‘Namba Aathu Katcheri’ takes classical music to listeners’ homes

Music comes calling

Social media may have become the go to medium for young artistes to connect with audience across the globe, but the appeal of a live performance will never fade. Artistes are exploring new ways of in-person presentations. One such is ‘Namba Aathu Katcheri’, an initiative by a group of young artistes, where chamber concert-meets-technology. As the name suggests, the concerts are held in an interactive and intimate setting. But unlike conventional chamber concerts, they are also live streamed.

Conceptualised by Adithya Raja, a young Carnatic music enthusiast, the group includes vocalist Swarathmika Srikanth, violinist Shreelakshmi Bhat, and mridangist Vamsidhara Anand.

The initiative is designed to host performances by both established and young artistes to engage rasikas of all ages. The first episode featured a group of artistes singing Tyagaraja’s Pancharatna kritis. It took place at Swarathmika’s house.

In a well-lit living room of an apartment in Nanganallur, the rasikas are seated on the floor. The microphones and cameras are all in place, and vocalists Dhruv and Dhatre are joined by mridangist Anirudh Raj and violinist Gayathri Vibhavari. Dhruv chooses a slip of paper from a bowl and begins to sing the kriti written on it. “While we follow the traditional format of the Carnatic kutcheri, these new approaches using gamification have attracted millennial rasikas and young artistes”, says the NAK team.

Over the last six months, the team has conducted 11 thematic concerts every alternate Sundays. The themes included ‘Real-time Pallavis’ (focusing only on pallavis), ‘The Duality’ (bringing out two aspects of a composition), ‘Welcoming Varali’ (featuring seven different Varali ragas), and ‘The Unsung Abhangs’.

The NAK team also aims to recognise the significance of instrumentalists and ensure they get the spotlight they deserve. The solo instrumental performances included ‘Strings and Swarams’ (a mandolin concert based on chittaswaras), ‘Exploring Tadhinginathom’ (mridangists presenting panchanadai) and ‘+4 to -4’ (a flute and mridangam concert).

At ‘The Wheel of Ragas’ concert, violinist Shreelakshmi along with mridangist Sannath Parameswaran played ragas starting with the alphabet selected from a spin-off wheel that was randomly displayed on a screen. “It was a unique experience. I played most of the ragas impromptu,” says Shreelakshmi.