Sruti has been nurturing the classical performing arts of India in the Philadelphia-New Jersey-Delaware area for 20 years now. The Fall 2006 season showcased a variety of artistes in an interesting mix of music and dance.

Kiranavali Vidyasankar, a worthy torch bearer of the illustrious Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar clan, flagged off the Fall 2006 season with a wholesome concert. Held at the Bharatiya Temple Auditorium, her concert was well planned with an eclectic mix of compositions. She opened her concert with the Natakurinji Varnam, Chalamela, and followed it up with an invocation to Goddess Saraswati through the kriti Sarasiruhasanapriye (Nattai).

The highlights of her concert were Subbaraya Sastri's Sankari Neeve in Begada, followed by the popular Tyagaraja kriti Nannuvidachi in Reetigowla. The main item of the evening was the majestic Dikshitar composition in Todi, Srikrishnam bhaja manasa. She also presented a challenging Dharmavati Pallavi (a first in Sruti’s history) set to Chatusra jati Jhampa Tala in Khanda Nadai. K V S Vinay and Rohan Krishnamurthy provided good accompaniment on the violin and mridangam respectively. Rohan’s Tani Avartanam was especially note-worthy. Kiranavali’s recent relocation to the Delaware Valley is sure to provide a welcome fillip to the local Carnatic music scene.

The next concert in the line-up was by Sudha Raghunathan. This concert also marked Sruti’s 20th anniversary celebrations. Sudha started the evening with the brisk and pleasing Daru Varnam in Khamas, Mate Malayadhwaja. Following a couple of quick kritis like Sharanu Siddhi Vinayaka (Saurashtram) and Pahi Nikhila Janani (Nattai), Sudha sung an elaborate alapana in the seldom heard raga, Narayani. Tyagaraja’s Rama Neevegani was rendered well. Then came the centre piece of the concert - Syama Sastry’s gem in Kalyani, Birana varalichi. Sudha brought out the splendour of Kalyani in the alapana.

A very interesting Pallavi in Bhairavi, set to Tisra Jati Ata Tala, followed. The Pallavi, Sri Krishna Ganam, Venu Ganam, Madura Ganam, Srutiyodu Layamum Serum cleverly incorporated the word Sruti in its lyrics and each ragamalika swaras preceded a couple of lines from popular Oothukkadu songs about Krishna like Taye Yasoda in Todi or Alai Payude in Kanada. Her rendition of Kandanal mudalai (Madhuvanti) reminded one of the great M L Vasantakumari. Her accompaniments, Raghavendra Rao (violin), Neyveli Skandasubramaniam (mridangam) and R Raman (morsing), were great assets to Sudha Raghunathan.

Another memorable performance of the season was that of Maharajapuram Ramachandran. The overall effect of the concert was immensely heightened by the wonderful accompaniment of Nagai Muralidharan (violin) and veteran Mannargudi Easwaran (mridangam). Mannargudi Easwaran’s Tani Avartanam in particular, resounded like Siva’s Tandavam. Ramachandran also took care to provide a variety fare. It included a composition of Sri Ganapati Sachidananda Swami (Vinayaka) in the five Ghana ragas. His rendition of Ekamranatham (Purvikalyani) was equally memorable. The Ragam Tanam Pallavi showcased raga Begada.

We also had the opportunity to witness two high-quality dance recitals by Ramya Ramnarayanan and Priyadarshini Govind respectively. Ramya Ramnarayanan’s theme was Tyagaraja’s Pancharatnam, and in the allotted time of 90 minutes, she did justice to the compositions in Nattai, Arabhi and Sriragam. Priyadarshini Govind, with her live orchestra, gave a brilliant performance. Her depiction of a poem from the 'Purananooru' was especially emotive and moved everyone to tears.

Apart from the music and dance performances, Sruti also arranged two intensive workshops in preparation for the Tyagaraja Aradhana next year. The first, conducted by Kiranavali Vidyasankar, was on Pancharatna kritis. Held over 6 weekends every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it witnessed a participation of nearly 15 students between ages 9 and 70. The next workshop on a few select Utsava Sampradaya kritis of Tyagaraja is currently underway. The instructor for this is Prabha Subramaniam.