In keeping with the mission of supporting and celebrating cultural accomplishments of Indian American youth, the YCEP wing of the New England Hindu Temple in Ashland under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Rajagopal and with the support of Mr. K.G.Narayana arranged a fabulous event featuring the local music stars and a young saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan, an Indian American youngster making waves in the world of Carnatic music and Jazz. The ensemble included Durga Krishnan on the Veena,  Prasant Radhakrishnan on Saxophone, Tara Anand on  Violin and  Pravin Sitaram and Mali Santhanakrishnan on Mridungam.

The concert was held at the Keefe Technical High School in Framingham, MA on Saturday Oct 6 2007. The concert opened with the,  Kalyani Adi tala varnam ,Vanajakshi followed by Vathapi Ganapathim in Hamsadwani. The artists presented vatapi in an elaborate fashion including wonderful neraval at Pranava Swaroopa and swarams. It was delightful to get such an elaborate presentation right at the beginning of the concert.

Jagadanandakaaraka in Naattai was presented at a brisk tempo followed by Samajavaragamana  in Hindolam. Prasant did a fabulous job as he presented the raga alapanai and swarams. Amba Kamakshi a Swarajathi in Bhairavi in Misrachapu had Tara present a fabulous Bhairavi alapanai. Thani avartanam by Pravin and Mali was crisp and exciting.
 
The centerpiece of the concert was the RTP  in Mohanam set to  Kanda Thriputa thalam .. The Pallavi “sri lakshmi mahalakshmi dhanalakshmi santhana sowbhagya soundarya” was adapted by Durga Krishnan to make it a perfect offering for the Lakshmi temple.  Durga’s tanam presentation was scintillating. All the artists played different ragams played including  sahana and Revati by Durga Krishnan, Shanmugapriya and Behag by Tara Anand, Shubapantuvarali and  Valaji by prasant. Prasant also included some brief swarams incorporating tisra, khandam and misra nadais in the ragamalika. The Ragamalikai Swaram rounds gave a nice variety had a very good response with the audience while still being balanced and natural.

The evergreen number written by Rajaji, Kurai onrum illai in Ragamalika and the GNB composition Jayathi Jayathi in Kamas were a hit with audience.  Dhanasri Thillana
followed by  Bhagyadhe Lakshmi brought the concert to a close.

Having a wide variety of instruments with performers who have different versions of the standard Kritis is a great challenge especially when the musicians did not have enough time to practice together. The challenge was particularly great for the saxophone where the pitch was much higher pitch than Prasant was used to and he had to change his fingerings to accommodate the need of the ensemble.

So what the young man think of his experience “I really enjoyed the presentation. There was a great deal of camaraderie among the musicians. This concert was very unique in that it departed from the typical solo or duo artist format that is the mainstay in Carnatic music. It instead projected the unified musical vision where the priority was to present beautiful music as a whole. The uniquely layered sound that resulted in combining these instruments and response of the audience greatly validated the technical compromises and team approach of the concert” said Radhakrishnan.

Kudos to YCEP to celebrate the Indian American youth and best wishes to brilliant young Prasant Radhakrishnan who has embarked on a career in music. To learn more about his music please check out his website at
www.prasantmusic.com .

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