Madras Music Season

Madras Music Seaso

Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its five week-long Music Season, which has been described as the world's largest cultural event [1]. The Music Season was started in 1927, to mark the opening of the Madras Music Academy. It used to be a traditional month-long Carnatic music festival, but since then it has also diversified into dance and drama, as well as non-Carnatic art forms.
The traditional role of the Music Season is to allow aficionados of Carnatic music to appreciate performances by renowned artistes, and also to provide a good opportunity for promising young artistes to display their talent and skill. During this time, a large number of Sabhas (music halls) organize kutcheris (formal concerts). Artistes come from across India and from the international Indian diaspora to play during the season. The event has grown over the years; there were over 1200 performances by about 600 artistes in 2004-2005 (about 700 vocal, 250 instrumental, 200 dance and 50 drama and others [2]).

Whats on the Menu?

The variety cultural programmes that one can expect during the season can be broadly categorized into the following:
Carnatic concerts
HariKathas
Lecture Demonstrations (petted lec-demo in the local circles).
Awards and Titles

Carnatic Concerts

The standard Carnatic Concert during the Season lasts for around 3 hours. Most sabhas reserve the evening slots to renowned artistes. There is usually lesser Instrumental concerts around than Vocal concerts.

Attending the Season

There are dozens of Sabhas all over Madras and it could get quite challenging to decide where to go. Several top notch artists might be performing at different places around the City. So its all about choosing and planning the season.
Typically, most Internet Websites like www.artindia.netchennaionline.com and sangeetham.com provide details on the who's who and where's what of the season. Local dailies like The Hindu and Indian Express carry a dedicated section under the title Engagements or Arts, Dance and Drama that lists some of the important concerts / events around the city. The Rule of thumb is that when a concert claims All are welcome, it is a free concert with no entry-fee. Generally the concerts in the evenings at most places are paid. Tickets usually range from Rs.50/- (a seating from where the stage is barely visible) to Rs.250/- (VIP seating). Almost always, the concerts held at Temples have no entry-fee.
Since most of the famous sabhas are located in and around Mylapore, it is a good idea to find an accommodation in Mylapore. Besides, all other important sabhas are well connected to Mylapore by bus and local trains. Parthasarathy Swami Sabha conducts several lecture demos and all concerts except the evening slots are free.

Sabhas and Halls

A Carnatic Sabha is an organisation that helps conduct concerts. Sabhas fight in contest for their choice of artists. It is also the sabhas that give out titles and awards to artistes to reward talent. Usually, all sabhas own a hall (or two). Some smaller sabhas like Karthik Fine Arts rent a hall during the season. Generally, there is a main hall and a mini hall in most such complexes. The main halls, on an average, can accommodate about 300 people while the mini can take not more than 75 people.
It is quite easy to identify a hall from the banners, posters and decorated name boards outside the hall facing the roads. and most of these halls are important landmarks so getting there is quite easy. (ex: Rani Seethai Hall and Vani Mahal have Bus Stops named after the halls. The buses stop at a fairly close distance to the halls).

Canteens

Almost always all halls run a Canteen where a variety of South Indian foods, Sweets and Savouries are purchasable. Generally, during the noon a traditional south Indian lunch is also served. Peak time of the Canteen is usually in the evenings before and after the 6 p.m. concert. On weekends its usually crowded during most part of the day! The selection of Caterer is also an important point that has an effect on the reputation of the Sabha.

Acoustics

The acoustics of Sabhas have improved greatly in the recent past. But its still not uncommon to find mixing glitches such as Feedback during a Concert. Since artistes arrive right on time and the concert starts almost always without a delay, there is very little time the artistes get to interact with the sound engineer at the hall. It is common to notice, in the few minutes of their commencement of a concert, the artistes looking into their left (where the mixer unit and the sound engineer are) and asking for an increase or decrease to their monitor volume.
Generally, Medium / Small sized halls don't have a dedicated monitor and the PA system usually fills in the role of a monitor.

Some important Sabhas and their (usual) Halls

Brahma Gana Sabha: Pethachi Sivagami Auditorium
Indian Fine Arts Society : Bala Mandir German Hall
Kalarasana : Rani Seethai Hall
Mudra : Freedom Hall
Madras Music Academy: TTK Auditorium
Nadha Inbam : Raga Sudha Hall
Narada Gana Sabha : Sathguru Gnanananda Hall
Nungambakkam Cultural Academy : Rama Rao Kala Mandap
Rasika Ranjani Sabha : Dakshinamoorthy Auditorium
Sri Krishna Gana Sabha : Sri Krishna Gana Sabha
Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha : Vidya Bharathi
Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha : Vani Mahal
Tamil Isai Sangam : Raja Annamalai Mandram