Musicians,events,anecdotes and tid-bits

[padmanabha]

_Pandit Veerabhadraiah Hiremath gave a delectable Hindusthai vocal recital at the Swathi Sangeetha Archana last week. Born and brought in a rural village of Yaragal in Bijapur, he was sent to the music school of Pt. Putraj Gawaii known for the gurukula system. He was not rich enough even to send his son to the music school. The kind villagers gathered money and fulfilled his father’s dream. Of course they had staunch faith in young Veerabhadraiah’s rich voice that one day he would bring glory and fame to the village.

“We are basically farmers. My father plays harmonium very well to the accompaniment of bhajans. He wanted me to become a trained musician which he could not. I spent 10 years in the school and imbibed the Gwaliar Gharana of Hindusthani Music with all its nuances. It was a different experience. We pupils have to partake in pooja for two hours. It was in fact a musical offering to Lord Siva. The music lesson will be for four hours a day besides this. The master plays all musical instruments so are the students. I can play harmonium sarangi and flute. I even teach flute and recently sent one of my disciples to Pt. Hariprasad Chourasya for advance training. The coaching at the school is free .ALL the 800 pupils are provided with food and accommodation” said Veerabhadraiah.

This musician is struggling to establish Hindusthani system of music in Mysore where carnatic music has more takers and is dominant. Now organizations are inviting us to stage Hindusthani music. Now I am learning under Padmabhushan Pt. Indhudhara Nirodi of Agra gaharana. He is the disciple of Ratanjanakar who notated the Hindusthani compositions of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal. That was how I came to know of Swati Tirunal’s beautiful works. For the last few months I have been practicing the songs” revealed the artiste. He began the concert with Sankar sree giri nath prabhu kae in Gouri. He was accompanied on Harmonium Mallikarjun Sunshi also a disciple of Pt. Putraj Gawaii, and on tabala Bhimshankar Bidanur.
Veerbhadraiah’s gifted mellifluous voice, rich in tradition and saturated with bhava made the concert a worthy one.