A mesmerising symphony of veena virtuosos

Experience the enchanting sounds of the veena at the annual festival in Vijayawada, celebrating Carnatic music and nurturing talent.

The air is thick with the deep, resonant hum of the veena, a sound that vibrates in the precincts of a house at Sundar Nagar in Vijayawada, as 28 prominent veena artists from the southern States of India come together to celebrate the instrument that has echoed through the annals of Carnatic music for centuries.

The artistes are participating in the ninth annual veena festival organised by Sri Subramanya Mahati Sangeeta Samiti. Their fingers weave magic across the strings setting a perfect tone for the 12-hour (9 a.m.-to-9 p.m.) concert on Saturday (February 15).

The organisation was started in 2016, by Padmasri award winning cardio thoracic surgeon and managing director of the Star Group of Hospitals Gopichand Mannam and now he is also chairman of the Sangeeta Samiti, with an objective of developing and encouraging talent in Indian classical music (vocal and instrumental) in local, State and national levels.

“The idea is to create a platform for music lovers and enthusiasts besides artists and performers,” secretary of the Sangeeta Samiti C. V. Rao said. Besides monthly concerts, the organisation conducts three major annual events — veena festival, a national-level Carnatic music competition in online and in offline mode and birth and death anniversaries of the Trinity of Carnatic music, also known as the Three Jewels of Carnatic Music, Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri.

To spread the magic of Carnatic music far and wide, the Sangeeta Samiti also provides free education in Carnatic classical music by Chitta Ramalakshmi and Chitta Karthik in vocal and veena respectively.