FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS - Pranavam …pranavammusic.com/2014 Pranavam Program.pdfInvocation or prayer song (representing the Gam title music of our program this year) ... ragam

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS @

GARLAND PLAZA THEATRE ON

23rd AUGUST, 2014.

INVOKING THE BLESSINGS OF GURU, SRI N.R. PRASHANTH

It gives me immense pleasure to learn about the progress of your school and its scaling great heights. I come across a large band of young and talented students around the world pursuing the art with a lot of commitment. I feel very happy for them. I wish all the students at Pranavam a happy 5th annual day celebrations and hope you will all sing very well.

Raga Bhakthi and Ragaanugraham are prime, meaning as we travel in our journey learning and discovering the raga, our intentions must be raga bhakthi towards the raga and the raga would bless us more with its nuances. Unerring dedication towards the art, undoubted trust in the Guru, and raga bhakthi are the most essential karthavya (duty) of a student of music. Music is unending and realizing music never ends. I humbly feel music must be more spiritual than mathematical in elating one’s soul. I wish all the very best for the students at Pranavam and they will surely do very well under the guidance of Smt. Santhi Mahadevan. Blessings and Regards,

N.R. Prashanth.

Fifth Anniversary Celebration

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ABOUT THE SCHOOL AND THE TEACHER Pranavam School of Music is devoted to teaching and imparting Carnatic classical music to all true aspirants. The music school has been operational in Dallas, Texas for the past 5 years. With more than 150 students on roll and thematic annual recitals in large auditoriums in the past 4 years, it recently achieved the landmark of moving into a studio of its own. The school is set to extend its services to a second branch in Frisco in the new academic year.

In just 5 years, the school has successfully conducted a full-fledged arangetram of a student at Chennai and several mini arangetrams of students, in Dallas. The school is represented at every major Carnatic music event in the metroplex and its students have won several prizes in many Carnatic music competitions.

Pure and traditional but varied music for all is the characteristic hallmark of Pranavam.

Smt. Santhi Mahadevan is one of the senior disciples of two illustrious Gurus, Smt. Bhanumathy Raghuraman (disciple and daughter of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Prof. Dr. S. Ramanathan) and Sangeetha Kala Nipuna Sri. N. R. Prashanth. Santhi has studied Carnatic music since the age of six and continues to be guided by Sri. Prashanth. She is a high graded artist of All India Radio, and is a regular performer at the Chennai Music Festival since 2000. She has given concerts in other Indian cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi as also in other countries like Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States. She has also many albums to her credit. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, she is a much sought after teacher of music in the DFW metroplex and the founder director of the Pranavam School of Music. Above all, Santhi is an avid rasika of carnatic music and has unending passion for it

Academically, Santhi holds two master’s degrees, one each in Marine Science and Bio-Acoustics, from the Loughborough University in UK. She has also served the National University of Singapore as professor.


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COMPOSITIONS BEING PRESENTED BY THE STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL AT THE 5TH

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS (Every single item in today’s event is in praise of Lord Ganesha, the

remover of all obstacles, He who is worshipped first)

Invocation or prayer song (representing the title music of our program this year) – Gam Ganapathey Namo Namah in ragam Hamsadhwani set to Roopaka talam (or Adi talam in thisra nadai), a composition of Harikeshanallur Muthiaah Bhagavathar in Sanskrit will be presented by students, who are going to attempt manodharma sangeetham too. The participants are students in Group 10 Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand and Sahana Prabhu Students in Group 9 will present two krithis now, the first one in ragam Begada, a famous composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar in roopaka talam – Vallabha Nayakasya Bhaktho Bhavami and Bhaja Maanasa Vigneswaram – a composition of Thulasivanam in ragam Bahudhari and set to Adi talam.

Aarthy Sundaresan

Adithya Murthy

Amrutha Koteeswaran

Archana Murthy

Deepanjli Donthula

Madhurima Narendran

Samhitha Bandaru

Sreeragini Ghantasala

Students in Group 3 will be up on stage next, a batch of small cute little ones – They will present a composition of Dikshithar in ragam Eesha Manohari, set to roopaka talam – Sree Gananaatham Bhajare.

Ishanvi Iyer

Jaahnavi Swaminathan

Maanasa Vallabhaneni

Neha Neerukonda

Preethi Makam

Sruthi Subramanian

Students in Group 2 will be up on stage next. They will present a Ganesha Krithi in ragam Sindhu Bhairavi, set to Chathusra Jaathi Eka talam, composed by the father of carnatic music, Saint Purandhara Daasar – Eka Dantha Vakrathunta Vignaraajane.

