"Musically Yours" , maiden album from Yours Musically!!!

Hello, Hi, Namasthe!!

FINALLY we are out with our first official album, "Musically Yours", and we are planning to release it sometime during the season. We have rendered ten krithis in this album and the list includes :

1. Mathey : Varnam in Khamas

2. Mahaganapathe: Natanarayani

3. Amba Kamakshi: Bhairavi

4. Bho Shambho: Revathi

5. Raghuvamsasusdha: Kadanakudoohalam

6. Nannuvidachi: Reethi goula

7. Ramanai Bhajithal: Maandu

8. Pibhare Ramarasam: Aahir Bhairav

9. Thillana:  Behag

10. Vande Mataram: Desh followed by Mangala Slokam.

The accompanying artistes are:

Violin: Idappally Ajith Kumar

Mridangam : Trichur R Mohan

Ghatam: D.V. Venkatasubramaniam

Ganjira: Thrikkakara YN Shantharam.

We would like to thank our parents, Gurus, Uma (my wife), the accompanying artistes and all our well wishers amongst relatives and friends, who inspired us to come out with this first attempt. Also a special thanks to Mahallakshmi, who single handedly photographed and  designed the cover page (Pic attached in this posting). We gave her a very short notice and yet she worked admirably to get it out this quick. Will announce the release date in the blog ASAP.

Yours Musically,

Srikrishna Mohan (For Trichur Brothers)

Season Schedule 2009-2010.

Season Schedule 2009-2010:


December 4
Venue : Raga Research Centre
Time : 4.00 pm



December 10
Venue: SAFE, Shastri Hall, Mylapore
Time: 4.30 pm


December 11
Venue: Vipanchee, RK Swami hall
Time: 5.00 pm

December 18
Venue: Kapali Fine Arts, Shastri Hall
Time: 5.00 pm

December 20
Venue: Brahma Gana Sabha, Sivagami Pethachi hall, Mylapore
Time: 3.45 pm

December 22
Venue: Indian Fine Arts, German Hall
Time: 9.00 AM

December 24
Venue: Hamsavinodhini, West Mambalam
Time: 6.30 pm

December 25
Venue: Mylapore Fine Arts, Mylapore
Time: 3.00 pm

December 26
Venue: Kalarasana, Rani Seethai Hall (Tamil Only)
Time: 4.30 pm

December 27
Venue: Karthik Fine Arts, BVB Mini hall, Mylapore
Time: 5.00 pm

December 29
Venue: GK Foundation, Shastri Hall, Mylapore
Time: 6.30 pm

December 30
Venue: Krishna Gana Sabha, T Nagar
Time: 2.00 pm

January 1
Concert at Madurai

January 3
Venue: Bharath Kalachar, T. Nagar
Time: 9.00 am
Looking forward to seeing u all.
Trichur Brothers.

Concert at Thirumala Thirupathi

Date: 17th November

Time: 10.00AM to 12.00 noon.

Venue: The stage in front of the Temple entrance

At Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore , Chennai

Organised by Balaganmrutham

Date: 2nd October

Violin: V V Sreenivasa Rao

Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan

Ghatam: Venkat

Concert at Trichur for Navarathri

Date : 26th September, 2009
Venue: Kamakshi Kailasanathar temple, Thrikkur ( few kms away from Trichur)
Violin: L Ramakrishnan
Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan
Ghatam: Venkat



Date : 27th September, 2009
Venue: Karthyayini Temple, Pazhayanadakkavu, Trichur
Time: 6.30 pm
Violin: L Ramakrishnan
Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan
Ghatam: Venkat

HCL Concert series

Hi,
Catch us at Music Academy Mini Hall on :
27th, August, 6.30 pm
Violin: M Rajeev
Mridangam: Keerthivasan
This concert is part of the HCL series organised by Music Academy.

Musically Yours,
Brothers.

