During the Memorial Day weekend (May 27 – 29, 2006) Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam (CTU), a not-for-profit organization, celebrated its 30th annual music festival at the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, Lemont, IL.
The festival is held in honor of Carnatic music composer Saint Tyagaraja (1767-1847).
The main goal of CTU is to propagate Carnatic music and culture among the younger generation. Accordingly, the prime events were on May 27th when about 180 children and 80 adults (with over flow on 28th and 29th) performed Tyagaraja’s compositions – including the Pancharatna Kritis as a group.
Rajeswari Pariti arranged the Utsava Sampradaya Kritis group with 70 kids. On 29th, there was an orchestra of 11 instruments, arranged by Manjula Rao.
The Utsavam had six major professional concerts during the three days. May 27th featured a musical play of Tyagaraja, Nauka Charitramu choreographed in Bharatanatyam style, by Sushmita Arunkumar of Nrithyanjali School of Dance, IL.
On May 28th, the program started with bhajans by Brahmasri Vittaldas group. Then it was a concert by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna accompanied by Vittal Ramamurthy (violin) N. Ramakrishnan (Mridangam).
The day ended with Dr. Saraswathi and her troupe performing a dance ballet Radha Madhava.
On May 29th, the first concert was by Shubhan Kasim and Shubhan Babu (a Nadaswaram duet) accompanied by S. Senthil Kumar on thavil. The Utsavam concluded with a concert by Ranjani and Gayatri (vocal) accompanied by H.N. Bhaskar (Violin) and K. Arun Prakash (Mridangam).
The attendance for all the programs was pegged at about 4450. Also, as part of the invocation and other events, around 350 amateur, local people performed on stage.
The Utsavam included a buffet of south Indian food served on all three days to save the patrons the trouble of having to leave the premises between (or after) the concerts. Thousands of plates of meals and snacks were served with specials on May 27th. At least 400 volunteers worked through out the year to put this event together.
All children who performed were rewarded with gifts and certificates. They were photographed, video and audio taped to make this day memorable for them, and to encourage them in their study of the arts. The CTU brochure, Tyagaraja Vijayam, was published.
Most attendees were dressed up in their best traditional attire. An altar with portraits of Lord Sri Rama and Saint Tyagaraja adorned the stage.
The Utsavam is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a State Agency. CTU also receives matching grants from private corporations and significant donations from Annadatas and a main sponsor, all of which allow CTU to offer a grand festival at a subsidised admission price.
If you were at the festival, please feel free to email your observations to editor@KutcheriBuzz.com
