Malladi Brothers are known for their vibrant and mesmerising voices in their extensive repertoire of Thyagaraja Krits. They were in the city to receive the 6th Indira Sivasailam Endowment Award from TAFE when I had an exclusive chat with them. “We are extremely glad that we received the award on this very day, as it is our mentor Nedanoori Krishnamurthy’s birthday and also coincides with our silver jubilee concert in Chennai,” say the brothers.
Indira Sivasailam’s deep-rooted conviction that South Indian classical musicians, par excellence, should be encouraged and recognised is well known. Every year, the foundation recognises an outstanding Carnatic musician, based on an established set of criteria which includes excellence in performance, audience appeal, adherence to classical tradition while innovating within its frame work, depth of knowledge, demonstrated efforts to disseminate knowledge, and the ability to bring about a greater and deeper appreciation for Carnatic music.
The indomitable choice for endowment medal and concert was Malladi Brothers, Sree Rama Prasad and Malladi Ravikumar, who have instituted Sama Gana Lahari Cultural Trust dedicated to the propagation and promotion of carnatic music. In the last five years, Malladi Brothers, have set about, documenting all their compositions with notations in the form of a book and have released kirtanas of Sri Narayana Thirtha and Bhadrachala Ramadasar, in English and Telugu.
Since 2010, Carnatic musicians like Sudha Raghunathan, Sanjay, Aruna Sairam, Bombay Jayashri and T M Krishna have been conferred this honour. With an aim to bridge the gap between the artists and rasikas, the trust had organised ‘Anwesha Quest’, which invites questions on Carnatic music. The top 30 finalists were invited for an interactive Q&A session with the Malladi Brothers.
The trust extends an invitation in all to the concert of Malladi Brothers at the Music Academy on October 9, also marking the beginning of the Navarathri.