Concert on the 15th of August

Hi All,
We will be performing on the 15th of August as part of the Chathurthi Celebrations at:
Sri Sakthivinayagar temple,
Senthil Aandavar Street
Dhanlakshmi Colony
Vadapalani, Chennai
The concert begins at 6 pm.
Violin: MA Krishnaswami
Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan
Ghatam: Venkatasubramaniam

AIR Concert Live

Hello,
Just to inform that there is a live broadcast of our concert in AIR FM Gold at 3pm tomorrow. Be sure to listen.

Trichur Brothers.

Music Reality shows: Some observations

One of the most popular and common programs on any entertainment channel nowadays seems to be Music Competitions involving celebrity guests. Amazing publicity, super corporate sponsorships, outstanding sets, the best of orchestras and whatever else you can think of. I have not followed these competitions religiously but of whatever I have seen, sure, it keeps the viewer rooted to his seat and provides some entertaining music most of the times. It is again nice to see so many new faces who can genuinely give the popular singers a ride down the wrong lane. These singers now have a platform to perform and show case their skills at a level which they could have never dreamt of otherwise. The classiest example is Naresh Iyer. I am also told that one of the participants in Idea Star Singer, that comes on Asianet, Sri Sachidanandan, has his calendar booked with shows after he made a good case for himself in the competition. Also many professional musicians, like the orchestra members for example, now have a major source of regular income. This is heartening to see.

However, I do feel, one particular part of the competition where the singers are asked to dance (jump?) and act, while singing, is nothing, but, utter stupidity, for want of a better word. How on earth can you expect a person to sing and act well at the same time, especially when he will be judged by his probable child hood heroes within a matter of a few minutes, and with a whole world of pressure that stems from thousands that are watching him live and on TV. And I am sure most of them would have never done this before, as in, most of the singers would rather prefer to close their eyes for a melodious or soft number. Even if some singer enacts a lot of drama on stage and pumps the adrenaline level, this has to happen naturally and not thrust upon. Imagine a four foot five inches short and thin framed man given a jacket and a sunglass, and the most Hip hop outfit, making him look like a joker and totally out of place just because he is singing a song acted on screen by a Rajinikanth, Amir Khan, Mohanlal or even T. Rajinder if that’s his fate. I bet even the most versatile playback singer will falter if he is asked to do the same. I remember seeing one of the participants sing a very sad melancholic number and on being asked to act sad as well, made a big buffoon of himself, that even though the song was touching, it had most of the viewers laughing their hearts out. Poor thing and the media supposedly gets a lot of mileage out of this. Now, this makes me wonder as to the extent these competitions can spurt growth in a budding artist. For any budding singer, confidence is the surest and fastest way to set him on to the big stage. On the other hand, I did see certain episodes where the comments by the judges bordered in humiliating and insulting the singer. This is unfair, in spite of the fact that the judges are extremely knowledgeable and the fact that all this drama creates a huge favorable response from the viewers. It is always nice to sit back and judge and for the viewers to see what the judges have to say about a singer, especially when it is a bit dramatic. The more dramatic and critical, the better. In fact if the judges can make the participant weep in public they become heroes overnight. And yes, I forgot, they will have a sad music, specially practiced by the orchestra for this golden moment. Nowadays even the parents, brother, sister and friends of the participants are shown weeping. Crazy!!!. But of course that is the life blood of any reality show in India at least. Very unfortunate. For me, this definitely takes away the crown of an otherwise excellent competition.

Dramatically yours, :-)
Srikrishna Mohan.

Thyagaraja Jayanthi telecast in DD

Namasthe,

Shri Thyagaraja Jayanthi festival that happened in Trichur a couple of weeks back will be telecasted in DD Malayalam in 4 episodes. Each of the episodes will cover concerts by Shri Kadri Gopalnath, Chitraveena Shri Ravikiran, Shri OS Thyagarajan and Shri TN Seshagopalan. It will also include clippings of the Pancharathna Krithi rendition headed by Shri Saranathan and Shri Banglore Selvanarayana. The time will be 2 pm every Saturday.

Jai Sitaram.