Adhana Krishnaswamy

Advaith Iyer

Akash Vetrivel

Anirudh Bandaru

Anirudh Radhakrishnan

Aparna Nair

Bala H Iyer

Deepa Vasudevan

Ishana Krishnan

Mega Narumanchi

Mrittika Gnanavelu

Neelesh Kumar

Neeraj Gnanavelu

Nimmi Vempati

Rohan Abraham

Sanjana Vallampati

Shanmathi Venkatesan

Shriya Senapathi

Sreedevi Chakka

Tejas Devata

Veda Devata


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Students in Group 6 will present another Ganesha composition. This one is in the captivating ragam Mohana, set to adi talam – Raktha Ganapathim Bhajeham- a composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar. The partipants are

Adithya Murthy Archana Murthy

Balatripura Somanchi Bhamathi Bhat

Pranav Harathi,

Students of Group 5 will present two krithis on Lord Ganesha now, the first one - an ever green composition of Sri. Papanasam Shivan in ragam Thillang set to adi talam – Sri Ganesha Sharanam. The second one is in ragam Bangaala, set to Deshaadi talam, composed by the Bard of Thiruvayyaaru, Saint Thyagaraja - Giri raja Sutha Thanaya.

Aditi Anand Apurva Anand Divya Jagadeesh

Pavithra Upadhya Sanjay Salem Srinidhi Mahadevan

Surya Salem Uma Reddy

Students in Group 7 (all adults) will now present two popular compositions on Sree Ganapathi. The first one in ragam Gowlai, set to adi talam – Pranamaamyaham Sri Gowrisutham – composed by Mysore Vasudevaacharyar. The second one is a composition by Sri. Papanasam Shivan in ragam Sriranjani, set to adi talam – Gajavadana Karuna Sadhana. The Singers are

Aparna Srinivasan Anu sunderarajan Easwaran Pallipuram Hema Praturi

Himabindu Devata Jayanthi Maya Lakshmi Santosh Nitin Nalin

Santhi Mahadevan Shaila Sridharan

Students in Group 10 will now present two more krithis, one in ragam Saveri – a comparatively rare composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar in Thisra Eka talam (2 Kalai) - Kari Kalabha Mukham. The students will attempt advanced manodharmam in this piece. And another one by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Jayachaamaraja Wodeyar – Sree Mahaganapthim Bhajeham tuned in the lilting Ataana ragam, set to adi talam.

Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand and Sahana Prabhu

Students of Group 8 will present three krithis of Lord Ganesha:

A rare but beautiful composition of Narayana Theerthar in ragam Nattai – Jaya Jaya Swamin, set to adi talam. Ganapathiyae Karuna nidhiyae in Karaharapriya set to Adi talam- a composition of Sri. Papanasam Shivan, Ganapathey Mahamathey in ragam Kalyani- composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar in roopaka talam The participants are

Akhilesh Anand Divya Chakkaram Easwaran Pallipuram Keerthana Shivakumar

Ramya Prasad Reshma Menon Sneha Pallipuram Sreyalakshmi Kodela

Sruthi Sundaresan Vandana Seshadri Vignesh Subramanian


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Students of Group 4 will present a composition in the ragam Chakravaakam, set to adi talam. It is a composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar – Gajaananayutham Ganeswaram

Aprajitha Donthula

Arunika Chodavaram

Ashvvath Vijay

Karthik Rajagopal

Lasya Jandhyala

Manasi Ramkumar

Manyasai Bhaskarapanthula

Nandini Thiagarajan

Nithya Sridharan

Pravik Tarala

Radhakrishna Bharathi

Rithi Tarala

Srinidhi Jagadeesh

Vasanthi Kotha

Veda Peapully

Students of Group 1 – the little ones on roll at the school will now present a Nottuswaram on Lord Ganesha – Ganapathe sugunaanidhe mahathe, in ragam Sankaraabharanam, set to adi talam in thisra nadai. The little ones will be joined by a few adults too. The participants in this presentation are

Aditi Kavoor Aiswarya Sukumar Akshaya Rajaiyyan Akshitha Pindi Alexa Kattampally Ananya Seshadri Chaithra Kandarpa Chithra Chandrakumar Dhruv Karthik Alamuri Easwar Mahadevan Grishmashri Geedipally

Karthikeyaverma Dantuluri Madhu Satrasala Naumika devi Dantuluri Om Pothukuchi Roja Perumandla Saipriya Metla Sanjana Ramineni Sanvi Nagabhirava Shanthi Kay Shivani Gopal

Shravya Billa Shreya Billa Sreeanasuya Pothukuchee Sreesha Srinivasan Sreya Jampana Sriya Nallala Suhaas Voruganti Tarini Ramaswamy Vaishnavi Sukumar Vivek Marangati

Students of Group 9 return to sing two more Ganesha krithis – Sidhi Vinayakam Anisham in ragam Shanmukhapriya set to roopaka talam, composed by Muthuswamy Dikshithar. The second one is by Dikshithar too, in roopaka talam in ragam Malahari – Pancha maathanga mukha Ganapathi.

Group 10 will bring our program to the grand finale by singing two more compositions – The first one in Ragam Janaranjani set to adi talam, composed by Harikeshanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar- Maha Ganapathe Sugunaanidhe. The second one is in Ragam Reethigowla set to adi talam, an ever popular composition by Brahmasree Papanasam Shivan - Thatvam Ariya Tharama.


