Musical morning at Nageswara Rao Park, Mylapore

Vani Vidyalaya, K K Nagar student presents Sunday Kutcheri in the Park

Nature and music lovers had a rapturous and enjoyable musical morning on Sunday (4th June 2006) at the Nageswara Park in Luz, Mylapore.

This time, in addition to the "dawn chorus" with which birds greet the people every new day, they had the sweet Carnatic vocal performance of Master V Shreyas to experience and applaud.

Just after the break of dawn, one could hear a heart rendering vocal performance by a 13-year-old boy. It seemed a perfect setting amidst falling leaves and curious birds, humming around the park. With overnight drizzle, the cool and cloudy early morning weather proved to be an ideal setting for the young boy to showcase his talent in front of 100 plus music connoisseurs.

In the fifth of the ‘Sundaram Finance Sunday Kutcheri in the Park’ series, Shreyas, an eighth standard student of Vani Vidyalaya, K K Nagar, presented an outstanding vocal performance for an hour this morning at the Nageswara Rao Park in Mylapore.

He was accompanied by R Bharathi on the violin and R Sriram on the mridangam. Shreyas is learning vocal music from P P B Srirangachari and Murali Parthasarathy. He is also learning violin from Srinivasamurthy.

T T Srinivasaraghavan, Managing Director, Sundaram Finance Ltd, said, "Master Shreyas’s vocal performance this morning was truly outstanding. Our idea, when we started this Sunday Kutcheri concept in February this year, was intended to promote budding youngsters to showcase their talent and provide opportunities to kids under 15 to perform in an open-air, ‘no mike-no speaker’ environment."

" From the performances we have seen in the last few months and the outstanding response from the community, that can be seen from the large number of music connoisseurs who have gathered here to witness and applaud the young, budding artistes, I think the ‘Sundaram Finance Sunday Kutcheri in the Park’ has kicked off in right earnest."

Mikeless Kutcheri - Sree Chitra competes with chirping of birds

In the ninth of the monthly Sundaram Finance Sunday Kutcheri in the Park', V Sree Chitra, a class-9 student of Jawahar Vidyalaya, Ashok Nagar, enthralled the audience with her sweet voice and korvais of the ragas on Sunday(8th October 2006) morning at the Nageswara Rao Park.

It seemed a perfect setting amidst falling leaves and curious birds, humming around the park. Sree Chitra had to compete with the chirping of birds at that early hour to be heard and yet kept the audience spellbound right till the end. She sang with enthusiasm, ably backed by Prajeeth Kumar's violin and Punish Davay's mridangam.

The open air environment at the park proved to be an ideal setting for the girl to showcase her talent in front of 100-plus music connoisseurs.

Sree Chitra has been learning music from guru Lalitha Subramanian, Rasikapriya School of Music.

Sisters present Sunday Kutcheri in the Park

6year and 8 year old sisters surprise the Sunday Kutcheri audience with a sparkling performance

Two young little children were the cynosure of all eyes on Sunday (6th August 2006) morning at the Nageswara Rao Park.

Reason - Sisters R. Deepika (eight years) and R. Aparna (six years), studying in the Srimathi Sundaravalli Memorial Higher Secondary School, Chromepet, were presenting a memorable vocal carnatic music performance, as part of the Sundaram Finance Sunday Kutcheri in the Park.

If there was any apprehension, before Sunday morning, about their capability to present a full fledged kutcheri, sans mike and speakers, none existed after 730am for the two little kids stunned a packed park audience with their sweet presentation. Through the one hour, the sisters were full of energy and drew applause after every song.

Almost all the morning park walkers cut short their walk to watch the sisters, enthusiastically and without any inhibitions, present one full hour of carnatic music songs.

They were accompanied by B N Sivakumar on the Violin and by K Ramasubramanian on the Mridangam

Deepika and Aparna have been learning vocal music from Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan

Sunday Kutcheri in the Park Launch- February 2006

Vandulur Vishwa Vidyalaya Students launch Sundaram Finance Sunday Kutcheri in the Park with a Group Kutcheri

Sundaram Finance Sunday Kutcheri in the Park kicked off on 5th February 2006 with a Group Kutcheri presented by 8 students belonging to Vandalur Vishwa Vidyalaya School.

All these students started at around 5am on Sunday morning from Vandalur to reach the chess square at the Nageswara Rao Park by 6am, a good half hour before the scheduled time of the Sunday Kutcheri. The students were all very excited to present a Kutcheri sans mike and speakers and in front a big audience, many of whom were sitting within yards of the performing artistes.

Most of the children from Vishwa Vidyalaya in Vandalur who came to sing at the first Sunday Kutcheri in the Park were children of labourers, none of whom had ever had the benefit of a school education.

This school, run by two ladies, has had an excellent track record growing from about 50 students to well over 800 students. An integral part of the curriculum is the music education. For these students, it turned out to be a nice platform to showcase their talent in front a big audience that comprised morning walkers and music connoisseurs.

Many in the audience stayed back well beyond the kutcheri to personally appreciate and bless these young children.