THE MUSIC ACADEMY, MADRAS
84rd Annual Conference and Concerts – Wednesday, 15th December 2010
Welcome address by Shri N.Murali, President
We are all bracing ourselves for our 84th Conference and Concerts, which by all indications, promises to be yet another successful and memorable festival. In this season of scams,the festival will undoubtedly come as a breath of fresh air and also a cause for cheer. The festival's tremendous success over the recent years has been largely due to the unflinching support and co-operation of our members and rasikas and the generous and sustained support of our sponsors and advertisers. The active involvement and excellent team work shown by our colleagues on the Executive Committee coupled with the selfless dedication and hard work of the volunteers and staff of the Academy, have contributed in large measure to the success of the eagerly looked forward to annual festival.
Academy's Infrastructure upgradation and Improvements
Members have not only experienced but also expressed their happiness on the ongoing, phased infrastructure upgradation and modernization programme during the last four years. It has resulted in greatly improved facilities and ambience making for an enhanced listening experience and comfort. All this has been possible through the generous support of the enlightened donors who have considered it worthwhile to support this premier institution fostering excellence in classical fine arts. We have earlier acknowledged every single donor for making an undertaking of this nature possible.
A major component of the ongoing improvement programme is now under way and would be completed before this season. It involves renovation and upgradation ofthe foyer,both in the ground floor and the first floor,changes in the lobby for Patron members, enhancing the lighting with additional fittings in the foyer, enhanced aesthetics in the foyer with new wooden panelling and glazing, shifting of the ticket counter, new acoustically-oriented panels inside the auditorium, changing the alignment and bringing the focus on the main entrance to the Cathedral Road side as it was originally, walkway all round the auditorium for easier access, standardized areas earmarked for driveway and parking, and shifting the gate at the Cathedral Road (that was closed for years) further west to enable its use as an exit gate which has now been allowed by the Traffic Police authorities. Traffic jam and congestion at the TTK Road Gate would be considerably eased as that gate would now serve only as the entry gate.
This major project in all its phases is being done under the expert guidance and supervision of our fine Architect Mr. P.T. Krishnan. Mr. Krishnan has brought to bear his immense commitment, expertise and interest in
restoring and upgrading heritage buildings, to our ongoing modernization works as a measure of his labour of love and passion.
This latest phase of our ongoing modernization programme is being completed substantially through the generous donations of Smt. Mallika Srinivasan and Shri R.Jayachandran, (the latter through good offices of our Vice President Shri R.Srinivasan).
84th Annual Conference and Concerts
The annual festival will be held between December 15, 2010 and January
1, 2011.
The vocalist duo, Bombay Sisters Smt. C.Saroja and Smt. C. Lalitha will preside over the Conference and will be awarded the ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ Birudu at the Sadas on January 1, 2011. It is for the first time In the history of the Academy that a vocalist duo is being honoured with the Sangita Kalanidhi award in the same year and only the second time a duo is being honoured at the same time.
Shri Shiv Nadar, Founder-HCL and Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Technologies, has kindly agreed to be the Chief Guest and inaugurate the 84th Annual Conference and Concerts on December 15, 2010.
Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Laureate and Group Leader & Joint Head-Structural Studies, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK, has very kindly agreed to preside over the Sadas on January 1, 2011 and confer the awards.
Dance Festival
The four earlier dance festivals of the Academy have been enormously successful. The fifth edition of the Dance Festival is being held between January 3 and January 9, 2011.
Ms. Leela Samson, Director of Kalakshetra and Chairperson, Sangeet
Natak Akademi, has graciously agreed to inaugurate the Dance Festival.
Conference Sessions
Over the last two years, the tremendous efforts of the Convenor of the Experts’ Advisory Committee, Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, along with other eminent members of that Committee have resulted in bringing the much- needed variety and depth to the academic sessions, apart from significantly raising their standards. A noteworthy feature has also been the inclusion of younger, top performing musicians into the academic stream.
Grateful acknowledgement of Artistes of Music and Dance Festivals and Musicologists and Scholars of the Academic Sessions
It is with deep gratitude that we acknowledge the participation and support of all the musicians, artistes and musicologists and scholars and it would not be an exaggeration to say that their unflinching support and outstanding concerts and Lec-Dems at The Music Academy, has largely contributed to the Academy’s fine reputation and success.
Sponsors / Stall Hirers / Advertisers in the Souvenir
It is with gratitude that we acknowledge all of them for their continued support which have helped us conduct a successful annual festival year after year.