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GUEST OF HONOR SRI S.P. KRISHNAMURTHY

Shri Krishna Murthy is well known to many in our community as he has lived here in the DFW area for nearly four decades and has been active in many fronts. He has been very involved in the Temple activities for over thirty years and most of us are very familiar with his "Naadopaasanaa" events at the Temple. He has often expressed that our pujas would be complete only with all upachaaras three of which are Nritya, Geetha and Vaadya (Dance, vocal and instrumental music).

Shri Krishna Murthy entered his professional career as an Electrical Power Engineer in 1961 and subsequently turned a management executive in the International business management and finance positions. He worked for companies in the U.K., India, USA, Poland, etc., and his business career took him to most parts of the world; he has visited over sixty countries. Before retirement, he was the CEO of Polish Telephone and Microwave Corporation and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of DTS/ZWUT in Warsaw, Poland. Shri Krishna Murthy was President of the India Association of North Texas in 1986. At the request of Indian Ambassadors Sri Kishan Rana and Shri P.K. Kaul, he was the Lead organizer of the first ever Software Promotional Expo/conference organized by the Government of India in 1986-87. He was also the Chairman of the DFW Chapter of the Robotics International of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in 1986-87. He is a Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

He started "Naadopaasanaa" about thirteen years ago when he realized that girls from India with great accomplishments in Carnatic music and/or Bharata Natyam moved to the USA on getting married to persons living here and found that there was no outlet for them to exhibit their talents. As the Upasanaa through Naadam and Nrityam are very significant aspects of our pujas based on Kalpa Sastras, the "Naadopaasanaa" organization serves the needs of the temple and also helps the talented performers settling in the DFW area.

He is affectionately called “Mama” in our community in DFW and enjoys this large circle of nephews and nieces. They continue to give him tremendous satisfaction for his community involvement. He feels very indebted to them for their immeasurable affection, appreciation and care.


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ACCOMPANYING ARTISTS OF THIS EVENING

Smt. Sita Jayanth (on the violin) - Sita

comes from a family of music lovers and

enthusiasts. She is the third generation in her

family playing the violin. This left her no

choice as she got inducted into it at a very

early age. Her initial training and guidance

came from her own father Sri. B.R.

Manickam, who lived in the steel

city of Jamshedpur India and presently

resides with Sita and her family in Coppell.

As time progressed, Sita moved

to Chennai to be under the tutelage of Late

Sri Kandadevi Alagiri Swami. Learning never stopped as it is indeed a continuous

journey. She has capitalized on several opportunities to polish her violin techniques from

visiting violin artist Vidwan Sri. T.S. Krishnamurthy from Bangalore, India. Sita has

performed in several dance arangetrams, vocal concerts, nadopasanas and other cultural

events in the DFW area and around the country. In 2011, she was an integral part of the

group “Music Bridges”, a world renowned organization and played violin at the

International Music Festival in San Antonio learning intricate nuances from iconic violin

Vidwan Sri Vittal Ramamurthy of Chennai. Since then, she has been very fortunate to be

under Vittal Sir’s guidance in a quest to add richness, grace, melody and harmony to her

playing style. Sita is thankful to the Lord and all her gurus without whom she would not

be here on stage today. By profession, she is a business analyst working for a financial

institution and lives with her family in Coppell.


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Chi. Thirumalai Krishna (on the mridangam)

Krishna is a student of Vidwan Sri Poovalur

Sriji. For his Arangetram in July 2013, he

accompanied Vidwan Sri Saketharaman. Since

then, he has been playing for numerous

Aradhanas, concerts, and other music programs on a

regular basis. During the 2013 Decembermusic

festival, he played for many vidwans in India.

Krishna is entering Jasper High School this fall. He

plays Alto Saxophone in his school band.

Kum. Aishwarya Ravindran (on the

mridangam) is a budding Mridangam artist

from the DFW area. Aishu has been learning

mridangam for the past 4 years from Vidwan

Sri. Ganesh Devarajan, who is also her uncle.

She finds herself to be very fortunate to be one

of the few women to be able to learn this art

form. Apart from Mridangam, Aishu is also a

classically trained Bharatanatyam dancer and

Carnatic Singer. Aishu is a sophomore

attending the University of Texas at Dallas. She thanks Santhi aunty for this great

opportunity to be able to play today.


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PRANAVAM SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRINCIPAL’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2013 – 2014

Distinguished Guest of Honor, respected accompanying artists of the evening and their families, dear parents, students, connoisseurs of Carnatic music, and well wishers of the school – I place before you the academic year 2013 - 2014 in review. As we have completed the landmark 5th year, I feel very proud to present this annual report with plenty of positives and laurels to share.

Growth of the School – For the past 5 years now, I have been talking about our humble origin and tremendous growth thereafter. I can very authoritatively state that each and every child enrolled at our school is proud to be its student and they take the name of the school with pride.

The school has been registered in the state of Texas, USA as a Limited Liability Company and now runs from a professional studio at Suite 107, Allen Plaza, 515 W. Main Street, Allen 75013. The school is also very happy and proud to bring its services to the town of Frisco starting in the month of September, 2014. This is happening because of very popular demand.

