2022 Ramanavami Season Review

This was a season of many records. Was able to attend 53 (online + in-person) concerts in this Ramanavami Season across 3 main sabhas of Bangalore. I think the thirst for Ramanavami concerts from the last 2 years was adequately quenched. 

Prayers to Lord Rama to give all of us more energy to attend concerts in the future as well. In spite of new vocational responsibilities was able to pull off a few live attendances at Fort High School and continue my passion in concert photography. Overall it was a satisfying season. 

Technology helped in catching up with the concerts at a later time in the day. Though I could not step into the premises of Vani School and Seshadripuram, their benevolent streaming of the permitted concerts was a treat to watch and shows promising signs for the years to come. Appreciate Bangalore sabhas adopting technology + adapting to the needs of the time, to reach audiences all around the world.

What was more heartening was the opportunity given to many Bangalore youngsters. The finds of the season for me are Bangalore Nishanth (Vocal), Guruprasanna's daughter Kum. Pranavi (Violinist), VedantGovind (Vocal), MysoreSumanth (Solo Violin), and Spoorthi Rao. All of them did a fantastic job when provided solo opportunities.

Attended concerts of a few artists for the first time: Vid LShankar, Vid. Mahati. Many thematic concerts reflected the passion of the artists in preparation of the contents and the efforts to refine it for presentation.

The biggest disappointment of the season was URajesh (long setup time, and winding up the concert before time), Ambi (who paired with Rajesh), and Prabhat Sound System (almost on daily basis reinventing how to use their new state-of-the-art digital touch screen sound engineering system). They messed up big time, in the 75 artists concert at SRSM. A concert that was looked forward to by many was marred with frequent mic malfunctions and broke the flow for the artists. Im aware of the challenges, and I believe Prabhat's team has the right set of skills and tools, but they did not come to use at the right time!

Regarding ragas presented, Kalyani / Kambodhi / Shankarabharanas did not find much place. Other ragas found a fair share all across the sabhas and artists. 

Kudos to the organizing committee of these sabhas for bringing 1 month of non-stop concerts to the audience in Bangalore. Interestingly there were no cancellations by any artists at SRSM (usually it used to be 1 or 2), and only one at Vani School. It was almost as smooth as one could expect it to be.

Thanks to all your wishes and support from my family members without which this was not possible. As I wind up this season, I'm looking forward to Ramanavami2023.