Madurai Mani Iyer Centenary Celebrations Chennai Oct 28,2012

[cacm]

MADURAI MANI IYER CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS--OCTOBER28,2012 AT CHENNAI
I am excited to inform Rasikas that as a culmination to the Annual MMI REMEMBRANCE DAY CELEBRATIONS (held at Ragasudha Hall under the aegis of The Global Rasikas Forum of the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Committee) the "MMI Centenary Celebrations Committee" has been formed which plans to celebrate the centenary in a Grand & Appropriate Fashion. Further details will be posted here at the appropriate times. Herewith some preliminary details:
Name of Organising Committee: MMI Centenary Celebrations Committee
Address: 7A, Prasanthi Apartments, 58 T.M. Maistry Street, Vannanthurai, Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai-41, 600041, Telephone:
04442151321, 9841313527( S.Venugopalan).
Co-Chairpersons:
Mrs. Aruna Ranganathan
Sri. E.N.Renganathan
Sri. Cleveland V.V.Sundaram
Sri. S.Venugopalan
Dr.V.K.Viswanathan
In INDIA Specifically S.Venugopalan is the contact person. He can be contacted at the telephone number above or by email at: esvee45@yahoo.com; In North America especially the contact person is: Dr.V.K.Viswanathan whose phone number is: 5056612618 & email is: vkv@juno.com. They are most likely to know the latest details as per their committee assignments.
DATE, TIME, PLACE etc of the Centenary Celebrations: Sunday, October28, 10A.M. to 9 P.M.,2012 at Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore (Near Kapali Temple on East Mada Street),Chennai.
We welcome Contributions, Suggestions & Volunteers from every one as the aim is to celebrate the contributions of not just a great musician but a GREAT SOUL who lived amongst us. We have planned to cover all aspects of his life in an appropriate fashion. We hope to periodically report on the progress as it is warranted. cacm (V.K.Viswanathan)

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

VKV: Great News!!! Hope I have better luck in Oct 2012 than I had in 2010!!

[cmlover]

Plenty of time for planning and Rassikas input!
Pl keep us posted...

[venu sundar]

At the out set I present myself as S.Venugopalan S/O CHITTI one of the closest associates of MMI.Sri VKV Sir during his last visit to Chennai has guided us to continue with the efforts of MMI 100 Celebrations to be held in OCTOBER 2012 and I am one of the MANY workers who is very much a die hard fans of MMI.I appeal through Rasikas.org to ALL the members to come together and let us pay our best tributes to the ONE AND ONLY MMI the od of Music.MMI as a Man was one of the examplary personalities and in his inner circle he is known as GANDHI for his noble qualities.Let us ALL MMI MADDYS Come as a well knit unit and make the MMI 100 a HUGE Success!Please respond to this mail sooner!My Contact no is 98413 13527 and my address is No 7 A Prasanthi Apts TMM ST Vannanhturai Chennai 600041!MY email Id is esvee45@gmail.com
and esvee45@yahoo.co.in!Please ALL MMI Fanatics get into touch with ME and also attend the MONTHLY EVENT when in Chennai! MMI Salute!

venu sundar

[venu sundar]

Monthly MMI meet - Address
Renganathan E N
#4/4, Kumudh Apartments (1st Floor, Road-facing entrance)
Lakshmipuram 1st Street,
Royapettah,
Chennai-600 014
Ph: +91 900 302 7857
When
Sat APRIL 30TH, 6pm – 8pm
Where
MMI centenary celebrations monthly listening session
contact S.Venugopalan 9841313527

[venu sundar]

Dear ALL,
PLEASE PUBLISH THIS IN YOUR EVENTS COLUMN OF 1ST MAY ADYAR TIMES!
SUBJECT
CHITTI-MMI--GUHAN REMEMBRANCE DAY!I
SPEAKERS-S/S KRA NARASIAH,SRI CL RAMAKRISHNAN IPS ,SRI KO SELVAM AIR Rt
VENUE VIDYYA VILASAM NO 9 THIRD CROSS ST DR RADHAKRISHNAN NAGAR
TIRUVANMIYUR CHENNAI 41 Behind AXIS BANK &AIRTEL SASTRINAGAR
TIME 5-30 PM MAY 1ST SUNDAY 2011
EVENT MMIs MUSIC FOR 45 MINUTES
MUNCH HIGH TEA &SNACKS

