Composers' Day

Composers’ Day

Compositions of great Indian classical music composers filled the ears of the audience at a lecture hall on the ASU Tempe campus last weekend. 
Young children beginning to learn Carnatic music (Indian classical music) as well as old, highly experienced singers and instrumental musicians took to the stage in Murdock Hall on Feb 10-12 at the three-day Composers’ Day program.
The event  was organized by the Fine Arts Association of Arizona.

“Composers’ Day is a tribute to all the great composers from India – Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Purandaradasa, and Syama Sastri. The event is usually held in the third week of February every year. We started Composers’ Day this year on Friday,” said Sowmya Srinivasan, a member of the organization.

Sowmya Srinivasan 

Composers’ Day is used as a platform for artists across the Valley to perform, Srinivasan said.

“The event starts off with a group of trained singers singing ‘Pancharatna Kritis’, which are a set of five songs in Carnatic music composed by Tyagaraja,” Srinivasan said. “We have slots for kids who learn Carnatic music to perform in throughout the day. The event usually goes on till 8 p.m. or 9 p.m.”

Phoenix Metro Carnatic Choir Team, who performed the Pancharatna Kritis 

Manas Subbaraman, 17, one of the singers, said, “I have been performing at Composers’ Day for the past four years, and I am grateful that it exists because it is a platform I can use to display my talents without feeling pressured by the audience’s expectations or by any competition.”

“This event gives people a taste of performing on a stage, and creates a welcoming environment for those who have never performed or who have stage fright,” Subbaraman said.

People of all ages perform at the event, and age is not a determinant of experience or expertise in Carnatic music. Anita Johari performed for the first time, but said, “My daughter has been singing for eight years.”

Anita Johari

She described the event as a learning experience, saying, “It gives the artists a forum to exhibit their talent and learn how to perform on stage. It also gives an exposure to how different people sing and different styles in which different teachers teach the same song.”

Besides singing, many artists also displayed their skills playing Carnatic music on their instruments like the mrithangam, the veena and the violin. The mrithangam is a percussion instrument and the veena is a string instrument.

A performance using four veenas and a violin

Lunch was provided for those present and the event came to a close at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

My group's performance

Song: Namaste Paradevathe; Ragam: Deva Ranji; Thalam: Rupaka; Composer: Muthuswamy Dikshitar

Chithra Vaidyanathan singing with Vaidyanathan Krishnamurthy accompanying on mrithangam

Sahana Sundaram's performance