MADRAS MUSIC SEASON

Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its five week-long Music Season, which has been described as the world's largest cultural event ^[1]. The Music Season was started in 1927, to mark the opening of the Madras Music Academy. It used to be a traditional month-long Carnatic music festival, but since then it has also diversified into dance and drama, as well as non-Carnatic art forms.
The traditional role of the Music Season is to allow aficionados of Carnatic music to appreciate performances by renowned artistes, and also to provide a good opportunity for promising young artistes to display their talent and skill. During this time, a large number of ''Sabhas'' (music halls) organize ''kutcheris'' (formal concerts). Artistes come from across India and from the international Indian diaspora to play during the season. The event has grown over the years; there were over 1200 performances by about 600 artistes in 2004-2005 (about 700 vocal, 250 instrumental, 200 dance and 50 drama and others ^[2]).

Contents

Whats on the Menu?

Carnatic Concerts

Attending the Season

Sabhas and Halls

Canteens

Acoustics

Some important Sabhas and their (usual) Halls

References

External links

Whats on the Menu?

The variety cultural programmes that one can expect during the season can be broadly categorized into the following:

★ Carnatic concerts

★ HariKathas

★ Lecture Demonstrations (petted ''lec-demo'' in the local circles).

★ Awards and Titles

Carnatic Concerts

The standard Carnatic Concert during the Season lasts for around 3 hours. Most sabhas reserve the evening ''slots'' to renowned artistes. There is usually lesser Instrumental concerts around than Vocal concerts.

Attending the Season

There are dozens of Sabhas all over Madras and it could get quite ''challenging'' to decide where to go. Several top notch artists might be performing at different places around the City. So its all about choosing and planning the season.
Typically, most Internet Websites like www.artindia.netchennaionline.com and sangeetham.com provide details on the who's who and where's what of the season. Local dailies like The Hindu and Indian Express carry a dedicated section under the title ''Engagements'' or ''Arts, Dance and Drama'' that lists some of the important concerts / events around the city. The Rule of thumb is that when a concert claims ''All are welcome'', it is a free concert with no entry-fee. Generally the concerts in the evenings at most places are ''paid''. Tickets usually range from Rs.50/- (a seating from where the stage is barely visible) to Rs.250/- (VIP seating). Almost always, the concerts held at Temples have no entry-fee.
Since most of the famous sabhas are located in and around Mylapore, it is a good idea to find an accommodation in Mylapore. Besides, all other important sabhas are well connected to Mylapore by bus and local trains. Parthasarathy Swami Sabha conducts several lecture demos and all concerts except the ''evening slots'' are free.

Sabhas and Halls

A Carnatic Sabha is an organisation that helps conduct concerts. Sabhas fight in contest for their choice of artists. It is also the sabhas that give out ''titles'' and ''awards'' to artistes to reward talent. Usually, all sabhas own a ''hall'' (or two). Some smaller sabhas like ''Karthik Fine Arts'' rent a hall during the season. Generally, there is a ''main hall'' and a ''mini hall'' in most such complexes. The ''main hall''s, on an average, can accommodate about 300 people while the ''mini'' can take not more than 75 people.
It is quite easy to identify a hall from the banners, posters and decorated name boards outside the hall facing the roads. and most of these halls are important landmarks so getting there is quite easy. (ex: ''Rani Seethai Hall'' and ''Vani Mahal'' have ''Bus Stops'' named after the halls. The buses stop at a fairly close distance to the halls).

Canteens

Almost always all halls run a Canteen where a variety of South Indian foods, Sweets and Savouries are purchasable. Generally, during the noon a traditional south Indian lunch is also served. Peak time of the Canteen is usually in the evenings before and after the 6 p.m. concert. On weekends its usually crowded during most part of the day! The selection of Caterer is also an important point that has an effect on the reputation of the Sabha.

Acoustics

The acoustics of Sabhas have improved greatly in the recent past. But its still not uncommon to find mixing glitches such as Feedback during a Concert. Since artistes arrive right on time and the concert starts almost always without a delay, there is very little time the artistes get to interact with the sound engineer at the hall. It is common to notice, in the few minutes of their commencement of a concert, the artistes looking into their left (where the ''mixer unit'' and the ''sound engineer'' are) and asking for an ''increase'' or ''decrease'' to their ''monitor'' volume.
Generally, Medium / Small sized halls don't have a dedicated monitor and the PA system usually fills in the role of a monitor.

Some important Sabhas and their (usual) Halls

★ Indian Fine Arts Society : ''Bala Mandir German Hall''

★ Kalarasana : ''Rani Seethai Hall''

★ Mudra : ''Freedom Hall''

★ Nadha Inbam : ''Raga Sudha Hall''

★ Narada Gana Sabha : ''Sathguru Gnanananda Hall''

★ Nungambakkam Cultural Academy : ''Rama Rao Kala Mandap''

★ Rasika Ranjani Sabha : ''Dakshinamoorthy Auditorium''

★ Sri Krishna Gana Sabha : ''Sri Krishna Gana Sabha''

★ Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha : ''Vidya Bharathi''

★ Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha : ''Vani Mahal''

★ Tamil Isai Sangam : ''Raja Annamalai Mandram''

References

1. [1]

External links

★ Editorial in ''The Hindu''

★ The 2006 Music Season

★ The 2004 Music Season

★ The 2005 Music Season