The biennial Udupa Music Festival is breaking with custom to current a live performance this 12 months to celebrate 10 years of bringing collectively Indian classical music and the performing arts. Helmed by Giridhar Udupa, Sandhya Udupa and Bhargava Halambi, this edition will characteristic a stellar line-up with the likes of Vidwan L Subramaniam, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, Ustad Fazal Qureshi, Vidwan Anoor R Ananthakrishna Sharma, Pandit Bickram Ghosh, Vidwan Ambi Subramaniam, and others performing.
Talking concerning the live performance, Giridhar Udupa remembers how the competition was conceptualised. “The main reason we started the foundation was to take our art form to places where people had no access to it such as old age homes, orphanages, cancer centres, government schools and the like. Since the people in these places would not be able to attend a concert, we decided to take the music to them and bring them happiness.”
“At the same time, we wanted to educate audiences in a simple way about our instruments and the music we represent. Since in-depth knowledge would be impossible to impart in a 90-minute concert, a brief introduction would have to suffice instead,” he continues.
Vidwan L Subramaniam
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Special Arrangement
Over the final 10 years, the muse has carried out greater than 153 concert events that includes 308 musicians throughout 93 venues, courtesy the music competition which serves as a fundraiser. Giridhar says the muse determined to invite two greats from the state — Vidwan L Subramaniam and Pandit Venkatesh Kumar — to celebrate their 10th anniversary,
“This holds a special meaning for us as this will be the first time L Subramaniam, who I look up to as my mentor, will be performing in Bengaluru after being bestowed with the Padma Vibhushan this year,” says the ghatam artiste.
Pandit Venkatesh Kumar
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Special Arrangement
The two-day music competition can even characteristic a talavadya (a sequence of classical tunes in varied ragas offered through a variety of musical devices) with mridangist Anoor R Ananthakrishna Sharma, Bickram Ghosh on the tabla and C P Vyasa Vittala enjoying the khanjira.
The Udupa Music Festival 2025 – Special Edition will happen on May 22 and 23 at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, from 7pm. Tickets from ₹400 onwards on BookMyShow
Tap into the rhythm
May 22: Talavadya adopted by Pandit Venkatesh Kumar’s live performance with Vyasmurthy Katti on the harmonium and Keshava Joshi on the tabla
May 23: Violinists L Subramaniam and Ambi Subramaniam with mridangist V V Ramana Murthy, Ustad Fazal Qureshi on the tabla, Tripunithura N Radhakrishnan on the ghatam and Latha Ramachar on the khanjira
Published – May 20, 2025 07:10 pm IST