Academic activities and new initiatives
As members are aware there has been a resurgence of academic activities in the last couple of years. The quality of the content of our prestigious Journal has been greatly enhanced with the help of the Editorial Board under the editor Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao.
A major publishing project has been taken up – English translation of Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini (SSP) of Subbarama Dikshithar. An Editorial Board has been constituted for this purpose, consisting of eminent musicians and musicologists, including young musicians under the editorship of Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, one of our Secretaries and a well-known musicologist as also a Sanskrit and Telugu scholar. The project aims at making available an authentic, error free English version to students and scholars of music and will involve publication of SSP in 4 volumes consisting of all the mela-s. The first volume is expected to be released for sale during the season.
As part of new initiatives, two in-depth workshops on different aspects of our music and another one on music appreciation were conducted during the last few months to fulfill a long-felt need. These would be regular features in the months to come.
Advanced School of Carnatic Music
An Advanced School of Carnatic Music has been established with the object of offering advanced professional education and grooming in carnatic music to highly deserving youngsters so that they can become performers and musicians of a very high calibre with a fine sense of music appreciation and aesthetics. An Academic Council has been formed with eminent musicians/ musicologists drawn from the Experts Committee of The Music Academy. The Advanced School has five eminent faculty members. Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli, Director; Prof. Ritha Rajan, Academic Coordinator; Sangita Kala Acharya Chingleput Shri S. Ranganathan; Vidushi S. Sowmya and Vidvan Mullaivasal Chandramouli.
Apart from the regular faculty, the School also brings in eminent musicians as visiting faculty. In each semester there will be at least 5-8 events such as Guest Lectures by the Visiting Faculty, Seminars, Workshops, Concerts, Field trips and guided group interactions. The school started functioning from August 16, 2010.
To support the expenses of this school in its first year, a generous grant has been given by Shri P.Vijaykumar Reddy, son of late Shri P.Obul Reddy, our longtime Patron and a Vice President.
The Teachers’ College of Music has over the years rendered useful service, but in the current times it has lost its relevance with the existence of multiplicity of institutions offering diplomas with the Government syllabus. This college is being phased out next year. The Academy will, however, continue its other special classes at different times in Mridangam, Veena, Violin, Padams and Javalis and classes for beginners.
Indira Sivasailam Endowment Concert
Smt. Mallika Srinivasan has instituted the ‘Indira Sivasailam Endowment
Fund’ which in association with The Music Academy, will organize annually
Tribute and co-options to the Executive Committee
We record with regret the sad demise of Shri P.Obul Reddy, the Vice President of the Academy. Over the years, Shri P.Obul Reddy has been a big supporter and patron of The Music Academy, with keen interest and involvement in its activities. Shri Obul Reddy has been a big and munificent donor of The Music Academy and has set up very generous endowments at the Academy, with the total amount of his endowments accounting for almost a quarter of the total endowments with The Music Academy. His passing is a big loss to The Music Academy and to the music world.
We also lost another esteemed colleague during the year – Shri S.V.Ramaswamy. Shri Ramaswamy was an active and energetic member of the Executive Committee and served the Academy with great dedication and commitment.
In the two vacancies we have co-opted Shri N.Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner and a connoisseur of carnatic music as a Vice President and Shri V.Sriram, music historian and author who co-authored that wonderful book on the history of The Music Academy last year. We have no doubt that their induction would be of immense value to the Committee.
Enhanced Awards to the main awardees
Thanks to the generosity of Shri P.Vijaykumar Reddy, son of late Shri P.Obul Reddy, the award money given for the Sangita Kalanidhi and Sangita Kala Acharya awards is being increased significantly from this year. These awards have been instituted in the name of Shri P.Obul Reddy and Smt. P.Gnanambal. The other two awards, TTK Award and Musicologist Award are also being suitably enhanced.
80th year Commemoration Book
A high quality book profusely enriched with photographs and well-written and expertly designed on the glorious history of the Academy was brought out in December 2009. The authors of the book “Four Score and More
– the History of The Music Academy Madras” are the well-known music historian and writer, Shri V.Sriram and Dr. Malathi Rangaswami, one of our Secretaries. This must-read collector’s book is available to members at a highly concessional price during the season. Members are encouraged to buy copies for themselves as well as their friends.
On behalf of the entire team at The Music Academy, I wish you all a very exhilarating and soulful music season and dance festival and a very happy New Year.
N. MURALI
PRESIDENT
