Atlanta, GA, April, 2017: Shruthilaya composer’s day was celebrated on March 4th at Hindu Temple of Atlanta. The year 2017 is Saint Tyagaraja’s 250th birth anniversary.
The event started with bhajans and keertanams followed by Saint Tyagaraja’s pancharatna kritis, which began with Sri Ganapathini in ragam Sowraashtram
Kala Vasudevan led the group with Shruthilaya’s co teacher Gayatri Krishnan and senior students.
Musicians who enhanced and enriched each and every kriti included Ravi Subramanian on the violin, Suresh Kothandaraman and Amit Narayan on the mridangam, Prashanth Kallur and Jayashri Venkat on the flute, Usha Venkatachalam on the Veena , Vikash Achutaramaiah on the morsing and kanjira.
The afternoon segment began with senior students paying homage to Saint Tyagaraja and concluding with Brindavani Tillana, a tribute to Dr. Balamurali Krishna.
Smriti & Archit Suresh contributed their talents in accompanying on the mridangam and kanjira.
This year’s event included a competition for varnams and kriti levels
The competition has always been a motivation for children to improve their singing and to acquire more knowledge
Esteemed musicians Salem Shriram, Prashanth Krishnamoorthy and Suresh Kothandaraman were invited to judge the competition.
Children were awarded prizes based on their performances and skills.
Excellence and recognition awards were given to selected children based on their consistent progress through the year.
The sound system was well managed by Neal Geidd.
