Donors raise the pitch as ticket sales hit low note

When senior singers like Sudha Raghunathan, Vijay Siva and Bombay Jayashri cancelled their concer ts after last month's rain, many Carnatic music fans did not book tickets for the concerts. But what has kept this Margazhi going are sponsorships from companies and donations by individuals -up by 20% over last year -that more than offset loss in revenue from ticket sales.All sabhas, including Music Academy , conduct the music festival year after year largely due to benevolence of individuals like Vijayakumar Reddy, Nalli Kuppusamy Chetti, public, private sector banks and companies based in Chennai.“Our sabha received `18 lakh from Reddy alone, while banks and companies contributed around `5 lakh this year,“ said Parthasarathy Swami Sabha secretary R Krishnamurthy .In previous years, sponsorship money went into sabha corpus but this year it went into paying the performing artists.“I am following my father Obul Reddy who was interested in Carnatic music and used to sponsor many sabhas each music season. It is only the continuation of what he did. I sponsor programmes in sabhas in the name of my father and mother,“ Reddy told TOI. Sponsorship by banks has remained the same as last year. Karur Vysya Bank has been an active sponsor during the music season for over eight years now. The bank's contribution during the season ranges from `50,000 to `2 lakh per sabha. KVB typically supports six to eight sabhas every year. “In return, we get to do banner advertising or set up stalls or standees,“ managing director K Venkataraman said. The Karurheadquartered institution is a sponsor at Narada Gana Sabha, Krishna Gana Sabha, Vani Mahal and Music Academy this year.Another TN-based banker, City Union Bank, has been supporting Margazhi for almost two decades now. “This year, we are a prominent sponsor in five sabhas that include Krishna Gana Sabha and Parthasarathy Swami Sabha,“ N Kamakodi, managing director, said. “In addition, we also give `20,000 to `25,000 each to another five sabhas every year for advertisements in their annual souvenir.“City Union Bank does not restrict its sponsorship to the music season alone. The bank supports the Tyagaraja Aradhana at Tiruvaiyaru too, donating `4 lakh to the Carnatic symphonic perfor mance. “Many of our staff members also volunteer dur ing this festival,“ Kamakodi said.“Nalli has been a pillar of support for our sabha for many years.Without him and Reddy , it would have very difficult this year,“ said Krishna Gana Sabha secretary Y Prabhu.