CONTACT VENU S/O CHITTI CELL 98413 13527 0675&Kuppusamy nephew GUHAN PH 2452 0675

[venu sundar]

e: Madurai Mani Iyer » 25 May 2011 10:44

Monthly MMI meet - Address

Renganathan E N
#4/4, Kumudh Apartments (1st Floor, Road-facing entrance)
Lakshmipuram 1st Street,
Royapettah,
Chennai-600 014
Ph: +91 900 302 7857
When
Sat MAY 28th, 6pm – 8pm
Where
MMI centenary celebrations monthly listening session
venu sundar

[venu sundar]

Sri Madurai Mani Iyer's
Classical Nusic

Date

28/05/2011 SATURDAY

Time

6.oo P.M. to 8.00P.M

Venue:

Sri EN Ranganathan's Residence
4/4 Kumudh Apartments,
Lakshmi Puram 1st Street,
Royapettah,
CHENNAI 6000 14
(Near Music Academy)

Light refreshments arranged

Please acknowledge receipt of this invitation
and
ATTEND THE SESSION WITHOUT FAIL.

S.Venugopalan
9841313527
9003027857

[venu sundar]

I thank S/S VKV SIR AND CLEVELAND SUNDARAM SIR for all the guidance and inspiration.But I am greatly DISAPPOINTED that NONE of our rasikas ack such an effort of listening to MMI Monthly Seession in spite of several reminders.My request to the rasikas to give the feedback and also COME and PARTICIPATE in the MMI Musical Eveninng that is hels every month the last Saturday in a permanent venue at Laxmipurm.
Pls See the attached invite seperately.WE NEED TO GATHER AND BRING BACK MMI TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION>PLEASE RESPOND RASIKAS!

[venu sundar]

Dear ALL,
I am very HAPPY to record that today evening MMIs Musical evening was a big SUCCESS since 40 FANATIC rasikas gathered and listened to MMI in rapt attention for 130 minutes in the MOTTAI MAADI and it was very encouraging sign.Almost all of them heard MMIs live mostly in Kapali Temple and naturally majority of us are Senior Citizens even as per the norms of Income-Tax ie 65 years.The most welcome sign was there were about 5 youngsters of 20-30 age group too in spite of the reality of the situation that IPL finals between CSK and RCB was also there starting at 8PM.I am trying to drive home only one point.LET ALL OF US MMI MADDYS JOIN ATLEAST ONCE IN A MONTH TO LISTEN TO THE MAGICAL VOICE O MMI>I respect all the views but at the same time I am very CONFIDENT that by 2012 OCT 28 I can bell the praise of MMI into the ears of entire GLOBE!MMI died on June 8th 1968 even after 45 years MMI music lives ON!LET US JOIN TO LISTEN MMI!

[cacm]

Dear V.S.,
Congragulations! Keep it up & you will SUCCEED as MMI'S GREATNESS WILL OVERCOME ANY OBSTACLES.....He certainly proved it from the moment he appeared on the MUSIC SCENE & is still a FRESH MEMORY& INSPIRATION for anyone who is unbiased......VKV

[venu sundar]

Madurai Mani Iyer the musical genius of Carnatic Music died on 8th June 1968 mortally.But even today after 46 years of his death MMIs music lives in the millions of his FANATICS!MMI was perhaps like Sachin of cricket and Rajini of Silver screen in popularity in his living and non-living days.To quote an instance during the Navarahtri festival in the 50s and 60s in Mylapore@Madras@Chennai MMI used to draw very HUGE crowd and the entire audience used to be spell bound till the end of the concert which will be past midnight.At 12 midnight MMI will take up Sivans "KANA KAN KODI VENDUM" in KAMBODHI and the song will stretch up to 1 AM or so.When MMI used to sing KANDAN KARUNAI a song of late GUHAN the concluding lines of ANDAM VENDIDUM will be marked by the late Alangudi Ramachandrans throwing the GHATAM and Catching it!
It was a visual delight and the audience will become excited like Sachin hitting a 6 and winning the match>MMI was and will be the GREATEST!
venu sundar

