CHENNAI: The 35th Isai, Iyal, Nataka Vizha and 26th Bharatham Festival, organised by Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, which is kickstarting today, will see around 100 vocal concerts, says president Deccan N Krishnamoorthy. Senior artistes will perform in the evening slot, and upcoming artistes will be given slots at 1 pm, 2 pm and 4 pm, he said on the sidelines of a press meet ahead of the festival.
“Though it is true that the crowd for the noon slots is thin when compared to the evening slots, I personally feel that around 90 per cent of these budding artistes deserve the same audience strength,” he said.
Krishnamoorthy says that the sabha’s aim is to provide an equal platform for budding and senior artistes. “The concerts by upcoming artistes are non-ticketed. While there are 20 senior artistes who are performing, the number is around 60 when it comes to budding artistes. We want more rasikas to encourage them,” he said. “We have had several artistes who previously performed in the noon slots, becoming big in the field. In fact, Trichur brothers, Saketharaman and Mahathi, who used to be given the 4 pm slot until last year, will now be performing in the 6.30 pm slot,” he said.
The sabha, as per its yearly norm, awards both senior and upcoming artistes. While the awardees among the senior artistes are given the Vani Kala Sudhakara Award and cash prize of `1 lakh for their contribution to the carnatic music, dance and theatre, the junior artistes, whose performances are observed across different sabhas all through the year, are given the Vani Kala Nipuna award and cash prize of `25,000. The Vani Kala Sudhakara awardees this year include vocal artistes Priya Sisters (Shanmukha Priya and Hari Priya), saxophone Kadri Gopalnath, mridangam artiste V Kamalakar Rao, bharathanatyam dancer Leela Samson and theatre exponent R Neelakantan.
That apart, the dance recitals in January, 2015, will see eight senior artistes giving opportunities for their disciples to perform. That apart, the festival will also see solo performance by dancers, a few of them from abroad, he added.
The Isai Iyal Nataka Vizha and Bharatham Festival will be held at Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Mahaswami Auditorium, Vani Mahal, on December 9 at 6 pm.
Dancer Leela Samson is one of the awardees