Rajalakshmi Audio bags rights to Academy's 'season'concerts

'Hello! This is Sathish. My company has got the recording rights for the Academy this year. Am on cloud nine.'

This SMS does the rounds of a few people on Thursday night.

A SMS from Dr. Satish , who practises at the department of general and gastrointestinal surgery at a private hospital in Coimbatore and is the promoter of Rajalakshmi Audio, a Carnatic music producer.

The doc is passionate about Carnatic music and some of the albums of this label are unique and fast-selling ones.

Now, Sathish has bagged the rights to record, produce and market all the concerts for December season 2006 at the Academy.

The doc who shares time between work at Coimbatore and music in Chennai plans to record about 18 to 20 concerts of the top-ranking artistes through Picture Productions which manages the sound and recording systems at the Academy.

These albums, in the series 'Live at The Music Academy', will be up for sale in late March 2007 and will be launched at the annual Cleveland aradhana in the USA.

Sathish knows that the Academy brand will help boost his own music label and that the 'live' recordings have a charm of their own and will turn out to be a collector's series in the future.

If you wish to check out all the albums of this music company go to the web site - www.rajalakshmiaudio.com

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Lights on Seshagopalan

Sikkil Kunjumani chats with Seshagopalan. Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar is in the background. On stage at the Academy

Opening evening at The Music Academy is always very proper. Very business-like.

And so it was on Friday early evening.

Chief Justice A. P. Shah was the chief guest. But the lights were on Sangita Kalanidhi-designate vidwan T. N. Seshagopalan, looking clean and trim!

Justice Shah presented him the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' M. S. Subbulakshmi award instituted by 'The Hindu'. He will chair this year's conference.

The Academy's president, N. Murali, said that there were bigger plans for the Academy.

A well known architect would draw up a master plan for this campus to modernise the auditorium and add more infrastructure.

Two suggestions here - a quick fix of the creaky doors on the top floors and sealing the windows/doors through which traffic power generator noises filter in.

There is a need to re-plan the seating arrangement. Adults simply cannot sit in comfort in the gallery which is the abode of the rasikas who cannot afford the big tickets!