Classical Arts Society Presents the Brilliant Sikkil Gurucharan
By Ranjana Narasiman
It is very rare that traditional purists of Carnatic music and seekers of contemporary aesthetics in Carnatic music see eye to eye on the merits of any concert. However the versatile and inimitable Sikkil Gurucharan has indeed succeeded in bridging the gaps between these opposing camps, holding all his listeners captive under the spell of his extra ordinary music – noted for both both its cerebral excellence and musical charm. It is no wonder that India’s national magazine “India Today” featured Gurucharan among the “Game Changers Under (the age of) 35 in India” , a list of young achievers from different walks of life.
American pop rock singer/songwriter Jon McLaughlin describes Sikkil Gurucharan’s musical experiment with pianist Anil Srinivasan as follows: “creator of devastatingly beautiful music that pleases Carnatic purists and the aesthetics seekers in music”
Coming from a musical pedigree on the paternal and maternal side, Gurucharan was encouraged by his grandmother and aunt-once-removed (the flautists Sikkil sisters) and was trained initially by his mother Mythili Chandrasekharan as the musical family saw great potential in young Gurucharan. In Chennai, he was trained by Vaigai Shri S. Gnanaskandan, disciple of Dandapani Desikar and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
Academically too, Gurucharan stood out: At his High School, Vidyamandir, Chennai, he won the Best outgoing all-rounder student award. He was also a gold medalist at Vivekananda college, which is when he started to sing in the music season with the instigation of supportive professors. His other academic accomplishment at Loyola college was a masters in financial management.
He showed versatility in his musical journey as well: RJ WORLDSPACE RADIO,
Program Curator, Artists’ Interviews, Voice over for shruti channel, Piano-Carnatic experimenter with pianist Anil Srinivasan.
His very popular “Jannal Oram” youtube episodes are well researched and articulated exploring many genres, many themes, and many landscapes within the framework of music, particularly Carnatic music…. themes from patriotism to “resilience”, bringing new audiences to Carnatic music. His topical and motivational ideas (mirroring Bharathiyaar’s ideas) are very well received by young audiences.
His music has thus become contextual and therefore full of emotion (bhava) that our human minds can resonate with. He takes the lyrics to the level of what the creator meant for them to express, thereby giving equal importance to the lyrics and the music.
The theme of our concert is “Theynisai Thamizh” -” Honey-sweet music in Thamizh”. We expect it to be a beautiful, well-researched and ordered presentation with V. Sanjeev on the violin and Delhi Sairam on the mridangam. Please buy your tickets and avail yourselves of special donor offers and early bird discounts through Eventbrite or online through our website: classicalartshouston.org
Classical Arts is also exploring the possibility of a live “Jannal Oram’ episode (a musical “fireside chat”) in Houston, a day prior to the concert itself. If there is sufficient interest, this will happen, and announcements will be made on classicalartshouston.org and through emails to patrons.