Posts: 31
Joined: 19 Oct 2009 22:23

[venu sundar]

The next session is on June 25, 2011.
madhura nEram - மதுர நேரம் 6pm to 8pm

The address of the venue where the monthly MMI listening session is happening is given below. I've also attached the route map. (though this is the permanent venue, providing address for couple of new invitees)

Renganathan E N
#4/4, Kumudh Apartments (1st Floor, Road-facing entrance)
Lakshmipuram 1st Street,
Royapettah,
Chennai-600 014The next session is on June 25, 2011.
madhura nEram - மதுர நேரம் 6pm to 8pm

[venu sundar]

ear sangIthaprEmis
The next session is on AUGUST 27th SATURDAY.
madhura nEram - மதுர நேரம் 6pm to 8pm With SNACKS PL CONFIRM!

The address of the venue where the monthly MMI listening session is happening is given below. I've also attached the route map. (though this is the permanent venue, providing address for couple of new invitees)

Renganathan E N
#4/4, Kumudh Apartments (1st Floor, Road-facing entrance)
Lakshmipuram 1st Street,
Royapettah,
Chennai-600 014
Ph: +91 90030 27857
S. Venugopalan: 98413 13527



S.Venugopalan
7-A, Prashanthi Apts.
T.M.Maistry St.
Vannandurai
Chennai - 600 041
Ph: +91 44 42151321

[venu sundar]

MADURAI MANI IYER CENTENARY MONTHLY LISTENING SESSION1Friday, 16 September, 2011 9:26 AM
From: "Venugopalan S" <esvee45@yahoo.co.in>View contact details
To: "mylaporetimes@ .com" <mylaporetimes@vsnl.com>
PLEASE PUBLISH IT IN YOUR EVENTS COLUMN!
The next session is on SEPTEMBER 24th SATURDAY.
madhura nEram - மதுர நேரம் 6pm to 8pm With SNACKS PL CONFIRM!

The address of the venue where the monthly MMI listening session is happening is given below. I've also attached the route map. (though this is the permanent venue, providing address for couple of new invitees)

Renganathan E N
#4/4, Kumudh Apartments (1st Floor, Road-facing entrance)
Lakshmipuram 1st Street,
Royapettah,
Chennai-600 014
Ph: +91 90030 27857
S. Venugopalan: 98413 13527

[cacm]

UPDATE ON MMI CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS: 1) PL SEE POST#1 WHERE THE ORIGINAL DETAILS ABOUT THE COMMITTEE ARE GIVEN.
As we all know the MMMI centenary year has started with his 99thth birthday on OCT25,2011. I am giving details of the current status here.
1) The monthly MMI Monthly Concert Listening Sessions are going fabulously, doing very well with an average attendence of close to 50 persons at Sri. E.N.Renganathan's house with enormous help from Sri. Yessel Narasimhan and Sri.S.Venugopalan.
2) After nearly a year's attempt to open a Bank Account with various expert persons helping us to start a Bank Account in Chennai we have been unable to do so! So we are forced to resort to the following solution:
Since this is a TRUE GRASS ROOTS attempt and we want ANYONE wishing to contribute towards the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Function on oct 28th in Chennai to be able to do so in any fashion they wish to. Those wishing to send monetary contributions can send it to Sri. S.Venugpolan-address & phone no. given in,POST#1 in India and in North America to Dr.V.K.Viswanathan 690 Los Pueblos, Los Alamos, NM, 87544. TEL: 505-7958510 (cell). The accounts are open to anyone & will be properly audited to account for the details & in sharing the details of both functions & the expenditures.
3) As most of you know Sri. T.S. Vembu Iyer was the main reason MMI was even able to sing. His personal contributions & devotion to MMI were MONUMENTAL in stature & we are planning to celebrate Sri.Vembu Iyer's contributions on a separate day devoted to him before the oct 28 function. We will be sharing the details well in advance when the plans are finalised.
We hope to periodically update the status of these two events. As we had written before please share your suggestions to make these two functions worthy of the two great giants. Thanks, VKV

[gopalasundaram]

I appreciate the herculean efforts of Dr.VKV and Venu Sundar to celebrate the birth centenary of the legendary musician MMI in October 2012.Venu has been religiously texting me about the madhura neram monthly events but as I am out of Chennai since May 2011, I missed all those occasions. I am returning to Chennai in December 2011 and would like to actively participate in the events.

