Aruna Sairam
| Aruna Sairam | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 30, 1952 |
| Genres | Carnatic music |
| Website | www.arunasairam.org |
Aruna Sairam (also spelt Sayeeram, Tamil: அருணா சாய்ராம்) is an Indian classical vocalist. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India. She has been elected as Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (India’s premier national institution for music and dance) from the Government of India. She is regarded as the Music Ambassador of India, for successfully taking Indian music to the global arena. Steeped in bhava-expression and classical divinity, Aruna Sairam’s music evokes bhakti-devotion in every listener’s soul. She has dazzled audiences at prestigious musical venues in India and around the world through her scintillating performances and refreshing approach.
Aruna Sairam was born in Mumbai into a family with a deep love of music. Aruna Sairam initially received vocal training from her mother Rajalakshmi Sethuraman, who was a disciple of the Alathur Brothers and Thanjavoor Sankara Iyer. Her father, Shri Sethuraman a music connoisseur, hosted many musicians and dancers from northern and southern India in the family home. One of these gatherings led to Aruna meeting her Guru, Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. T. Brinda, who trained her in the style of her own mentor, Veena Dhanammal.
As a child, Aruna demonstrated an extraordinary aptitude for music. It won her first gold medal at the age of eight at the Shanmukhananda Sabha Competition in Bombay (nowadays Mumbai).[11] Aged 14, she performed her first full-length solo concert at the Rama Navami festival, Bhajana Samaj in the same city. Aged 21, she won the Best Young Musician Award at the annual conference held at the famed Music Academy in Chennai. Aruna began to get noticed as a serious musician of great promise and went on to render performances throughout the country.
Over the following years Aruna brought her own approach to Carnatic music, drawing on the cosmopolitan influences of Mumbai[13] and, coevally, on her Guru’s pure classical style. Her musical perceptions were enriched by exposure to film, western and Hindustani (Northern Indian) classical music.[11] She ushered in a new approach to concert presentation, extending the boundaries of the Carnatic repertoire while remaining firmly rooted in the classical grammar and tradition of this great art form.
While her Guru Sangeeta Kalanithi T.Brinda[8][9][10] bequeathed a rare repertoire of compositions by the South’s Trinity of saint-composers, Thyagaraja,[14] Muthu Swamy Dikshitar[15] and Shyama Shastri,[14] Aruna also learnt from other Gurus while steadily making waves as an acclaimed vocalist. Shri S Ramachandran,[4] from the bani (style) of Chittor Subramanya Pillai,[11] expanded her already wide repertoire and taught her the fine nuances of nereval singing (improvising within poetic texts). A S Mani, a disciple of Tiger Vardacharyar,[11] guided her through the creative process of swara singing (improvising with the sol-fa). Prof T R Subramanyam,[16][17][18] an acclaimed music professor at Delhi University,[11] shared with Aruna his expertise of singing and spontaneously composing within ragam-tanam-pallavi. K S Narayanaswamy,[11] the respected veena maestro, taught her the subtlety of gamakas – the microtonal oscillations which hallmark and transport Carnatic music. Despite imbibing and absorbing these riches, Aruna felt the need for guidance in voice training to acquire the physical capability to fully express her creativity and knowledge through her voice. During this search, she met German voice maestro Prof Eugene Rabine,[19] who helped her discover and apply a completely new sound and emotion to her voice. Afterwards Aruna never looked back. She later had the benefit of advice and guidance from one of Carnatic music’s magisterial vocalists, Dr. Balamurali Krishna (popularly BMK).[11] To this day, she remains in touch with voice masters such as the New York-based "Voice Teacher" David Jones.[20] In concert she continually strives to deliver a unique experience through new repertoire. Every year for the Chennai’s fabled December Season (which crams in around 2000 concerts), she prepares and composes new material for recitals. Her preparation might involve engaging in academic discussion with such intellects as the nadaswaram vidwan (shawm maestro) Shembannar Koil Vaidyanathan[20] or the (Late) Pallavi Venkatarama Iyer in order to research special music forms, for example, the mallari – a form played during the inaugural processions in South Indian temples.
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