Quality and variety are certainly the hallmarks of our school. The students have won prizes in several the competitions conducted in the metroplex this year, they have represented the school at many of the major Carnatic music events that have taken place in the metroplex. Today, with the students presenting what they have learnt, I will leave the judgment about the aesthetic quality and technical merit to the audience assembled here.

The diversity of students in the school with regard to age, religion, and spoken language is very widespread and these are truly inspiring facts. It just emphasizes that fact that nothing is a barrier to learn or enjoy Carnatic music, which is divine indeed!

On a separate note, we have again brought out our annual commemorative brochure this year. I hope that all of you find it an interesting read. We proudly proclaim that this year too, we have achieved this feat without soliciting any advertisements, for a third year running,

Prizes instituted by the School: In keeping with the School’s tradition of honoring the students that show serious interest and dedication, we proudly announce the winners of two prizes instituted by the school.

1. Attendance prize – for the student that missed the least number of classes in the academic year. Kum. Deepa Vasudevan was not absent for even a single class and hence this year’s award goes to her. The students that came to every class but by rescheduling or students who have been in the school for less than one academic year have not been considered. If any student or parent has questions about their attendance or dates of absence, they can contact the teacher. In this annual report, special mention must also be made of the following students who were absent only for one class in the whole year : Advaith Iyer, Ashvvath Vijay, Lasya Jandhyala and Sruthi Sundar.


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2. Prize for maximum concerts attended in the academic year – goes to Kum. Madhurima

Narendran. She not only attended most concerts (although she could not make it to every single concert) this year but also stayed the entire duration of the concert for most of them

Participation in Events:

Bhakthi, was a charity event, where three groups of our students made very good musical presentation in ragas like Yadukula kamboji, Mecha Kalyani, Suddha Bangala, Kaapi etc [September 2013]

We were one of only two schools that were invited to participate in the commemorative function held for the legendary Violinist Lalgudi Sri. Jayaraman. The event was conducted by yet another charity, Vidhya Dhanam. This charity helps children in rural India get basic education. Our students presented thillanas composed by the maestro. [October 2013]

Our students participated in the Charity event, conducted by Echoes of India. This Charity serves to bring clean drinking water to certain parts of very rural India. The students gave a neat presentation of the aesthetically appealing varnam in ragam Mayamalava gowla. [October 2013]

Playback singer Hariharan visited our town and gave a live concert at Allen. Our school was invited to render the prayer song at this event (Tamil Thai vazhthu). [November 2013]

Great saint composers like Sri. Purandhara Daasar and Oothukadu Venkata Kavi were remembered and celebrated with recitals of their composition [March 2014 and April 2014 respectively]. Two to three groups each from our school presented some all time favorite compositions of these great composers. We received huge compliments and comments like “they stole the show” or “Pranavam students were in a class of their own.”

The Avvai Tamil Center celebrated the Tamil New Year and Pranavam was one of very few schools invited to perform. Our students gave outstanding performances and won several trophies and prizes. [April 2014]

Several groups of children also presented compositions of Sri. Papanasam Shivan, during the annual Shivan Isai Vizha, conducted annually by Sri. Papanasam Ashok Ramani. [May 2014]

Asha Jyothi USA conducted a huge fundraiser honoring all the major composers. Three of our groups presented a total of about 8 krithis including a 12 ragams ragamalika along with other krithis in ragas like Simhendramadhyamam, Ranjani, Poornachandrika, Abhogi, Nattai and Surutti. Our school’s groups came out with flying colors and several feathers on their caps after this event. [June 2014]

The students and the faculty feel honored and happy that we are able to thus pay back to the society selflessly.


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The teacher, Smt. Santhi Mahadevan gave a small concert in memory of Brahmasri Papanasam Shivan. [May 2014]. She was honored by the grandson of this legendary composer, Sri. Ashok Ramani, at this festival. Santhi also sang for Asha Jyothi and was honored at this charity function. [June 2014]. She gave a full-fledged Katha-Kalakshepam (Harikatha) program for Nadopasana entitled “Guruvayoor Mahaathmyam” which was highly appreciated and well received by a large audience.[August 2014].

Please see a photo feature of all these programs (by both, the students and faculty) in this brochure.

Competitions and winners:

The annual music competitions conducted by the Saptami Foundation were held in the month of November, 2013. The school is very proud of three of its students, Chi. Akhilesh Anand, Kum. Samhitha Bandaru, and Kum. Aarthy Sundaresan, who won prizes in the individual categories and 9 other students who won in the group category.

The Annual Papanasam Shivan Memorial Music Festival was also celebrated with a music competition for students and they were required to sing only Shivan compositions. We hold our head high as 8 of our students came back with prizes in almost all categories (seniors, juniors, sub-juniors). The winners include, Chi. Akhilesh Anand, Kum. Aarthy Sundaresan, Kum. Gayathri Krishna, Kum. Netra Anand, Kum. Samhitha Bandaru, Kum. Sreeragini Ghantasala, Kum. Sreyalakshmi Kodela, and Kum. Srinidhi Mahadevan.

