July 5, 2006 > South Indian music marathon

by Kirtana Thangavelu

Earlier this year Shruthi Swara Laya in Fremont, led by director Anuradha Suresh, celebrated its second annual Musical Marathon and the Thyagaraja Aradhana festival. The event began early in the morning in a deeply serene and peaceful atmosphere when the school's senior students rendered the Pancharathna krithis by Saint Thyagaraja accompanied by Smt. Mythili Rajappan on the violin and Shri Ravindra Bharati on the mridangam.

The musical marathon began soon after with performances by the youngest students of the school. The budding artists performed a wide range of songs in both vocal and instrumental categories. This was followed by a fascinating interactive percussion workshop conducted by Ravi Sridharan.

The afternoon was marked by individual performances of increasingly longer durations and complexity by advanced members of the school. The grand finale of the evening began at 9:30 p.m. with a spellbinding and memorable performance by Anu Suresh and Manasa Suresh (accompanied by Sridharan and Rajappan), leaving the audience wanting more. When it finally came to a close at 10:30, some 125 students had performed in the day's proceedings. The degree of dedication, planning and effort on the part of the teachers toward this event is noteworthy.