Catch us at Chembur Fine arts on June 19th

June 19th,

Venue: Chembur Fine Arts, Mumbai

Time: 7 pm

Violin: Madhavan

Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan

Ghatam: Shakthidhar

October 2,

Venue: Balaganamrutham, Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore

Thyagaraja Jayanthi at Trichur

Namaskaram Rasikas,

Shri Gurubhyo Namaha,

This message is to announce the re- commencement of Shri Thyagaraja Jayanthi at Trichur. The event is scheduled to begin on the 5th of June under the auspices of the Nada Laya Pravah Academy of Music. Eminent artistes are participating in the Jayanthi celebrations, Sri TN Seshagopal, Shri OS Thyagarajan, Shri Kadri Gopalnath and Chitraveena Shri Ravikiran, to name a few. I invite each and every music lover to grace the occasion with your participation.

I am pasting a scanned copy of the invite for reference.

Talk show postponed to next Friday

Hi All,
We just came to know that the talk show featuring us will be telecast only from the next week , instead of from tomorrow as informed in an earlier post.
Day and time remain the same, i.e, 7.30 am , Friday.
Regards,
Trichur Brothers.

Talk Show in Vasanth TV

Hello Friends,
Just to inform you that we did a talk show in Vasanth TV that will be telecasted on Friday (15th of May) at 7.30 a.m. Its a casual chat show, but we did sing a number of compositions. Do tune in to Vasanth TV on Friday morning to catch the action.
Musically yours,
Trichur Brothers.

19th February 2009, a day to remember.

Shri Gurubhyo Namaha,
On the 19th of February this year, we had an opportunity to perform at Shri Kanchi Mutt, right in front of Shri Maha Periyaval's Adhishtanam. The concert was arranged as part of HH Shri Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal's Jayanthi celebrations. We reached Kanchi around 5.00 pm. and as always the atmosphere of the Matam was electrifying and serenely calm. What else can we expect of a place sanctified by the Acharyas descending from Shri Adi Sankara himself. As Carnatic musicians , I am sure, everybody would feel the subtle yet brilliant echo of Kanchadaladakshi and Amba Kamashi rendered by Deekshithar and Shyama Sastrigal respectively, as they enter the precincts of this sacred city. Kanchi pulsates with our culture ranging from Vedas, Agamas to the fine arts that flourished during the days of our Rishis.

Needless to say, we can invoke the Bhava resplendant in all the Krithis, when rendered here. One such evening we thoroughly enjoyed on the 19th of February 2009. We chose to sing Mokshamu Galada as the main. MA Sundaresan mama on the violin was brilliant and the soul refreshing accompaniment of our dad on the Mridangam and Venkat on the Ghatam added to the beauty of the Krithi. Saramathi itself is a deeply meditative raga and the ambience that the Matam radiated made it all the more serene.

What followed after the concert made the day one of the most memorable in our lives. HH Shri Vijayendra Saraswathy Swamigal came and blessed all of us. HE was gettting ready for the evening Puja and was in a little hurry. As we were prostrating there was an announcement stating that Shri Matam is conferring a title on us. "Sangeetha Nada Mani" the title read. This means a lot to us and our family who have had the Kanchi Acharyas as our our Gurus for so many generations. As kids we were blessed to have sung before the Acharyas. I am sure we will cherish this title forever.

Yours Musically,
Srikrishna Mohan. (Trichur Brothers)

Nada Laya Pravah Academy of Music

Hi Friends,
Have been planning to write about our music school for sometime now. We recently launched our music school Nada Laya Pravah , which is a branch of our school in Trichur, in Chennai. The founder Chairman of the Academy is our dad Trichur R Mohan. Classes are available for Vocal (Carnatic and Hindusthani), Mridangam and Violin. We are also planning to include Bharathanatyam in the near future. Special sessions by eminent artistes and various talent promotion schemes like the Inter State Cultural Exchange venture (included artistes from Kerala performing in Karnataka and vice versa) are included to motivate and inspire the students. We have also kick started training through the internet for out station and over seas students. Feel free to contact me through my email mohan.srikrishna@gmail.com. Also you can contact us at : 91 9380543665; 91 9884821760; 91 44 32957846.

