Sahana Sreeram is a junior in high school and learns Carnatic violin from Sri Subhash Vinjamuri and Sri Kamalakiran Vinjamuri. She also learns carnatic vocal music from Kalaimamani Smt. Charumathi Ramachandran.Sahana has won awards in Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana, Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam, and SIFAA in North Carolina. Sahana has performed in the USA, Canada, and in Chennai Margazhi festivals. She also plays western violin as part of the artist orchestra in her high school and has been selected for senior regional orchestra (SRO) in Virginia, USA.

Srihari S Raman was born into a musical lineage, with his recent ancestry consisting of his uncle, Kalaimamani Dr. Udayalur Kalyanarama Bhagavathar. Srihari was introduced into the journey of Carnatic Music at the age of 4. Srihari continued his advanced training in mridangam under Kalaimamani Guru. Sri. Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan. Srihari has accompanied many esteemed vidwans within the United States, Canada, and India as well. He has also won multiple competitions across the US: Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Sangeeth Samraat. Srihari will be a raising freshman in NorthEastern University majoring in Data Science and Business Administration in the coming Fall 2022.

Samyuktha Sreeram is a sophomore at Duke University. She is a disciple of the Late Sangita Kalacharya Sri TH Subash Chandran and currently is a disciple of Sri N Guruprasad and Sri Akshay Anantapadmanabhan. She also learns carnatic vocal music from Kalaimamani Smt. Charumathi Ramachandran. Samyuktha has provided ghatam accompaniment for concerts in the US, Canada, and in India.

Concert Review

Concert Review – Bala Bhavam Violin Concert by Sahana Sreeram

By Gayatri Ram

The concert by Sahana Sreeram and team marked the restart of the Bala Bhavam series after the pandemic lull. She started off with the Kedaram varnam Chaala ninnE by Sri Tiger Varadachari, which gave the concert an irresistible initial momentum.

A good sketch of Dwijavanthi preceded Muthuswami Dikshitar’s sublime composition Chetasri balakrishnam with telling musical phrases in alapanas and swara sallies. A brisk rendition of Swati Tirunal’s Bhogindra Shayinam in Kuntalavarali, set to Khanda chapu talam, with rapid swara passages came next in quick succession.

The main piece was the celebrated Nidhi chala sukama with an outline of the raga kalyani presented with utmost fidelity to the sahitya aspect. This grand composition of Syama sastri is commonly heard in instrumental concerts and Sahana did full justice to it with the right Kaalapramaanam. The kalpanaswaras brought out the many hues of the raga.

The concluding piece Bharatiyar’s Chinnanchiru kiliye in the usual Ragamalika had the audience humming.

The percussionists – Srihari (Mridangam) and Samyuktha (Ghatam) – supported the artist finely with a good sense of anticipation and imagination. Their Tani for the main kriti was neat and matching the mood of the recital. These young musicians regaled the audience with their superlative performance which set the stage for the main concert of the day.

 Gayatri, an ardent rasika of music, learnt music in her formative years in India. She holds a Masters Degree in Computer Science and currently works in the Software Industry.