In a typical concert, or kutcheri as it is known in Tamil, one usually hears songs composed by the musicians referred to as the Carnatic trinity—Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Shastry, all of whom created most of their work in the 18th century. Beyond the trinity, the preponderance of composers whose work is heard in Carnatic concerts lived in the 19th century. It is rare to hear a contemporary composer’s song in a Carnatic music concert. The recently concluded diwali music “season” 2023 paid tribute to a similar line-up of familiar compositions.
Performers prefer to sing pre-20th century compositions primarily because they are well-known and resonate with the audience immediately. The typical vocal concert features no more than 10-12 songs anchored around a main piece with a couple of “sub-mains” and a variety of thukkadas (“lighter” songs sung after the main song of the concert). This is a format that hasn’t changed much since the 1920s, when it was introduced. The large repertoire of well-known compositions from pre-20th century composers leaves little room in the main section of the concert for the compositions of contemporary composers. Audience expectations of the familiar, combined with the large choice of old favourites, is a key stumbling block to including newer compositions in concert line-ups
Avadhut music class students performed tremendously in Diwali performance in Tennessee kannada koota, Marathi Mandal, and Shree sai baba temple. They performed Shiva Thandava stotram stanza flawlessly with so much of devotion and dedication. Following that they performed Carnatic fusion and Diwali Bajans melodiesly. Music Teacher Bhairavi Dandapani and her students got a big round of applause and they were very excited about the appreciation from the audiences and by the committee.
