K L Kaushik, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Golden Jubilee Trust

K L Kaushik - Flute
R Raghul - Fiddle
S R Ethirajan - Mridangam

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Golden Jubilee Trust
Raga Sudha Hall
26th July 07. 5 pm

brOcEvArevarE - sriranjani - Adi - T (S)
mAnamu lEdA - hamIrkalyANi - Adi - T (R)
tuLasi jagajjanani - sAvEri - rUpakam - T (RNS)
srI mAtrubhUtam - kannaDa - misra cApu - MD (short sketch, S)
srIkAnta nIyaDa - bhavapriyA - Adi - T
manasu vishaya - nATTaikuranji - Adi - T (RS)
tani Avarththanam
parulanna mATa - kApi - rUpakam - DS

The concert began with a brisk rendition of the sriranjani kriti with a fitting round of svarams. The AlApanai of hamIrkalyANi was done well. The kriti was rendered in a striking fashion.

sAvEri Alapanai was done in a fashion bringing all the beauty of the rAgam. The violinst gave a fitting reply. The kriti, a not so often heard piece, was rendered with elaborate neraval and svarams. The short sketch of kannaDa was exciting. The kriti was rendered very beautifully. The violinst followed like a shadow. The mridangist provided good support also.

The main AlApanai of nATTakuranji was very elaborate and showed many nuances of the rAgam and explored the rAgam quite thoroughly. The violinst gave a real nice reply. The kriti was rendered with an elaborate round of svarams and korappu. The mridangist was very accomodative in playing for the slow piece and played a nice tani. The jAvaLi came with a good flair providing a good ending to the concert.

The three young musicians were good in their respect. They seem to be very promising for the future years to come.

K L Kaushik - Flute, Music Academy

K L Kaushik - Kaushik Sivaramakrishnan - S J Arjun Ganesh

Music Academy Mini Hall. HCL Concert Series
21 April 2007. 6:30 pm

entO prEma - suruTTi - Adi - TT (short sketch)
mEru samAna - mAyAmALavagauLa - Adi - T (short sketch, NS)
ennaDu nI krupa - vAcaspati - Adi - PSI (short sketch, NS)
sarasija nAbha - tODi - misra cApu - ST (RNS)
divAkara tanujam - yadukulakAmbhOji - Ekam - MD (short sketch)
padavini - sALagabhairavi - Adi - T
giripai nelakona - sahAnA - Adi - T (RS)
tani Avarththanam
parulanna mATa - kApi - rUpakam - DS
krishNA nI bEganE - yamunakalyANi - misra cApu - Vyasaraja
rAma baktha hanumAn - jOnpuri - Adi - Suguna Purushottaman
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

The Flute Recital of Sri Kaushik was very classical and all pieces were very well rendered. The AlApanais of tODi and sahAnA were filled with classical phrases with all the necessary sancarams. The short sketches of mAyAmALavagauLa and vAcaspati were good as well. The rendition of the kritis, especially divAkara tanujam, was very moving. It was a very classical concert. Sri Kaushik is a man to watch out for, in future. He is definitely going to go places and earn a name for himself in the field of Music.

Sri Kaushik on the fiddle, was good in some parts. Sri Arjun Ganesh was very good in all parts of the concert and played very well according to the kritis. The tani was good as well.

K L Kaushik, Music Club IIT Madras

K L Kaushik - R Raghul - B Srivatsan

YOUTHFEST.
MUSIC CLUB IITM. DoMS Hall
8th Jan 07. 6:45 pm

Thyagaraja Kritis Concert. Bahula Panchami Day

brOcEvArevarE - sriranjani - Adi (S)
kanakanarUcirA - varALi - Adi (R)
kadalEvADu - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi
aDugArAdani - manOranjani - Adi
giripai nelakOna - sahAnA - Adi (R)
amma rAvamma - kalyANi - kaNDa cApu (NS)
rAnidhi - maNirangu - Adi
rAma bANa - sAvEri - Adi (RNS)
tani
adikAdu bhajana - yadukula kAmbhOji - Adi
Emani vEgintulE - husEni - Adi
tavadAsOham - punnAgavarALi - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi

The concert started with a brisk rendition of the sriranjani kriti with embellished by a string of short-Avartana swarams. The varALi AlApanai was marked by weighty classicism which is Kaushik forte. The pancaratnam, despite some memory hiccups, was rendered well. It was refreshing to hear the nArAyaNagauLa kriti which has become rarer than Dikshitar's "Sri rAmam". Equally contrasting and appealing was the manOranjani kriti.

