Unlike vocalists and solo instrumentalists who can preplan what to present, for accompanying musicians, each concert is a mystery that unravels only as it progresses. During the music season, they play two to three concerts every day, switching gears among musicians as seamlessly as changing the tala between songs.
“After a point, adapting to different musicians becomes instinctive,” says mridangist N. Manoj Siva, who has played in every season since 1987. The same sentiment is echoed by kanjira exponent K.V. Gopalakrishnan (first season 1994), ghatam artiste N. Guruprasad (first season 1998), violinist L. Ramakrishnan (first season 2004), mridangist N.C. Bharadwaj (first season 2004 with Ramjhi’s ‘Isai Mazhalai’) and violinist Vittal Rangan (first season 2011), who all say they play for the music they hear each moment.
N. Guruprasad
| Photo Credit:
K.V. Srinivasan
What are their thoughts on the season, and how has it helped in the evolution of their careers? Ramakrishnan and Vittal say the increasing thematic presentations keep them on their toes, with rehearsals and professional filming adding to the experience. Bharadwaj feels the number of concerts has increased, and so has experimentation. Says Manoj: “In the earlier days, season and off-season concerts were not dissimilar. Now, there is an added expectation that artistes must present something different during the season. Because of this, there’s a reduction in the number of untried concert combinations — earlier, Sabha secretaries took the initiative to make them work.” He adds: “Also, the variety and complexity presented in pallavis is much more now.” To handle this, recordings of pallavis are often sent to percussionists and, sometimes, to violinists. Sometimes, online practice sessions and, less frequently, in-person rehearsals, have to be accommodated too.
N. Manoj Siva
| Photo Credit:
R. Ravindran
“Newer contact microphones mean ghatam players need less force to play. Before, our fingers would be badly bruised after concerts, especially during the Season,” says Guruprasad, who observes there were more textures to the music when he first began performing. He likes the newer artiste-seating configuration that gives second percussionists an unobstructed view of all performers and the audience too.
Whom musicians feature with, and how often they perform in Season are critical yardsticks of recognition and popularity. Season visibility translates to more students, which provides a predictable income. Some accompanying artistes also conduct independent workshops while on overseas tours.
The number of attendees in the 15-30 age group has increased significantly now, say Vittal and Bharadwaj. The latter thinks the proliferation of social media has enticed younger crowds to experience the Season in person. All say overseas visitors are significantly more now than before. Guruprasad states: “The Season is when we get to play with the senior-most mridangists, who mostly perform only then.” Gopalakrishnan, who initially played the mridangam before switching entirely to kanjira in 2002, adds, “Many people residing abroad come to perform during the Season.” Indeed, aspirants from other countries see performing in Chennai during this time as an important rite-of-passage. “When musicians request organisers abroad for kanjira/ghatam for overseas tours, the organisers’ main question is whether that musician has performed during the Season,” Gopalakrishnan explains. Guruprasad notes that many organisers also come at that time, highlighting the vital networking opportunity that Seasons offer.
L. Ramakrishnan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Once artistes have firmly established themselves, many reduce the number of concerts, at least slightly. For the past few years, Manoj has opted out of playing in consecutive concerts. During the 2008 Season, Gopalakrishnan played 87 concerts, including five on a single day. Now, he never exceeds three a day. Metro-related traffic congestion has also played a part in artistes’ recent decisions.
Given the volume of concerts, the condition of the instrument is on every instrumentalist’s mind. “I go to the luthier often during the season,” says Vittal, who, like Ramakrishnan, uses three violins for different bands of srutis. Manoj and Bharadwaj carefully prepare many mridangams before the Season begins. Guruprasad keeps numerous ghatams on hand. “Since the advent of phone-based tamburas, musicians use extremely precise srutis such as G minus 40 or C plus 25 making it more time-consuming to select the ghatam,” he says. For, while a ghatam’s sruti can be slightly lowered, it can never be raised, and vocalists, sometimes, request sruti changes even on stage. Gopalakrishnan lays out four kanjiras for every concert, with two more in reserve. “I have used all six many times,” he says. Kanjiras do not have sruti, but require sprinkling of water to produce tone. As it is played, the skin can lose its tautness. After the day’s concerts, he uses a hair dryer to dry the instruments.
K.V. Gopalakrishnan.
| Photo Credit:
S. Madhuvanthi
Ramakrishnan highlights an issue that specifically affects accompanying artistes. While concert durations are similar across comparable slots, the start times can vary from sabha to sabha. This makes it stressful for accompanying artistes with consecutive concerts in different sabhas.
A quick glance reveals that the start times for the first evening slot are 4 p.m., 4.30 p.m. and 4.45 p.m.. The second slots begin at 6 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and even at 7 p.m.
While musicians aim for a sufficient buffer, they cannot always do so, because they have to accept concerts by senior musicians, and also oblige those who regularly request their presence. Between being in great demand themselves and the many soloists and fellow accompanists they try to accommodate, it becomes a veritable airline scheduling problem. Delayed starts and ends at concerts also cascade, leaving these artistes further in the lurch. “Standardising timings across sabhas during the Season would be incredibly helpful for all of us,” says Ramakrishnan.
N. C. Bharadwaj
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Amidst all this, attending concerts and lec-dems, conversing with fellow musicians and eating and socialising at canteens make the Season memorable for the performers.
Published – November 28, 2025 06:23 pm IST
