Aug 02 2025 to Aug 02 2025 7 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

In Karnatik music, a composer is referred to as a ‘vaggeyakara’ – someone who creates both the text (vak) and the music (geya) for a composition. The kirtana is the most important compositional form in Karnatik music. It is a beautiful balance between the sahitya (text), raga (melody) and tala (rhythm). These kirtanas have sprung from the creative flow of melody and text, thus creating a unified aesthetic identity. 

Three eighteenth-century composers, Thyagaraja (1767-1847), Muthusvami Dikshithar (1775-1835) and Shyama Shastri (1762-1827), were masters and innovators of this compositional form, reverentially referred to as the ‘Trinity’ of Karnatik music.

The oldest among the three, Shyama Shastri, composed fewer compositions than his other two contemporaries, but each one of his compositions stand out as a unique piece. He used complex rhythmic structures which give a special quality to his kirtanas.

The prolific composer Thyagaraja viewed ragas with utmost clarity and definition. In his kirtanas, you find defined nuggets of the raga’s phrases in almost every line.

The esoteric Muthusvami Dikshithar looked at a composition with a different lens. His kirtanas are one whole melodic movement where the raga flows in an unstructured manner, overflowing from one line to another. The deeper one dwells on his compositions, their beauty unravels.

At this concert, Sangeetha Sivakumar will be presenting compositions of the Trinity with a special focus on Muthusvami Dikshithar since we are celebrating his 250th birth anniversary this year.

Supported by:

Performers

Sangeetha Sivakumar
Vocalist
Sangeetha Sivakumar is a senior musician in the field of Karnatik music, with a professional career spanning over 30 years. Vividly creative within the bounds of tradition and classicism, she has been regularly performing for various organisations across India and the globe and has released numerous albums with leading recording labels. 

Sangeetha’s work in Karnatik music and culture has always gone beyond the proscenium stage. From 2014, she has been part of the core team which organises the ‘Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha’ (previously known as ‘Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha’), a Chennai city based festival that seeks to bring down social barriers and equalise spaces for the arts. She also curates and monitors percussion lessons for students and Avvai Home, Chennai, provides advanced training for disadvantaged students from the Tamil Nadu Government Music College, and is a member of the team that formulated a general music curriculum for students in Tamil Nadu’s Government schools.

In 2018, after the #MeToo movement broke out, Sangeetha created a private safe space to discuss sexual harassment and gender discrimination in performing arts and formed Saha, to help raise awareness of and facilitate conversations around sexual harassment. 

In the same year, along with Kattaikuttu artist P Rajagopal, cultural theorist Dr. Hanne M de Bruin and musician TM Krishna, Sangeetha conceived of a collaborative performance Karnatic-Kattaikuttu, which brings the two forms together.

As a deeply committed cultural activist, she continues to be involved in innumerable initiatives that seek to spread the reach and access of Karnatik music and uses art to initiate important social conversations.

Akkarai S Subhalakshmi
Violinist
Musician Akkarai S Subhalakshmi, Indian classical (Karnatik) violinist and vocalist, took the music world by storm at the age of eight, and is now amongst today’s most distinguished musicians. She is the disciple of her father, Akkarai Shri S Swamynathan, as well as Shri V Janakiraman, Shri O V Subramaniam, Shri P S Narayanaswamy, and Chitravina Shri N Ravikiran. She is renowned for her rich and sensitive artistry, be it her vocal and violin duets with her sister Akkarai S Sornalatha, her accompaniment for many legends of Indian classical music, or her innovative collaborations with Hindustani, Jazz, Pop, and other artistes from around the world. As ‘Akkarai Sisters’, she and Sornalatha hold the rare distinction of being among the foremost in the Karnatik field in three disciplines – as vocal and violin duettists, as well as accompanists for many eminent musicians. 

Subhalakshmi has performed in countless prestigious venues worldwide, including the Théâtre de la Ville Festival (Paris), the Queen Elizabeth Hall and BBC Radio (London), Umeå Jazz Festival (Sweden), Kalman Sultanik Confederation House (Israel), and so on. She has been honoured with numerous accolades like the Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Puraskar (at age thirteen, presented by the President of India), the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (2007), and Kalaimamani (the Government of Tamil Nadu’s prestigious arts award, 2019). She was identified as one of India’s 50 most promising individuals in The Week magazine’s 2003 Independence Day special. In 2019, she became the youngest violinist to achieve the A-Top grade at All India Radio and Doordarshan. She has released many albums, her very first bring an unprecedented feat in which she accompanied her own vocal on the violin at age fifteen. A sought-after teacher as well, she also gives lectures on Karnatik music at many prestigious universities and institutes around the world, and has benefited many students with her knowledge and experience.

Praveen Sparsh
Percussionist
Praveen Sparsh is a multi percussionist and a music producer who started learning the art of mridangam playing when he was 5, from mridangam maestro Guruvayur Sri Dorai. He started playing concerts at the age of 8 and went on to receive the Spirt of Youth Award from the Music Academy Madras at the age of 14. Since then, he has been fortunate to share the stage with incredible musical minds like Sri TM Krishna, Smt Aruna Sairam, Dr S. Sowmya, Smt Bombay Jayashri, Smt Sangeetha Sivakumar, and Smt S Nithyashree, among others. Praveen’s solo album Unreserved, a mridangam centric album that explores the sounds of everyday life, received critical acclaim from the music and entertainment fraternity at large. Praveen along with his partner, Shreya Devnath, has also curated a Music Outreach program for economically underprivileged children. He has curated and led percussion ensembles with Parai artistes (traditional folk percussion) and performed in various festivals across India. Praveen has had the unique opportunity of recording mridangam for the award-winning composer AR Rahman.