Ind-Fest competitions were also held in Dallas metroplex for the first ever time. Three of our students emerged winners when professional performing artists from India were judging them. The student winners are Chi. Akhilesh Anand, Kum. Samhitha Bandaru, and Kum Balatripura Somanchi.

Carnatic Idol competitions (of Tamil Television fame) were held in Dallas for the first time. Chi. Vignesh Subramanian came in for very special mention from the judges and was presented with a medal.

The North American Telugu Society conducted their annual Children’s Competitions and Kum. Sreeragini Ghantasala was declared the winner in classical music.

Classical music is not all about competitions, but competitions serve the distinct purpose of seeing and knowing what is happening outside one’s own well! And winning several prizes like this at different types and different levels of competitions, speaks volumes about the quality of music being taught at Pranavam.

(Please see a photo feature of all our winners in this brochure)


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Concert Performances by students:

Kum Keerthana Shivakumar gave a concert in India in the medical city of Vellore. She had chosen to go with Hindolam as her preferred ragam, for exposition. She was accompanied by local artists there.

Chi Aadithya Murthy and Kum Archana Murthy were featured in a duet concert performance under the auspices of the school. They were very blessed to be accompanied by senior vidwans of our metroplex, Sri. Narasimha Kikkeri on the violin, and Sri. Srinivas Ponnappan on the mridangam. The students had chosen Hamsanaadam and Mohanam as their sub-main and main raga delineations. They presented the concert with all aspects of manodharmam included, like raga, neraval, kalpanaswarams and kuraippu & korvais in the kalpanaswaram etc.

Please see a photo feature of these concerts also in this brochure.

General:

Since its inception in Dallas 5 years ago, the school has grown in all aspects and it has the students, their parents and patronage of well wishers and music lovers to thank for. Please see/read the landmark achievements made by the school on another page in this brochure. It has also been presented in a visual board outside in the atrium.

May I also state that all rules made or amended last year will hold good this academic year too including those of fees, absence, vacations/holidays re-registration etc. All parents must acquaint themselves with these. (It is available on our website).

May I conclude with a positive thought and note that Pranavam School of Music will continue to serve the society by sharing our rich and varied cultural heritage through Carnatic music and help the students on their way to achieving their full potential in being very responsible cultural ambassadors.


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FACULTY – PROGRAMS AND HONORS

Concert for Papanasam Sivan Memorial Day

Being honored by Sri Ashok Ramani

Singing for Asha Jyothi Being honored by Asha Jyothi

“Guruvayoor Mayathmayam” Hari Katha for Nadopasana at DFW Temple


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PARTICIPATION IN EVENTS 1. AT ‘BHAKTHI’- A FUNDRAISER EVENT.

Team 1-From left to right- Mrs. Meenakshi Anand, Reshma Menon, Vignesh Subramanian, Tarunkrishna Ramji, Sreya Kodela, Akhilesh Anand, Sneha Pallipuram, Pranav Harathi and Mr. Easwaran Pallipuram.

Team 2 –From left to right- Deepanjli Dhonthula, Samhitha Bandaru, Madhurima Narendran, Sreeragini Ghantasala and Amrutha Koteeswaran.

Team 3- From left to right – Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand and Sahana Prabhu


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2. AT THE LALGUDI COMMEMORATION EVENT,

CONDUCTED BY VIDHYA DAANAM.

From left to right – Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand and Sahana Prabhu

3. SINGING AT THE ‘ECHOES OF INDIA’ FUNDRAISER

From left to right – Aiswaraya Ravindran (on the mridangam), Tarunkrishna Ramji, Sreeragini Ghantasala, Netra Anand, Gayathri Krishna, Samhitha Bandaru and Sreya Kodela.


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4. STUDENTS SINGING THE PRAYER SONG AT SRI.

HARIHARAN’S (PLAYBACK SINGER) CONCERT

Left to right: Easwaran Pallipuram, Madhurima Narendran, Teacher-Santhi Mahadevan, Sahana Prabhu, Gayathri Krishna, Suganthi Gomathinayakam and Pranav Harathi

5. AT THE PURANDHARA DAASAR ARADHANA

FESTIVAL

Team 1 - From left to right (Front row)- Jay Appaji (on mridagngam), Advaith Iyer, Anirudh Radhakrishnan, Veda Devata, Deepa Vasudevan, Veda Peapully, Ashvvath Vijay (Second row) – Tejas Devata, Pravik Tarala, Vasanthi Kotha, Nandini Thiagarajan, Rithi Tarala, Hema Praturi, Shaila Sridharan, Himabindu Devata and (Back row) – Anu Sunderarajan, Jayanthi Maya


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Team 2 - From left to right (front row) – Advaith Iyer, Anirudh Radhakrishnan, Veda Devata, Apurva Anand, Deepa Vasudevan, Pavithra Upadhya and (Back row) – Tejas Devata, Sneha Pallipuram, Sanjay Salen, Surya Salem, Aditi Anand and Easwaran Pallipuram.