The sahAnA AlApanai was sensitive and soothing. The kriti was rendered without any further embellishments and that suited the mood of the concert. Probably aware of the overdose of Kalyani in concerts, particularly the recent 'season' he embarked on the kriti directly. The choice also seemed to satisfy the 'minority quota' for tALas. A spell of niraval and svaras were included. He then chose what could be an appropriate reply for a marketing call from a multi-national bank! "rAnidhirAdu............pOnidhi pOdu" ! It was a neat rendition.

The sAvEri AlApanai was not in the same class as the two earlier ones. However, there was a welcome choice of kriti which received elaborate treatment with neraval and svarams at 'sauryamEmani pOgaDuturA'. This was followed by a sprightly tani by school-boy mridangist Srivatsan.

The post tani session also kept up the classical mood with the inclusion of songs in rAgAs such as huseni and punnAga varALi

In summary, Kaushik is a talented lad with plenty of promise but the flautist in him is distinctly more effective than the vocalist

Raghul on the violin was adequate while Srivatsan lent lively support to the proceedings.

K L Kaushik, R A Puram Baktha Samaj

K L Kaushik - Koushik Sivaramakrishnan - Mohanakrishnan

R A Puram Baktha Samaj. 25th December 2005 5 pm

karuNimpa - sahAnA varNam - Adi (S)
sogasujuDa taramA - kannaDagauLa - Adi - T
amma rAvammA - kalyANi - kaNDa cApu - T (RNS)
hari hara putram - vasantA - kaNDa Ekam
krupajUcuDaku - cAyAtarangiNi - Adi - T
nI pAdamulE - bhairavi - Adi - patnam
tani
marubAri - khamAs

The concert was well structured and Kaushik did a good job in kriti selection and rendition. His manodarmam was good also.

The violinst was off beat thro' the concert, he was lost in most parts of concert. His alapanais were atrociously long and monotonous.

The mridangist was good.

The acoustics left a lot to be desired.

KL Kaushik, IIT Madras Music Club

K L Kaushik - Flute
Arunachalam Karthik - Fiddle
S R Ethirajan - Mridangam

Music Club IITM 8th November 2005

viribhONi - bhairavi - aTa tALam - pachimiriyam Adiyappaiyar (short sketch)
nADADina mATa - janaranjani - misra cApu - T (S)
angArakam - suruTTi - rUpakam - MD (short sketch)
karuNa yElakaNTE - varALi - Adi - T (RNS)
mAnasa guruguha - Anandabhairavi - tisra Ekam (2 kaLai) - MD (R)
aTukArAdani - manOranjani - Adi - T
tulasi bilva - kEdAragauLa - Adi (2 kaLai) - T (RNS)
taniyAvaratanam
dEvi brOva - cintAmaNi - Adi (2 kaLai) - SS
marubAri - khamAs - dharmapuram subbarAyar jAvaLi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam

Our "knowledge-pretending" critics of the press usually have the habit of lamenting over all of contemporary carnatic music, saying "it lacks depth, these people have no understanding of the Carnatic idiom" and so on. They do not care to fan the obscure sabhas and pick the artists who can outclass the classical musicians of yesteryears. These thoughts passed through my mind as I sat listening to one of the most promising prospects perform at Music Club, IIT Madras.

The first indication of classicism is the menu card; it says a lot for where the artist's heart lies. The brief or elaborate rAga essays, the renditions soaked in melody, with no sign of discontinuity, were out of the world! The varnam in bhairavi was rendered as best as any that I have heard. janaranjani flowed smoothly. The Lord of the Day of the week, angAraka, was duly paid homage. Then came a breathtaking AlApana of varALi. Flautists would know the extent of control required for handling an entire set of 'half-holed' notes for this rAga. Kaushik was absolutely at ease, playing a memorable spell of the rAga and the kriti.

Did you look for a change to the light after that? Sorry, next came Anandabhairavi vying for honours with the preceding AlApana followed by another weighty rendition of 'mAnasa guruguha', Dikshitar's masterpiece. For a break, therafter, came a brisk manOranjani, to be followed by kEdAragauLa as the main item for the day. Frankly, though this was also an impressive elaboration, it did not measure up to the standards of varALi and Anandabhairavi; his earlier excellence was his own enemy! It was refreshing to hear tuLasI bilva taken up as the main piece and aired so beautifully. The niraval ans swaras were followed by the tani -- Ethirajan on the mridangam -- there was nothing left to look forward to from a guy who seemed to play bhairavi, Anandabhairavi, varALi and kEdAragauLa on the mridangam, if you ever thought that was possible! The melodic accompaniment that Ethirajan provided for this concert was so impressive that the tani sounded redundant, though he played well! Expected some light stuff after the tani, at least? No, there was still cintAmaNi to come! The jAvaLi in khamAs made up for that need after which the concert concluded, AruNAcala kArthik supported well on the violin without showing any kleptomaniac tendency to steal the show like Ethirajan did!