Musically Yours,
Srikrishna Mohan (Trichur Brothers)

Month of February

February 3rd:
Venue: Eranakulathappan Temple, Eranakulam, Kerala.
Time: 6.30 pm
Violin: T.H. Subrahmaniam
Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan
Ghatam: Gopinathaprabhu

February 28th:
Venue: Nada Sudha, Velachery
Time: 6.30 p.m.
Violin: L Ramakrishnan
Mridangam: Trichur R Mohan
Ghatam: Venkat

Concerts for the month of January 2009

January 4th,

Venue: Bharath Kalachar Auditorium,

Time: 10.30a.m-12.30pm

Violin: R.K. Shriramkumar

Mridangam: Arun Prakash

Ghanjira: Purusshothaman

January: 9th

Madipakkam

6.30pm

(Details ASAP)

January 11th:

MLV Rasigar Mandram, Sastri Hall, Mylapore

6.30pm

(Details asap)

January 18th:

Sarwani Sangeeth Sabha, Music Academy Mini Hall

6.30 pm

(Details ASAP)

Chembai Mama and my dad.

Namasthe,

I was quite happy to see the Times Newspaper, Chennai edition, introducing a few Carnatic Music bloggers to the rasikas at large. I am here to share yet another incident that relates to the great Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.

Chembai mama, as he is lovingly addressed, was a great devotee of Guruvayoorappan. For those of you, who are yet to visit this Punya Kshethram, I strongly request you to do so. The temple stands as a testimony to the wonders and miracles that numerous devotees have experienced and still do. A few words about the temple will not be out of place. This Kshethram which is approximately 27 kms from Trichur is one of the most ancient shrines in the state. Guru and Vayu are supposed to have built this for Lord Sankarshana Moorthy. The method of worship (Puja Vidhi) is prescribed by none other than Acharya Adi Shankara. Narayaneeyam, the great hymn on Bhagavan Shri Krishna was composed at this very place. Our own Chembai mama regained his lost voice at the mercy of the Lord here. The famous Chembai annual music festival is conducted by the administration of the temple itself. Chembai mama will for ever be the one who has performed the maximum number of dawn to dusk (Udayasthamana) puja at this temple, as I was told that , the puja is booked so often nowadays that the earliest date available is not during one’s own life span. Coming back to the subject, Shri Chembai was so attached to Guruvayoorappan that he literally gave away whatever he earned from his concerts to the temple ever since he turned 60 years of age. He would travel only by second class coach for a very long time so that the money saved would be an additional contribution to the temple. The man has also the reputation of having a character, so spot less in nature and so admirable in its self less ness. He was the driving force to nurture many artistes towards making a mark in their chosen fields. This includes my dad among so many others.

Let me tell you about my dad, Shri Trichur R Mohan’s very first stage appearance as a mridangist. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, Chembai mama stayed at our place whenever he toured Trichur. During one such occasion, it so happened that he listened to my dad practicing Mridangam. Dad was hardly past his teens and had been learning from Shri Koduvayoor Radhakrishnan for not more than a year. Chembai mama called him and announced in front of the entire family, “Mohan, you are accompanying me on the Mridangam for my next concert”. I am sure he must have been pleasantly surprised if not rudely shocked. Chembai was a household name in Kerala and had a reputation par excellence. To accompany him is no easy task. My dad vehemently refused, saying that he has never performed on stage so far. To this retort, the Bhagavathar asked, “How many months have you been playing the Mridangam?” Six months came the reply. “Do you know how many years I have been singing? For more than sixty years. Is it you or I, who knows better as to who can accompany me for my concert?” The matter was decided before anybody could protest. Chembai mama gave rigorous training to my dad for the next few months and lo! , as he had announced, my dad did accompany him on that fateful day. The concert was a big turning point in his career, as Chembai gave him a title on stage. “Sangeetha Lokathil Dhruvan”, translates as Dhruva in the world of music. The title, Chembai mama explained, meant to show that within a short span of time he had blossomed into a Vidwan in the field of Mridangam. For hundreds of concerts including the very last concert of Chembai Mama, my dad was fortunate to have accompanied him on the Mridangam. Thus began a wonderful journey, for which all of us are grateful to Chembai Shri Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.