Team 3 - From left to right (front row) – Ramya Prasad, Archana Murthy, Divya Chakkaram, Sreyalakshmi Kodela, Vignesh Subramanian, Sneha Pallipuram. Back row (L to R) Easwaram Pallipuram, Amrutha Koteeswaran, Samhitha Bandaru, Madhurima Narendran, Sreeragini Ghantasala.

Team 4 - From left to right – Jay Appaji on the mridangam, Front row- Shruthi Sundaresan, Sneha Pallipuram, Sreyalakshmi Kodela, Vignesh Subramanian, Reshma Menon, Vandana Seshadri. Back row- Anu Sunderarajan, Jayanthi Maya, Easwaran Pallipuram.


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Team 5 - From left to right: Jay Appaji (on the mridangam), Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand, Sreeragini Ghantasala, Samhitha Bandaru and Sahana Prabhu.

6. AT THE OOTHUKADU VENKATA KAVI SANKALPA

Group 1:- From left to right – Front row - Aishwarya Ravindran (on the mridangam), Ramya Prasad, Divya Chakkaram, Akhilesh Anand, Vignesh Subramanian, Sreya Kodela and Sridhar Nagarajan (on the violin). Back row L to R – Shruthi Sundaresan, Sneha Pallipuram, Madhurima Narendran, Reshma Menon and Easwaran Pallipuram.


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Group 2 – From left to right – Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand, Sreeragini Ghantasala, Samhitha Bandaru.

7. TAMIL NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS

From left to right – Master Krishna (on the mridangam). Front row – Srinidhi Mahadevan, Balatripura Somanchi, Apurva Anand, Veda Devata, Tejas Devata. Back row (L to R) – Bhamathi Bhat, Sanjay Salem, Surya Salem, Deepa Vasudevan, Aditi Anand.

Gayathri Krishna Sneha Pallipuram Sreya Kodela Vignesh Subramanian


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8. AT THE PAPANASAM SHIVAN ISAI VIZHA 2014

Group 1 – From left to right - Sreeragini Ghantasala, Gayathri Krishna, Netra Anand, Samhitha Bandaru

Team 2 – From left to right – Sri. Sankaran (on Ganjira), Master Krishna (on the mridangam), Sneha Pallipuram, Sreya Kodela, Ramya Prasad, Sri. Easwaran Pallipuram, Akhilesh Anand, Sruthi Sundar.

Team 3- Adithya Murthy and Archana Murthy.


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9. FUNDRAISER EVENT FOR ASHA JYOTHI

Team 1 – From left to right – Master Jay Appaji (on the mridangam), Front row – Sreya Kodela, Ramya Prasad, Vignesh Subramanian, Kirthana Shivakumar, Divya Chakkaram. Back row L to R – Sruthi Sundar, Sneha Pallipuram, Easwaran Pallipuram, Vandana Seshadri, Reshma Menon.

Team 2 – Front Row from left to right – Jay Appaji (mridangam) Sreeragini Ghantasala, Samhitha Bandaru, Deepanjli Donthula, Sri. Sridhar Nagarajan (violin) and Back row L to R – Archana Murthy, Amrutha Koteeswaran, Adithya Murthy

Team 3 – Jay Appaji (mridangam), Netra Anand, Gayathri Krishna, Sahana Prabhu and Sri. Sridhar Nagarajan (violin)


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10. REGULAR PERFORMANCES AT THE TEMPLE

From left to right- Sreyaalakshmi Kodela, Sruthi Sundaresan, Tarunkrishna Ramji, Vanda Seshadri and Vignesh Subramanian at the Lalitha Peetham

From left to right – Ashvvath Vijay, Veda Peapully, Nandini Thiagarajan and Aprajitha Dhonthula at the Lalitha Peetham.

From left to right - Apurva Anand, Pavithra Upadhya, Veda Devata, Advaith Iyer, Tejas Devata, Aditi Anand, Anirudh Radhakrishnan, Divya Jagadeesh, Srinidhi Mahadevan and Sanjay Salem at KSHT


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From left to right – Uma Reddy, Sanjay Salem, Srinidhi Mahadevan, Apurva Anand, Pavithra Upadhya, Aditi Anand, Surya Salem and back row – Sri. Easwaran Pallipuram, Smt. Hema Praturi and Smt. Anu Sunderarajan at KSHT


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CONCERT PERFORMANCES BY STUDENTS

Aadithya Murthy and Archana Murthy gave a fine concert at the Hanuman Cultural Center.

They were very ably supported by Vidwan Narasimha Kikkeri on the violin and Vidwan Srinivas Ponnappan on the mridangam. They had chosen Ragas Hamsanadham and

Mohanam and krithis in them as their center pieces.

Keerthana Shivakumar gave a performance at Ekambreshwara temple, near Vellor in India. She was accompanied by local artists at Vellore. She had chosen to render

Hindolam and Kalyani ragas.


