The NAK crew: (From left) Charulatha Chandrasekar, Swarathmika Srikanth, Adithya Raja, Shreelakshmi Bhat and Vamsidhara Anand.
| Picture Credit score: Particular Association

Social media might have turn out to be the go to medium for younger artistes to attach with viewers throughout the globe, however the attraction of a stay efficiency won’t ever fade. Artistes are exploring new methods of in-person displays. One such is ‘Namba Aathu Katcheri’, an initiative by a gaggle of younger artistes, the place chamber concert-meets-technology. Because the title suggests, the live shows are held in an interactive and intimate setting. However in contrast to standard chamber live shows, they’re additionally stay streamed.

Conceptualised by Adithya Raja, a younger Carnatic music fanatic, the group consists of vocalist Swarathmika Srikanth, violinist Shreelakshmi Bhat, and mridangist Vamsidhara Anand.

The initiative is designed to host performances by each established and younger artistes to interact rasikas of all ages. The primary episode featured a gaggle of artistes singing Tyagaraja’s Pancharatna kritis. It occurred at Swarathmika’s home.

New method

In a well-lit lounge of an condo in Nanganallur, the rasikas are seated on the ground. The microphones and cameras are all in place, and vocalists Dhruv and Dhatre are joined by mridangist Anirudh Raj and violinist Gayathri Vibhavari. Dhruv chooses a slip of paper from a bowl and begins to sing the kriti written on it. “Whereas we comply with the standard format of the Carnatic kutcheri, these new approaches utilizing gamification have attracted millennial rasikas and younger artistes”, says the NAK crew.

Over the past six months, the crew has performed 11 thematic live shows each alternate Sundays. The themes included ‘Actual-time Pallavis’ (focusing solely on pallavis), ‘The Duality’ (bringing out two features of a composition), ‘Welcoming Varali’ (that includes seven totally different Varali ragas), and ‘The Unsung Abhangs’.

Highlight on instrumentalists

The NAK crew additionally goals to recognise the importance of instrumentalists and guarantee they get the highlight they deserve. The solo instrumental performances included ‘Strings and Swarams’ (a mandolin live performance based mostly on chittaswaras), ‘Exploring Tadhinginathom’ (mridangists presenting panchanadai) and ‘+4 to -4’ (a flute and mridangam live performance).

At ‘The Wheel of Ragas’ live performance, violinist Shreelakshmi together with mridangist Sannath Parameswaran performed ragas beginning with the alphabet chosen from a spin-off wheel that was randomly displayed on a display. “It was a singular expertise. I performed a lot of the ragas impromptu,” says Shreelakshmi.

What makes this initiative extra pleasurable for artistes is that they’ll carry out in informal garments. , , “Right here, artistes have the liberty to decide on their theme, co-performers, and repertoire”.

Says vainika Charulatha Chandrasekar, who led ‘Solo Duo’, NAK’s first instrumental kutcheri “We experimented with ragam-tanam-pallavi in Vanaspati raga, with mridangists Vamsidhara and GN Bhuvan taking part in for the tanam, which is seldom heard in conventional kutcheris”.

Social media presence

NAK has embraced the web media too — from attention-grabbing promos about apply periods and content material discussions to the digital presentation of pillar graphics displayed on display throughout live-streamed kutcheris andshort movies of distinctive performances.

Vamsidhara shares, “The promo shoots are probably the most fun-filled as they arenaturally shot, and nothing is scripted”. We’ve acquired messages from unknown rasikas asking for extra promos and Highlight movies”.

Adithya provides, “Some senior artistes akin to mridangists Sumesh Narayanan and Delhi Sairam, and vocalist Bharath Sundar have watched our on-line content material and have evinced curiosity in taking part in NAK kutcheris. That is very encouraging.”

Whereas kutcheris have been initially held at artistes’ houses, the crew is now taking it to the houses of rasikas. The primary such live performance was at Valasarawakkam. “These to host a kutcheri can message us on our social media handles”, says Adithya.

Classes by consultants

In a bid to increase the musical horizons, NAK is taking a look at music schooling. “We have now deliberate to ask consultants to share their insights on the varied features of Carnatic music. Our first interactive workshop titled ‘Richness in alapanas and swaram’ will probably be performed by vainika Ramana Balachandran,” say the crew members.

NAK is engaged on a wide range of thrilling initiatives to bridge the hole between classical music and music lovers.