[cacm]

IN ORDER TO REPORT THE M.M.I. CENTENARY EFFORTS IN NORTH AMERICA DURING CLEVELAND ARADHANA THIS APRIL I WOULD LIKE THOSE WHO ARE LIKELY TO ATTEND THE CLEVELAND FESTIVAL TO LOOK UNDER "GENERAL DISCUSSIONS" TITLE UNDER "CLEVELAND ARADHANA SCHEDULE POSTED" WHICH GIVES DETAILS OF WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN CLEVELAND. VKV

[venu sundar]

Believe it or not!On April 12th 2012 at 6-30PM the ARKAY HALL AT THE LUZ was overflowing with 300+rasikas of Madurai Mani Iyer 44 years after the death of the legendary musician and it was an emotional evening.The live concert was held during the RAMANAVAMI SERIES AT THE VENUS COLONY ALWARPET IN 1966 APRIL 12TH.MMI Birth Centenary Commitee organised the function to listen to the Master MAdurai Mani Iyer and the accompaniments were again the legendary Chowdiah on Violin and Palghat Mani Iyer on Mridangam and PMI 100 is also coinciding with the MMI 100!Sri Krishnan was on the Kanjira.MMI started off with Telsirama folllowed by RARA MINTIDAGA and APPA RAMA BHAKTI!Sarasa SAMA DANA was the main piece in Kapi narayaini and the concert included Entha Sowkiya Panile a Kapi ragam and incidentlaly MMI was a true good Coffee lover.MMI focussed on songs on LORD RAMA and it was MUSIC filled with BHAKTHI
all the way.The audience were the lucky lot and they responded very well and the hall was JAM PACKED TO SAY THE LEAST>ALL along 2and half hour concert all the fans of yesters of MMI PMI TS AND KRISH sat and stood in full attendance in spite of the fact it was Tamil New Year EVe and also CSK match was at the Chepauk on 12th evening.The organisation of the event was SIMPLY SUPERB one.Full credit goes to the parnership of the DUO S/S JAYARAMAKRISHNAN AND SLS AS HE IS known SLS NARASIMHAN for the FANTASTIC efforts.SLS was incharge of AUDIO and it was like MMI came down and treated us with his company of TS PMI AND KRISH.JRK SHOULD BEcomplimented for his silent and sincere work which brought out such great musical event.Arkay organisers did a fine job.KUDOS TO ALL

[cacm]