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RECOLLECTIONS, REFLECTIONS AND REMINISCENCES FROM PREVIOUS

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS 2012


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RECOLLECTIONS, REFLECTIONS AND REMINISCENCES FROM PREVIOUS

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

2013


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PRANAVAM THROUGH THE YEARS 2009

Smt. Santhi Mahadevan moved to Dallas from Atlanta. Her son and daughter sang at the Hanuman Temple. Some members of the society and music rasikas heard these two children and approached

Smt. Santhi for music lessons. Smt. Santhi started teaching and about 3 students joined right away Teacher Smt. Santhi Mahadevan performed during the Chennai Music season for Karthik

Fine Arts, Indian Fine Arts and Hamsadhwani, Chennai.

2010

The first anniversary celebrations Annual Day function was at home with potluck dinner The school was named Pranavam. Teacher Smt. Santhi Mahadevan performed a full-fledged music concert for Nadopasana

at the DFW temple and gave several concerts during the season at Chennai and other cities in India. At Dallas, Vidwan T.S. Krishnamurthy and Dr. Ganesan Devarajan accompanied her on the violin and mridangam respectively.

2011

The second anniversary celebrations The Allen Civic Auditorium needed to be rented because the student strength had gone

up to around 80. Smt Lalitha Seshadri (Sangeetha Vidushi and seniormost teacher of the metroplex then,

Sri Prakasa Rao, Chairman of the Hanuman Cultural Center, and Sri Bharadhwaj Narayanan, Vice President of the Indian Fine Arts Associatio were the Guests of Honor.

Students were presented with participation trophies. Teacher Smt. Santhi Mahadevan conducted a workshop for students who had reached

geetham or higher level. She also gave another full-fledged music concert at the Hanuman Cultural Center under

the auspices of the Hanuman Cultural Center and Yoga Sangeeth. Sri. Shyam Murali and Sri. Murali Bala accompanied her on the electronic saxophone and the mridangam respectively.

Smt. Santhi Mahadevan was honored by Sankara Nethralaya Foundation, for selfless service to the vision-impaired.

2012

The third anniversary celebrations


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The Allen Civic Auditorium had to be rented again to host all the students and their parents.

The annual day celebration was themed “Thyagaraja Samarpanam” – Homage to Saint Thyagaraja.

Participation trophies were awarded to all students and two new trophies (Prizes) were instituted for a) Best Attendance and b) Most concerts attended.

Dr. Jay Dowling, Professor of Music Cognition at the University of Texas at Dallas was the Chief Guest.

The first commemorative brochure, which included an exclusive interview with Isai Peroli, Kalaimaamani Dr. Smt. Nithyasree Mahadevan, was released, without soliciting any advertisements.

The teacher, conducted two workshops for the kids, one to teach small krithis and devarnamas, the other to teach the theory aspects of layam/rhythm patterns in classical carnatic music.

The teacher also gave concert performances at Chennai and several cities in Kerala. She was honored by the God Satsang Dallas and Echoes of India Foundation, for selfless

service rendered to the society.

2013

The fourth anniversary celebrations Annual Day was held at Garland Plaza Theater to host a larger number of students and

their parents in the audience. The theme was “Bhaasha Bhedamanye – Music has no language barrier.” Students performed in a total of about 7 languages. The Presidents of the four South Indian Language Organizations in Dallas were the

Guests of Honor Sri. Cherian Churanadu – President, Kerala Association of Texas Smt. Kalaiselvi Gomathinayagam – President, Metroplex Tamil Sangam Smt. Jayashree Murthy – President, Mallige Kannada Association Sri. Suresh Manduva – President, Telugu Association of North Texas

A commemorative brochure was released without advertisements again, this time with an exclusive interview with Isai Peroli, Kalaimaamani Dr. Smt. S. Sowmya.

Students received participation trophies and two of them received the special prize for attendance and maximum concerts attended.

On the invitation of the Saptami Foundation, the Guru Smt. Santhi Mahadevan gave a lecture-demonstration on “Talas in Carnatic Music”. She was accompanied by Dr. Sridhar Nagarajan on the violin and Sri. Murali Bala on the mridangam

She also gave several concert performances in several cities in India during the summer including Chennai, Trivandrum, Srisailam, Hyderabad.


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2014 (Upto August)

The fifth anniversary celebrations There are more than 150 students on roll at the school. School was registered as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the state of Texas. The school has a studio of its own (Ste. 107, Allen Plaza) and functions from there thus

enhancing professionalism. Commemorative brochure has been released this year too, without soliciting

advertisements. Sri. S.P. Krishnamurthy, a well respected patron of arts and connoisseur of carnatic music

was the Guest of Honor. Students have been presented with participation trophies. The school is all set to extend its services to the society through a second branch in the

city of Frisco. The teacher gave a mini music concert in memory of Brahmasri Papanasam Shivan and

was honored by Sri. Ashok Ramani. She also sang for Asha Jyothi. U.S.A., and was honored by the society for her service to

the underprivileged children in India. She was also featured in another Nadopasana program. This time, she delivered a

Sangeetha Upanyasam entitled “Guruvayoor Mahathmyam”, which was extremely well received and appreciated. She was honored by Nadopasana for the same.

