Margazhi season: Younger artistes step in to fill prime-time slots

CHENNAI: It is a cut that has come as a blessing for many. With many senior musicians cutting down on the number of concerts this December music season, sabhas are filling the prestigious evening slots with the next-in-line.
Concert organisers, especially the ones who run month-long festivals, have upgraded artistes to perform for the 6pm slots. Brahma Gana Sabha has given prime-time slots to Pantula Rama, Sikkil Gurucharan and Gayathri Venkataraghavan."They were already doing full-house ticketed concerts at 4pm," says S Ravichandran, secretary, Brahma Gana Sabha.
A number of well-known artistes are performing at fewer venues this year citing stress caused by the hectic routine. The list includes TM Krishna, Sudha Ragunathan, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Vijay Siva and sisters Ranjani-Gayathri. Others who have been steadily bringing down the number of performances are Aruna Sairam, P Unnikrishnan and Bombay Jayashri.
"It is definitely a strain on the voice if you are doing back-to-back concerts," says Ravichandran. The situation arose with the rise in number of sabhas, he says.
The strain began to show in the last three years. "Many fell sick during the peak music season. Most sabhas see a number of cancellations after December 20," he says.
Some singers only perform in alternate years. "Aruna (Sairam) has been on this routine for the past three years," says Ravichandran.
Even younger singers, who have been given the prime slots, are treading carefully. "It is encouraging to get the opportunity to sing in the evening but I have tried to spread out my concerts," says singer Gayathri Venkataraghavan. She will do 18 concerts between December 1 and January 10. "Though I am a full-time musician who enjoys the challenges of the December season, I have to take care of my voice. I will have to cut down if I am not able to spread out the concerts," says Gayathri, who has two sets of back-to-back concerts this season. She suggests that sabhas come together to organise a series, she says.
According to veteran organisers like M Krishnamurthy of Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha, it will be a while before rival sabhas come together. "There is so much competition between sabhas. It is difficult to expect them to work together," he says.