MMI CENTENARY RELATED CONCERTS AT THE RECENT CLEVELAND FESTIVAL 2012----BRIEF ACCOUNT
I am attempting to describe the various activities that many artists included in their concerts during the Aradhana this year in a concise fashion. I have arbitrarily classified them into two categories: 1) Totally devoted to MMI. 2) PART OF THE CONCERT included a tribute to MMI.
The GENERAL IDEA was to encompass the various aspects of his music throughout his career. I will cover them in a chronological fashion.
For Starters on Saturday April 7 as part of the Release Function V.K.Viswanathan (on behalf of the countless number of MMI Rasikas throughout the World) presented V.V.Sundaram a two dvd set on MMI (the man & his music) made by them to acknowledge his innovative efforts to bring the contributions of MMI to the attention of the rasikas through out the world. Next a 2.5 hour Sangeetha Ratnakara Ramnad Sri.V.Raghavan Memorial Concert (an annual event) by the torch bearers of the Cleveland Festival was performed by Sustaining Sampradaya ( a selected group of roughly 30 student musicians mostly born or raised in North America from childhood and trained for 3 months by leading Vidwans and Vidushis from Chennai) with the Title "Homage to Madurai Sri Mani Iyer" simulating a typical MMI Concert.
On Sunday morning Chitraveena N.Ravikiran gave a BRILLIANT Concert (as usual! He somehow renders a concert every year at Cleveland which is better than the previous year's- an almost impossible event considering his high levels!) in which he paid homage to PMI, BRINDA, and MMI. He chose to expound on Bahudari & Brovabaramma. His lucid rendering made the rare raga simple& he definitely brought out HOW MMI managed to make rare ragas look so easy! In the afternoon Smt. Anuradha Sridhar and her students from Trinity School in CA made a UNIQUE Presentation: They rendered Thayae Yasodha EXACTLY (EVERY BIT BY BIT IN COMPUTERESE TERMS) as MMI-LGJ-V.R. had performed in a concert; It was not only a tribute to MMI but the GENIUS of all three artists & how they meshed their creativity! Anuradha made LGJ proud as well as the ones who had heard that piece realise the TRUE GREATNESS of these giants and made persons like me realise how lucky we are that the Tradition is being furthered by her. Monday saw "Texas Talents" trained by Smt. Rajeshwari Bhatt (sister of Vittal Ramamurthy) tackle the difficult and Favourite R.T.P. OF MMI "Parimala Rangapathe" perfectly.
Next I wish to highlight THREE Concerts exclusively concentrating on MMI and his music. On Tuesday Smt. Gayathri Girish gave an Excellent Concert interspersed with explanations about MMI & why he chose to emphasise TAMIL COMPOSITIONS well before the start of the Tamil Isai Movement. His ability to include these as major items in his concerts as well as making them famous and his affinity for Papanasam Sivan were clearly explained by her. She cemented her reputation not just as a great performer but as an artiste who could communicate & explain things with empathy, a major trait of MMI himself. She managed to cover the entire gamut of songs MMI made famous and the musical, nationalistic and patriotic contexts of the times in which MMI grew up and lived and presented through his music etc. Her choices of Thayae Yezhaippal, Paamalaikkinai yundo, Thathvamariya Tharama, Thayae Yasodha, as well as pieces by major tamil composers were excellent and represented the BEST in Tamil Compositions. I particularly want to mention "Ganamudha Panam" in Jyotiswarupini by Koteeswara Iyer which was rendered brilliantly & creatively. After S.Rajam, Gayatri in my opinion did perfect justice to the composer as well as the raga and composition. The icing on the cake was her pointing out that MMI in his first appearance in 1927 at Music Academy sang all the 72melakarthas- Koteeswara Iyer being the first to compose in all the 72 mela kartha ragas in TAMIL! On the whole an educational as well as exciting presentation of a very high standard, ......a fitting tribute to MMI

TO BE CONTINUED

[cacm]

CONTINUATION OF POST#20-cacm
The second of exclusively MMI oriented concerts was on Thursday by the Swetaranyam Sisters: Smt R.Vidya and Kum. Nithya.They are the chief disciples of late Tiruvengadu Jayaraman whom I consider to be the ONE TRUE DISCIPLE of MMI considering EVERY aspect of the immortal MMI. He always projected the PUREST & BEST of MMI'S Music in his concerts suppressing the temptation to copy his individual style, mannerisms etc. Their father was very close to MMI & actually was one of the four persons who carried the mortal remains of MMI on his way to ETERNITY. Consequently their concert was an excellent musical description of what all the good music MMI was all about & reflected his creativity & glory. MOST of the MMI favourites, THE ONES HE HAS MADE ETERNALLY POPULAR were rendered with the classicism & rigour. A fitting tribute to both the history of MMI as a teacher & a performing artist.
The third Concert was that of Suryaprakash who has the right pedigree in that he is the student of Sri. T.V.Sankaranarayanan who learnt from MMI himself and has benefitted from it immensely. He was asked to bring out the creativity & originality of the Manodharma aspects of MMI'S Music as well the ENERGISING ASPECTS of A MMI CONCERT, a tall order! To his credit Suryaprakash a very talented & capable perfomer on his own amply succeeded. When he rendered Sarasa samadhana with the able support of Nagai Sri Ram & Thanjavur Murugabhoopathy the EXCITEMENT OF A LIVE MMI CONCERT was duplicated & the thundering applause at the end was proof if any was needed. As one who has heard close to a thousand concerts of MMI I can say with confidence & honesty for fleeting moments at least I felt the presence of MMI. His choice of R.T.P. in Shanmugapriya " Gandhi mahan Mani Mozhi Vazhi Nadappom" was brilliantly rendered also. It brought back not only the memories of MMI the great musician but also the great Nationalist who inspired the freedom struggle & the contributions of the MANIKKODI WRITERS- RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RENAISSANCE OF TAMIL LITERATURE- like CHITTI SUNDARARAJAN, T.Janakiraman & others. The R.T.P. was composed by CHITTI at the request of MMI after Gandhiji was assasinated & was a BIG HIT!

