Talk:Aruna Sairam

Removed text
CC-BY-SA declaration; text in this section removed from the article by me. I'm leaving it here is case its removal breaks any references, and it might be useful to subsequent editors.  Baffle☿gab  01:36, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

From header
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Steeped in bhava-expression and classical divinity, Aruna Sairam's music supposedly evokes bhakti-devotion in her listeners. She has dazzled audiences at prestigious musical venues in India and around the world through her scintillating performances and refreshing approach.

From 'Heritage'
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Aruna Sairam's teacher Smt. T. Brinda hails from a family of royal court musicians from the court of Tanjore. That lineage traces itself back to her mother, Kamakshi, grandmother Veena Dhannammal, and then back to the earliest, the seventh generation, Papammal. All of them were eminent and highly respected women musicians. The family is proud of its musical treasures, especially the padam and javali forms – so rare in today's concert repertoire. Very few musicians can claim to perform these genres. These songs are expressed through slow, subtle music, exploring the shringararasa (emotion (rasa) of love) and requiring complete immersion in the raga by the artist and listener. The padam form affords space for abhinaya – facial expression in dance. T. Brinda's cousin, T Balasaraswati was a legendary Bharatanatyam dancer and a padam master who performed in the United States and Europe in the 1950s and 1960s to rave audience reactions.

Aruna's mother was drawn towards yet another genre – the compositions of Uttukadu Venkata Kavi [1700 – 1765]. This composer hailed from the village of Uttukadu (also rendered Oottukkadu) in the 18th Century. His compositions come from a tradition of music, dance and theatre and express an interplay of joy in technical brilliance. Aruna's parental home was host to one of the scions of the Uttukadu family, Needamanagalam Krishnamurthy Bhagavathar, who spent months in their Mumbai home, performing and teaching these compositions. Aruna has played a key role in propagating these brilliant, yet relatively neglected compositions and revealing them on the contemporary concert stage.

The abhang is soulful music, traditionally sung by pilgrims as they travelled by foot to the temple of Lord Vitthala in Pandharpur, Maharashtra in western India. As they walk, they dance and sing abhangs expressing their devotion with spiritual abandon and engagement. Aruna's interest in this form started with listening to the profound and passionate singing of leading satsang exponents who frequented her parental house. Roughly speaking in Indian philosophical terms, satsang is a ball of yarn that envelops seekers of, and seeking the truth. She was greatly influenced by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's Abhangavani – a series of Abhang concerts.

Classical performance
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When on stage Aruna enters into another realm. The audience, while listening to her and watching her perform, experiences a timeless and spaceless sensation. Audiences pack her concerts. Her unique qualities render her music both virtuosic and one-off memorable. Her performances exude the living ginger of her academic and musical pedigree. For example, her ability to handle the highly aesthetic and eclectic padam form, the energised thillana form and ragam-tanam-pallavi– considered the highest challenge in Carnatic music – combines solid grooming and grounding and the spontaneity of the moment. Her compositions are further proof positive of her impeccable scholarship and musical passions.

Performances and collaborations
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In addition to the classical repertoire, Aruna has conceptualised and performed themed concerts.

‘Aruna – Thousand Names of Divine Mother'– is a concert and recording project first produced in Germany. The recording was done in the crypt of a Benedictine monastery in Germany with co-artists Christian Bollmann and Michael Reimann.

‘Sources' – are a series of collaborations by Aruna and Dominique Vellard, a master of Gregorian and medieval song. The first, released by EMI Virgin, connects devotional music traditions from South India and medieval Europe. Aruna and Dominique went on to join forces with the Moroccan Sufi vocalist Noureddine Tahiri folding in music of the later Arab-Andalusian tradition, exemplified by their album 'Trialogue'(2012).

‘Matrubhumi'– is a journey through India from the Himalayan top to the southern tip of Kanyakumari. This concert was performed with Shankar Mahadevan, the Bollywood singer and music director of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy group.