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In the past 5 years of functioning in Dallas, Texas, 9 students have given mini arangetrams (in chronological order of performance dates) – Kum. Sahana Prabhu, Kum. Sreevidya Ghantasala, Kum. Netra Anand, Kum. Gayathri Krishna, Kum. Suganthi Gomathinayagam and Kum. Vasanthi Gomathinayagam, Kum. Keerthana Shivakumar, Kum. Archana Murthy and Chi. Aadithya Murthy. One student (Kum. Shruthi Prabhu) has performed a full-fledged arangetram in Chennai, the Mecca of music.

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CURRICULUM/SYLLABUS AT THE PRANAVAM SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Pranavam School of Music takes in students at the following levels. The students are also promoted through the following levels. Appropriate theory lessons are taught at the respective levels. Practical lessons are described below. A student should have completed learning all lessons listed in one level and vocally execute the lessons of that level very well, in order to get promoted to the next level. Direct entries at any level except Basic I, shall require the student to be well versed in the lessons of all previous level/s.

1. Basic I -- All varisais (Sarali, Jantai, Dhattu, Hechusthayi, Mandarasthayi and all Saptha Taala Alankaras (in three speeds).

2. Basic II – Geethams (Minimum 10) 3. Basic III – Swarajathi (at least three), jathiswarams (at least three) and some small

Keerthans, Devarnamas and Utsava Sampradaya/Divyanama Krithis. 4. Intermediate I – Adi Taala Varnams (Minimum 6-8) , Small Keerthans (Minimum 8-

10), All the basic lessons in aakaaram in three speeds. 5. Intermediate II – Adi tala Varnams (should know 8-12), Krithis (4-8) in taalas other

than Adi, at least one thillana and other items like kavadi chindu, Thirupugazhs, Devarnamas.

6. Intermediate III – At least one Ata Tala Varnam, One Pancharatna Krithi, More Krithis in ragas not learnt so far and in taalas other than adi and roopakam, Padams or Javalis

7. Senior I – At least two more Ata Tala Varnams, One more Pancharatna Krithi, two speeds of all Adi and Ata tala Varnams learned so far, at least one Navagraha Krithi, one or more of the Navaavaranams, start of Manodharma Sangeetham (kalpanaswarams)

8. Senior II – At least one of Shyama Shastri’s Swarajathi, More Adi tala varnams and two more Ata Tala Varnams, One more Pancharatna Krithi, More of other Krithis, Kalpanaswarams and other aspects of manodharma sangeetham (including Ragam and Neraval singing).

9. Advanced I – Two more Shyama Sastri Swarajathis, concentration on Manodharma Sangeetham, Spot singing of Kalpanaswarams, Small, simple RTPs, concert singing for atleast 1 to 1.5 hours)

10. Advanced II – All varnams learnt so far in at least three speeds, learn all Pancharatna Krithis and all Navagraha Krithis, all navaavaranams, Manodharma singing, RTPs and concert performance for at least 2- 2.5 hours.

PRANAVAM SCHOOL OF MUSIC SINCERELY APPRECIATES, ACKNOWLEDGES AND

EXPRESSES ITS HEARTFELT THANKS TO THEFOLLOWING PEOPLE

• Our Gurus, our parents, family and friends, all well wishers and music lovers

• All students of Pranavam and their parents

• Chief Guest Sri. S. P. Krishnamurthy.

• Accompanying artists Smt. Sita Jayanth, Sri. Santosh Chandru, Chi. Thirumalai Krishna, Kum. Aiswarya Ravindran

• Student and Parent volunteers – for being on various committees, without whose help today would not have been a success (stage décor, atrium ambience, food, student discipline, stage operations, transport, photography, videography etc.)

• All accompanying artists that have accompanied the Students of Pranavam during various programs, in this past academic year. (Sri. Narasimha Kikkeri, Dr. Sridhar Nagarajan, Sri. Srinivas Ponnappan, Sri. Murali Bala, Dr. Ganesh Devarajan, Chi. Thirumalai Krishna, Chi. Jay Appaji, Kum. Aiswarya Ravindran, Sri. Sankaran)

• All the photographers and videographers (amateurs and professionals) who have helped

during Pranavam Events.

• Sri. Malolan and Kesari Foods for catering,

• Kum. Keerthika for website maintenance

• Smt. Madhu Kapoor (Caddy printing) for brochure printing

• Sri. Sridhar Kodela, for sound adjustments and management on the Anniversary Day.

• Smt. & Sri. Sridhar Kodela and Smt. & Sri. Easwaran Pallipuram for helping the school

buy and transport some hardware requirements from India.

• Blue Ribbon awards for all the mementoes and trophies

• Garland Plaza authorities and Mr. Markeef Fluellen, for help in the auditorium and with the facilities therein.

• MC- Smt. Priya Gopal Kumar.

515 W. Main Street, Allen Plaza, Suite 107, Allen -75013

Founder Director/Principal – Santhi Mahadevan

[email protected] or

[email protected]

WWW.PRANAVAMMUSIC.COM

Documents

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS - Pranavam …pranavammusic.com/2014 Pranavam Program.pdfInvocation or prayer song (representing the Gam title music of our program this year) ... ragam