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CARNATICA'S SUMMER CAMP - A FUN-FILLED LEARNING EXPERIENCE |
What was Carnatica's summer course all about? Divya M Ramesh, a final year BA (Music) student from Queen Mary's College, Chennai, takes a look. |
Carnatica Archival Center, run
by vocalists K N Shashikiran and S Sowmya for preserving and popularizing
Carnatic music and other traditional arts, conducted a summer camp for 10
days between May 1 and 10, 2002 at T. Nagar, Chennai. The camp contained several packages that one could choose from. The one that I opted for had Yoga, Hindustani music, Voice culture, selected masterpieces of great composers, and Devotional music. The camp started at 7.30 am everyday. Mr. Gopalakrishnan, a famous Yoga expert taught us Asana-s, which not only improved our breathing but also straightened us up in general! Yoga was followed by Hindustani music, taught by Mrs. Sowmya Madanagopal, who was patient enough to listen to our Carnatic mixed Hindustani versions! But at the end of 10 days, we could sing 3 bhajans without our Carnatic accents! It was very interesting to note the differences between the Carnatic and Hindustani systems, the various ragas, talas and compositional styles. For Voice culture, we underwent rigorous
training under Sowmya and Shashikiran. The difference was that we
approached even the basics from a new angle. We learnt various exercises
which would help us improve our speed and clarity, while at the same time,
lend weight to our voices. We learnt how to practise and more importantly,
how not to practise! |
Posted on May 15, 2002 |