TO BE CONTINUED.

[cacm]

THE CONCERTS WHERE PART OF THE CONCERT PAID TRIBUTE TO MMI'S MEMORY & CONTRIBUTIONS:
Sri.R.K.Srikantan is the ONLY musician active today who knew, met and performed in front of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bahagvathar- the acknowleged GIANT of Carnatic Music. He was the GURU of MMI & taught specifically 25 of his compositions which MMI FEATURED in every one of his concerts without fail ( like the Navagraha Kritis). Sri Srikantan's Concert on Tuessday night was SUPERB as usual and he paid tribute to MMI by including several of Bhagavathar's compositions MMI made famous& popular songs like Vijayambikae, Sarasamughi ( which he had kindly taught the Sustaining Sampradhaya group)& others now a days rarely heard!
On Thursday night- the night concerts are the major featured concerts-SMTs. SUGUNA Purushottaman & Suguna Varadhachari ( Ably supported by KUMs. K.Gayathri & Brinda Manikkavasagam) upheld the Fabulous Musiri Tradition but paid SPECIAL Tribute to MMI, PMI & Brinda with a Fantastic special Pallavi composed by the specialist SMT. Suguna Purushotthaman in the R.T.P. Next day K.Gayathri in her brilliant concert rendered a special tribute to MMI by rendering a composition composed by Suguna Purushothaman the previous night!
The concert by Dr. Nirmala Sundararajan featured the famous Kolar Padhigam virutham a favourite of MMI as her tribute.
The Night Featured Concert the one& only T.N.S. He was outstanding as usual but particularly demonstrated what a great GENIUS he was by rendering his specially composed Pallavi on MMI, PMI & BRINDA which incorporated very difficult complex rythmns(as a tribute to PMI); But he demonstrated SUCCESSFULLY how the fundamandal BULDING BLOCK was Sarvalaghu favoured by MMI!...An astounding creative feat which I feel only TNS can do among today's artists...

I REQUEST OTHERS TO FILL IN DETAILS OR CONCERTS I MISSED. IN MY OPINION THE CONCERTS AT CLEVELAND FULFILLED THE DESIRES OF RASIKAS LIKE ME WHO WANTED A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF THE GREAT MUSICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF MMI BY ARTISTS OF TODAY WHO CLEARLY SHOWED & DEMOSTRATED HIS ACHEIVEMENTS.
I CONGRAGULATE V.V.S. FOR PUTTING TOGETHER A COMPLETE LIST OF PROGRAMS BY LEADING ARTISTS COVERING THE MONUMENTAL MUSICAL ACHEIVEMENTS OF M.M.I. I am sure MMI would have been beaming down from above in Approval!...VKV

[venu sundar]

Dear VKV Sir,
We the MMI Madddys are very fortunate to have U and CLEVELAND SUNDARAM SIR to spread the magic of MMI.We are also very lucky to know about the greatness of BRINDA and the genius of PMI.We salute UR efforts to take the culture abroad and also preserve the same for our future generations.We are all eagerly waiting to see U and SUndaram sir soon to celebrate the Centenary of MMI in great style in October 2012!In this connection we want to convey to U we the MMI maddys are at UR BECK and CALL totally.Reg MMI UR whisper is our command.MMI the great!

[cacm]

DEAR Venusundar, Thanks for your kind sentiments......WE need the help & support of ALL OF YOU to properly celebrate MMI'S GREATNESS...I will soon write here the SPECIFIC PLANS & NEEDS. VKV

[venu sundar]

madura nEram - மதுர நேரம் - MMI listening session on 26.05.012

dear sangIthaprEmis
The next MMI listening session will be on Saturday 26.05.012 at Krishna Gana Sabha.

The session will start by 5:30pm.

As we are getting closer to the centenary birthday of MMI a full concert running for about 3+ hours will be played. Come prepared to soak in MMI's music and stay soaked!! And there may be some live surprises too!!

As usual don't ask me for the accompanists and the recording of the concert.