Vocalist Tulasi Viswanath’s concert paid tribute to late guru G.V Ramakumari.

Swarajhari sabha of Vijayawada conducted a vocal concert by V.L.Tulasi Viswanath of Rajahmundry, a senior disciple of G.V. amakumari and veteran vidwan Annavarapu Ramaswamy at Sri Sringeri Peetha Paripalita Sivaramakrishna Kshetram.

The sabha dedicated the concert to the memory of vidushi G.V. Ramakumari who passed away recently at the age of 90, leaving her innumerable disciples in gloom.

Ramakumari who worked as a vocal lecturer in the G.V.R. Government College of Music and Dance, Vijayawada for nearly 20 years, endeared herself to her countless students and admirers with her kind hearted and dedicated nature. She was an ideal teacher of vocal and violin and also a charitable person who gave all she had to help many people including students who were unable to pay their college or school fees.

For Sangeeta Sanmandali, an organisation which conducts Thyagaraja Vardhanthi every year, Ramakumari donated the cost of the Panchaloha idol of Anjaneyaswamy which amounted to Rs.20,000. Her charitable disposition knew no bounds. Ramakumari was disciple of the legendary guru Parupalli Ramakrishnaiah Pantulu and inherited her guru’s style of singing and teaching.

Before the concert, a brief condolence meeting was held in her memory. Vidwans Annavarapu Ramaswamy, Modumudi Sudhakar and several senior students of the vidushi paid touching tributes to late Ramakumari.

The meeting was followed by a fine vocal concert by Tulasi Viswanath, a senior singer who received her initial training from late Ramakumari.

Tulasi, a post-graduate in music, sports a sweet voice and neat style of rendering. With her immense ‘pathantaram’ she can commandingly sing many rare ragas and compositions. She began her concert with Sri Mahaganapathim in Abhogi and followed it with Kamakshi Sri Varalakshmi of Dikshitar in Bilahari preceding the kirtana with a fine raga essay. After singing Parasakthi in Saveri, Tulasi presented an elaborate and soulful raga delineation of Gowrimanohari and sang Varalakshmi Namosthuthe of Mysore Vasudevachar.

However, the highlight in Tulasi Viswanath’s concert was the sumptuous presentation of Thyagaraja’sDachukovalena in Todi complementing it with rich raga, neraval and kalpana swaras. She was excellently followed on the violin by her brother P. Nandakumar and on the mridangam by P.S.Phalgun, both staffers of Government Music colleges in Guntur and Vijayawada respectively. M. Haribabu played the ghatam. Nandakumar’s solo versions of Todi and Gowrimanohari and the rousing tani presented by Phalgun and Haribabu were also impressive.

Towards the close of the concert Tulasi rendered Sri Kanakadurge in Navarasakannada and a thillana of Balamurali in Ahirbhairav.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> Music / by R Surya Rao / September 10th, 2015

TDP MLC Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy led men of letters in honouring Prakasam Zilla Rachayitala Sangham president B. Hanuma Reddy for his contributions in enriching the language.

“It was based on the valuable inputs provided by the Sangham, I was able to articulate the demand for classical language status for Telugu effectively in Parliament,” said the former MP at a function got up to felicitate the Sangham president who was honoured with ‘Gidugu Bhasha Puraskar’ by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu recently.

Accepting the felicitations, Mr. Hanuma Reddy observed that the onus of nurturing Telugu language was equally with the governments in Telangana and AP as also the Centre. Sangham secretary Ponnuri Venkata Srinivasulu sought setting up of academies for fine arts across the two States for promotion of music, dance and literature.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Ongole – September 07th, 2015