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The Great Composers’ Day
Celebration by CAMAGA |
By Ram Sriram
CAMAGA or Carnatic Music Association of Georgia. Atlanta celebrated the Great Composers’ Day in honor of the four well-known and illustrious composers of India - Purandaradasa, Saint Thyagaraja, Sri Syama Sastri and Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar. The function was held on February 12, 2005 at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. Since CAMAGA was started in 1997, it has celebrated the Great Composers’ Day every year and each year, the participants have been growing.
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As in prior years, the function started promptly at 8:30 A.M. with performances by young children, ranging in ages from 5 to 15. At 11 A.M, the Pancharathna rendition began. A group of 25 individuals led by Mrs. Usha Balakrishnan, rendered Saint Thyagaraja’s Pancharathana kritis. The devotion and dedication of this group was reflected through their well-coordinated singing and the audience was enthralled by this spiritual exercise.
The Pancharathna singing was again followed by individual singers – from the very young to the adults. On a personal note, I was overwhelmed by the talent exhibited by the young people – from singing to playing the Violin to the Mridangam to the Saxophone. I have been associated with CAMAGA’s Aradhana functions right from the day CAMAGA was formed and one of the happy things I note about this function is the growth in the number of young participants and how well these youngsters, many of them born and brought up in the U.S., perform. The enthusiasm and the energy they exhibit show not only their talent but also convey the feeling that when they grow up to be adults, they will take over the mantle and preserve the culture and music of India.
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In the afternoon, around 3 P.M., two invited artists performed for 30-minutes each. The first invited performer was Dr. Mahadevan of Nashville; a disciple of Sri T. R. Subramaniam. Dr. Mahadevan showed his repertoire by singing the compositions of all four Great Composers. Dr. Mahadevan was accompanied on the violin by Sri Deepak Murthy and on the Mridangam by Ram Sriram. The next invited artist was Smt. Priya Chandrasekar, a talented Veena player from Atlanta and a well-known teacher in the Atlanta area. She was accompanied on the Mridangam by Sri Guru Subramaniam. Mrs. Priya showed excellent control over the instrument and pleased the audience with the selection of songs.
After a 11-hour marathon singing and performing, the function began to wind down with the group rendering of the Utsava Sampradaya Kritis. As is the tradition, the group sang Geetharthamu in Surati, to express thanks to Lord Anjaneya who is supposed to be present wherever the name of Sri Rama is recited. These sampradaya kritis was followed by aarathi to the Utsva Murthi and the function concluded with the Mangalam in Sourashtram.
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The function was very well-organized and coordinated thanks to the master of ceremonies, Dr. Kalpana Rengarajan. The audio arrangements were very well taken care of by the trio of Shiva Vaidyanathan, Moorthy, and Murali Ramachandran. Mr. Rengarajan handled the treasurer’s function well and helped CAMAGA with its membership drive. Overall, it was a great function not only for its spiritual ambience but also for bringing together a community and for propagating Carnatic music and Indian cultural traditions.