Maharajapuram
Santhanam Award of Excellence from the
Maharajapuram Santhanam Trust in the year
2018
¬ Gandharva Kala Rathna
title from Gandharva Gana Sabha, Ambathur,
Chennai in the year 2019
¬ Gottuvadyam Narayana
Iyengar Award for Visesha Vadyam Conferred
by Parthasarathy Swami Sabha instituted by
Chennai Fine Arts in the year 2019
B V
Raghavendra Rao (Violin)
Raghavendra Rao hails from a distinguished family
of musicians. He was initiated into the niceties
of music at an early age of seven by his father
B.Sudarsana Rao.
Attracted by the lure of classical music from his
childhood, he trained rigorously on the violin for
several years and he is presently the disciple of
the violin “Maestro” Sangeetha Kalanidhi
Shri.T.N.Krishnan. Later he received
invaluable guidance and concert experience from
Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna one of the greatest
musicians India has produced in this century.
As a young artiste he received the appreciation of
the President of India for accompanying the
celebrated musical genius, and climbed the ladder
of success as an accomplished, and one of the most
popular violinist in the Carnatic music genre
today.
He has won several prizes and awards from various
sabhas in Chennai and has participated in the
prestigious Bharat Cultural Integration
Committee's (B.C.I.C) music festivals organized
all over India.
Raghavendra Rao has performed internationally in
numerous music festivals of I.C.C.R., and the
prestigious "Festival of India" programs. He
has widely travelled all over the world, including
the U.S.A, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, New
Zealand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and the
Middle Eastern countries.Srikanth has been
conferred with the title "Kala Praveen" in Feb
2002 at Bangalore. He has been honored with the
prestigious Award for talented young
Musicians----"Ananya Yuva Puraskar" for 2004 by
the organization "Ananya" of Bangalore. Srikanth
is now regularly performing with many great
artists & undergoing intensive training in the
intricacies of Violin playing and looking forward
for Great achievement in the field of Music.
Srikanth has traveled abroad widely to U. S. A.,
Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Singapore, Qatar,
U.K., Canada and many European countries.
S V Ramani
(Mridangam)
S.V.Ramani is a
renowned Ghatam (clay pot percussion) and
Mrudangam artist who gave his debut
performance when he was only eight years old
in his hometown Palakkad. He received his
early training under his father Late Palakkad
R.Seshamani(Retd. AIR Staff Artist) and
world renowned Mrudangist Guruvayur Dorai.
Ramani has accompanied leading Carnatic
musicians for the past three decades in India
and has performed in USA, UK and many
countries all over the world. He has
collaborated with eminent Hindustani musicians
and many contemparary musicians. He has also
worked with Cine Music directors like
Ilayaraja, Deva, Vidhyasagar..
Some of the notable performance events in
India include:
Performance for Dr
APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India at the
Rashtrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi with
Padmashree Mandolin U.Shrinivas
Performances at
Indira Gandhi's residence in New Delhi for
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister
Sheila Dixit at her residence with
Padmashree Aruna Sairam
Performance as team
member in Tiranga with Pandit Jasraj, Pandit
Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Padmashree Mandolin
U.Srinivas and Javed Aktar
Recent performance
in the Delhi Celebrates Festival with
Padmashree Aruna Sairam organized in tandem
with the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 in New
Delhi
Accompanied Unique
Jugalbandhis which include Mathrubhoomi
- a unique offering that spanned
multiple Indian languages and musical genres
- Jugalbandhi
Padmashree Aruna
Sairam and Shankar Mahadevan; Strains of
Heaven - Jugalbandhi Padmashree Aruna Sairam
and Padmashree Mandolin U.Srinivas;
Jugalbandi with
Hariharan and Padmashree Mandolin
U.Srinivas; Jugalbandhi with renowned
Flautist Pt. Ronu Majumdar and Mandolin
U.Rajesh
Invited to perform
at the prestigious Edinborough Jazz and
Blues festival with the Scottish jazz band
AAB
Performed at the
Indian Consulate in Dubai for India's 50th
Indian Independance day with Padmasree Sudha
Raghunathan
Honors and Awards Received:
Honoured as a Top
Ranked AIR Artist in both Ghatam &
Mrudangam and has participated in several
AIR programmes, including National
Programmes in Radio and
Television for DD
Podhigai, Jaya TV, SVBC TTD and many other
leading channels
SRI OPUL REDDY
PERCUSSION AWARD - Awarded by the
Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai
SRI KANCHI KAMAKOTI
PEETAM ASTHANA VIDWAN - Awarded by
Kanchi Mutt, Kanchipuram
BEST
PERCUSSIONIST - Awarded by the
Indian Fine Arts Sabha
Madipakkam Murali (Ghatam)
Madipakkam
A.Muralii is an A graded Ghatam Artiste from All
India Radio, Chennai. He started learning
Ghatam from eminent Mridangam artist. Kumbakonam
Ari. M . Rajappaiyer and learned extensively for
about 20 years and mastered all nuances of this
art.
Madipakkam Murali has accompanied all the
frontline Carnatic Musicians, notably Bombay
Sisters, Veena Maestro Chittibabu, Kalanidhi Sudha
Raghunathan, and Sri O S Arun. He has
performed all over the world including Europe,
Australia, Japan, China, Mongolia, USA, and the
Gulf countries.
Awards and Accolades
The
Best Ghatam artiste award from Krishna Gana
Sabha in the year 1998.
Asthana
Vidwan from Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham in the
year 2007 and
Laya
Gana Shirmoni from Narada Gana Sabha in the
year 2021
He has also presented number of compact disc along
with leading musicians like Gayathri
Venkataraghavan, O S Tyagarjaan and others.
He teaches Ghatam art at Mandipakkam and
Naganallur.
Acknowledgments:
IMSOM's
Fall 2021 Concert Series has been is made
possible in part, by the UHG “Dollars for
Doers” Grant, matching grants from Honeywell
& US Bank, a generous donation from the
Dr. Dash Foundation, late Dr V Premanand
& family, and the generosity of IMSOM’s
members and donors. The
activity is made possible by voters of
Minnesota through a grant from Minnesota
Regional Arts Council (MRAC), thanks to a
legislative appropriation from the arts
and cultural heritage fund. All
concerts are co-sponsored by KFAI Radio (90.3
FM Mpls/106.7 FM St. Paul).
