Percussion maestros steal the show

As part of the celebrations of the 60th year of the State’s first Ministry, a fusion concert titled Jwala was held recently at Nishagandhi Open Auditorium, Trivandrum.
The musical evening kicked off with a stellar performance from mridangam artiste Umayalpuram K Sivaraman. He performed some of his popular compositions.
The Padma Vibhushan awardee was later joined by veteran chenda artiste Mattanur Sankarankutty and Dr Karthick on ghatam.The trio put on an impressive show with their percussion instruments.
The evening got even better when musician Stephen Devassy and violinist Attukal Balasubramanyam joined in to leave the audience spellbound. Vocals by M Jayachandran and Kavalam Sreekumar added splendour to the evening.
The highlight of the event was when Balasubramanyam tried to match his soothing violin notes to the energised beats from the mridangam and chenda.
Those in attendance were seen thoroughly engrossed in the event, even tapped their hands on their thighs keeping up with the rhythm.
Techie Sivapriya Nakulam, who even recorded the live orchestra, said, “It was a melodic evening. It was fun watching them live as they mesmerised us with their improvisations throughout the recitals. The music arrangement between chenda and mridangam especially was awesome.”