Magical Bows and Strings of Ganesh Kumaresh bring Musical Downpour in Greater Houston  

By Nalini Sadagopan

WOODLANDS:On September 5, we entered the beautifully decorated Berry Center Auditorium of Greater Houston for an unforgettable evening of music by world-renowned violin virtuosos Ganesh and Kumaresh. The brothers, dressed in deep blue and dark attires, appeared to be impregnated musical clouds that drenched the packed audience with a brilliant musical downpour.

The Hindu Temple of The Woodlands had impeccably organized this fundraising event, in transforming their “Vision to Reality” project. The program was emceed eloquently by Sudha Ravi Mani. Kruthi Bhat sonorously rendered the invocatory Meera Bhajan.

The forty-year veterans in violin performance, considered child prodigies, Ganesh and Kumaresh were initiated and trained by their father, Rajagopalan Iyer. They have found a new expression targeted towards instrumental music called Ragapravaham, which is based only on the raga (melodic scale) and thala (the rhythmic scale).

The thematic concert in celebrating Krishna Janmashtami depicted five facets of Lord Krishna – magnum opus, romantic, philosophic, superhero and compassionate. The brothers were accompanied by Papanasam Sankaranarayanan on the mridangam and Krishnaswamy on the ghatam. Samyuktha Hari and Kruthi Bhat provided tambura support.

The concert opened with a brisk pancharagamalika varnam.

The brothers followed the varnam with ragam Mayamalavagowla showcasing resonance and agility.

The main piece of the concert was painted with Kamboji. The soulful composition of Elara SriKrishna was soothingly played at a pace where one could imagine the Lord in our midst. The kalpanaswarams and korappu were like pearls strung to adorn the beautiful Lord Krishna. The percussion duet was unbelievably riveting and won a thunderous applause from the audience.

The philosophical and compassionate Krishna was presented through vocal renditions of Tamil compositions by Ganesh in the ragams Nayaki and Kalyanavasantham.

The superhero Krishna, rather a superhero side of the brothers, came out when they engaged the audience to choose the ragam to be performed. The brothers astoundingly expounded on Dhavalambari which resulted from the trivia.
The concluding pieces included a Kannada composition in Pahadi and a Dwijavanthi thillana.

HTW board members S.R. Pinnapureddy, Praveen Gottipati, and Krishna Hari helped with welcoming, felicitation and rendering a vote of thanks respectively.

Venki Chandrasekar summarized the fundraising efforts of HTW. Madras Pavilion and Dhakshin catered sumptuous dinner. Thanks to the cultural committee of HTW and the leadership of Rajee Hari for bringing such remarkable programs to the Houston audience.