‘Strains of Heaven' – is a duet concert with celebrated mandolin maestro, Mandolin U Srinivas, exploring dialogues between the voice and the string. 'Aikya'– is a concert in 14 Indian languages, celebrating India's unity in diversity and saluting such national figureheads as Rabindranath Tagore and Gandhi.

‘The Wisdom of Vitthala' and 'Rang Ahang' – are concerts fully dedicated to abhang in which Aruna sings and narrates stories about these songs. Both projects proved remarkable successes with audiences participating – chanting the name of Lord Vitthala – along with her.

'Le Bebe Bleu' – Aruna's music and singing have been the inspiration for the production of the French musical 'Le Bebe Blue' (The Blue Baby) depicting the story of Lord Krishna directed by French Theatre Director Dominique Pompougnac. The most important segment of audience for this production was children of France. More than 40 such performances were rendered all over France (1997).

Collaboration with Dance – Aruna composed music and sang for the production 'Yantra' and Bhinna-Pravaha' of dance choreographer Chandralekha. She has performed 'Sammohanam' – a confluence of music and dance with dancer Padma Shri Awardee Malavika Sarukkai.

Speaker
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Aruna is one of those rare, verbally lucid musicians whose intellectual and unaffectedly natural approach to music allows her to speak eloquently about her art and inspirations in ways that educate the connoisseur, the curious and casual audience member alike. Forums, musical and beyond, regularly invite to speak about her life, art and craft.

From 'Foundation'
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Aruna has a deep sense of social responsibility and has donated proceeds from her concerts and records to cancer hospitals and to rehabilitate families of musicians who have died during their professional peak. Recently she performed in various cities for Cancare, an organisation devoted to the free treatment of persons afflicted with cancer. She also donated proceeds of her concert 'Sampradaya' towards building the Guruji Medical Center and Hospital, which will provide medical facilities to 150 villages in Tamil Nadu. Recently she performed a special concert in August 2013, of Oothukkadu compositions, titled "Maadu Meikkum Kenna", the entire proceeds of which were donated by her for the temple rebuilding and creating a memorial for this great composer.

Aruna Sairam has performed at Manjakkudi at the Swami Dayananda Saraswathi College of Arts and Science, on several occasions in the August presence of Swami Dayananda Saraswathi. She has performed in Philadelphia, US a concert which was graced by Swami Dayananda Saraswathi by his presence. On her return to India she donated the proceeds of that concert to "Aim for Seva" which aims at bringing value-based education and health care to the least privileged sections of society.

Prestigious performance venues and events
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India:


 * The Music Academy, Chennai, India
 * Shakti Sthal, New Delhi
 * Vir Bhoomi, New Delhi
 * Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi
 * Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi
 * Shanmukhananda, Mumbai
 * NCPA, Mumbai
 * Nehru Center, Mumbai
 * Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta
 * Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore
 * Nani Palkhiwala, Coimbatore
 * Sawai Gandharva Festival, Pune

International:
 * The Royal Albert Hall, London, UK – Proms broadcast by BBC Radio 3
 * International critics have compared Aruna's music to that of legendary Jazz saxophonist and composer, John Coltrane
 * International Jazz Convention at the Banff Centre, Canada by its Director, Jazz Maestro and pianist Vijay Iyer.
 * Carnegie Hall, New York City
 * Royce Hall, Los Angeles, USA
 * World Music Institute, New York City
 * Asia Society, New York City
 * Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, France
 * Radio France, Paris live concert broadcast all over Europe
 * Swiss National Radio, Switzerland
 * Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland
 * Deutsche Welle (radio), Cologne, Germany
 * National Television, Madrid, Spain
 * Opening of Autumn series at Opéra National de Lyon, France
 * Fes Festival of Sacred Music, Morocco
 * The Festival of South Indian Music, Cité de la Musique, Paris, France
 * The Sutra Festival of Music, Malaysia
 * Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, (Museum of the Royal Institute of the Tropics), Amsterdam, Netherlands
 * Cleveland Festival USA, USA
 * Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society Festival of Indian Classical Music & Dance, Esplanade, Singapore

 Baffle☿gab  01:36, 26 March 2019 (UTC)