Classical music/dance lovers are in for a visual and aural treat from July 29 (Sunday), when the 70th Sri Thyagaraja Annual Festival of Music and Dance will begin at Sri Thyagaraja Mandapam. Sri Venkateswara Vedic University Vice-Chancellor S.Sudarsana Sarma will inaugurate the programme, while TTD Chairman Kanumuri Bapi Raju and Executive Officer L.V. Subrahmanyam take part.

The 11-day event in the temple city will be a mix of concerts by some of the reputed as well as upcoming artistes from across the country. Reputed instrumentalists like T. N. Krishnan (violin), N. Ramani (flute), U. Srinivas (mandolin), Geetha Krishnamurthy (Veena), Jayanti Kumaresh (Veena) and vocalists Bombay Sisters, Charumathi Ramachandran, Panthula Rama, M. S. Sheela, T. M. Krishna etc. will perform on the occasion. “A total of 29 programmes by 32 artistes will be the highlight this year, while Kathak dance performance by Saptharshi Roy and ‘Harikatha’ by scholar Simhachala Sastri are expected to be different,” K. V. Ranganathan, executive chairman of Sri Thyagaraja Trust, said at a media conference here on Friday. He said plans were afoot to modify the hall into an all-encompassing air-conditioned auditorium to generate income for the trust.

Honorary title

This year, the honorary title ‘Sapthagiri Sangeetha Vidwanmani’ will be conferred on vocalist Malladi Suribabu, violinist T. Rukmini and Mridangam exponent Guruvayur Dorai. The honour includes draping of a silk shawl and presentation of a gold dollar, a memento and a citation. V. Shankar, president of Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai, who is also the chief patron of Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, will present the awards.

General secretary Kanchi Raghuram, treasurer V. S. Narasimhachari, trustees Subrahmanyam Reddy, Venugopal Reddy, M. Dorai Raj, K. Vidyasagar and Sundarrami Reddy were present.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Tirupati, July 28th, 2012