During the upcoming Memorial Day weekend (May 27 - 29, 2006) Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam (CTU), a not-for-profit organization, will be celebrating its 30th annual music
festival at the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, 10915 Lemont Road, Lemont, IL 60439.
The festival is in honor of music composer Saint Tyagaraja (1767-1847).
The flagship events of the Utsavam are on Saturday, May 27th when over 170 amateurs are expected to take the stage to perform one Kriti (song) of Tyagaraja, making this one of the biggest Carnatic music festivals in the USA. On this day there are exciting
events - including the Pancharatna Kritis, Utsava Sampradaya Kritis and not the least, the Vishnu Sahasranama Invocation.
The amateurs program is just the beginning. The Utsavam offers six major professional concerts during the three days. On Saturday May 27th the featured program is a musical play of Tyagaraja, Nauka Charitramu choreographed in Bharatanatyam style, by Sushmita
Arunkumar of Nrithyanjali School of Dance, Bolingbrook, IL.
On Sunday May 28th the program starts with Bhajans by Brahmasri Vittaldas group. Next is a concert by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna accompanied by Vittal Ramamurthy (violin) N. Ramakrishnan (Mridangam). The day ends with Dr. Saraswathi & Troupe performing a dance ballet Radha Madhav, with live orchestra.
On Monday May 29, a concert by Shubhan Kasim and Shubhan Babu (Nadaswaram Duet) accompanied by M. Anguswamy (Thavil) and S. Senthil Kumar (Thavil). The Utsavam concludes with a concert by Ranjani & Gayatri (Vocal) accompanied by H.N. Bhaskar (Violin) and K. Arun Prakash (Mridangam). Professional artists from India perform the five major concerts on Sunday and Monday.
All children who perform will be rewarded with a gift and a certificate. .On Saturday May 27th, the other main attraction is the home cooked authentic South Indian feast, which has become, over the years, an immense crowd pleaser.
For timing, ticketing and other details visit www.tyagaraja-chicago.org
or call 630 833 2756 (USA).
M. K. Sadagopan, 2220 Appleby Drive ,Wheaton, Illinois 60187,USA
Sadagopan@comcast74.net, 630 682 4298 (USA)
