Inheriting the stage: When GenNext of classical arts goes solo

On Tuesday evening, six gifted men and women under 30 will be the centre of attention when the doors of the Stein Auditorium in New Delhi open for a three-day session of classical music and dance. They have been chosen by their respective gurus from different gharanas to perform at the aptly titled Uttaradhikar, or Inheritance, festival.

Hosted by the Raza Foundation, it's the first year of the event that offers a platform for the next generation of classical artistes — an effort towards the continuum of tradition without the bonds of corporate patronage taking place not just in Delhi but in other cities such as Chennai and Mumbai too. The challenges are many but so are the connoisseurs of the arts who are willing to give it a go.

In Delhi, where corporate sponsorship for an event that doesn't feature big names is hard to come by, the young bunch of performers is lucky that the Raza Foundation has come forward to showcase their talents.

"Uttaradhikar's importance cannot be diluted with corporate funding that invariably has strings attached. This initiative focuses on young people who receive training in the guru-shishya parampara as vocalists, dancers and instrumentalists," says Prerana Shrimali, curator of the show and an eminent Kathak dancer from the Jaipur gharana, relieved that the event will happen without financial contribution from business houses. "Unfortunately,

they (the artistes) are shying away from performing solo because of the struggles and uncertainties of a musical career. Uttaradhikar promises to uphold the solo traditions of Indian classical performing arts and to maintain their purity by creating a performance space for emerging talent."

In Chennai

As Chennai readies for its famed month-long annual winter festival of classical music and dance performances beginning mid December, the Narada Gana Sabha, one of the organisers, will also steer clear of corporate largesse. Harishankar, secretary of the Narada Gana Sabha, echoes Shrimali's concerns when he cites the special conditions and restrictions that come with sponsorships. "We only make exceptions when business houses with a long tradition of promoting classical art forms express eagerness to collaborate. We have managed fine with subscriptions from sabha members all these years and the money accrued from ticket sales of the musical festival," he says. A ticket for a prime time concert in the evening can be as high as Rs1,000.

Narada Gana Sabha has the added advantage of owning a big auditorium with 1,100 seats. Like most of these big sabhas and trusts, it allots the midday and afternoon slots to young performers during the peak season. Apart from the winter festival, Narada also conducts programmes round the year to promote and encourage budding talent.

The resurgence of interest in Carnatic music and dance in recent years, aided generously by the Tamil diaspora, has taken many by surprise. It becomes the ruling passion of the city, especially during winter. For diaspora Tamilians scattered all over the world, the festival is an occasion to firm up their roots and association with their culture. For a budding vocalist, dancer or an instrumentalist from foreign shores, it's imperative to make a mark in these events. Given the intense competition and plethora of talent, many mediocre NRI artistes gladly pay dubious organisers for allowing them to perform in thinly-attended programmes and record their performances.

The stakes are high. "For an artiste aspiring to make it big on the Carnatic music scene, s/he will have to stay in the city and impress local audiences," says Gowri Ramnarayan, who has been intimately associated with the performing arts. "Noted vocalists Bombay Jayashri and Aruna Sairam had to relocate to Chennai for their musical career to take off," she says.

Carnatic music has attracted some of the finest young minds who have given up lucrative professions abroad to devote full time to music and dance. For the supremely-talented young vocalist Ramakrishnan Murthy, a money-minting job as a computer professional in the US was inconsequential.

Today, gurus spend more time abroad than in Chennai because of demand from parents who want a proper schooling in Carnatic music for their children. This is also the age of virtual music lessons, where the master imparts lessons on Skype to students in different continents.

In Mumbai

While Chennai may offer a rosy picture, Mumbai throws up daunting challenges. In the absence of institutionalised funding of the arts, corporates are often the only recourse, says Devina Dutt, founder-director of First Edition Arts (FEA). "Today, regrettably, Indian classical music, like many other art forms, is being increasingly presented in ways that mimic the ways of Big Entertainment. But clubbing it with lifestyle and entertainment categories is antithetical to its character. To do nuanced and sophisticated work has become extremely difficult."

FEA's Secret Masters Sessions, a performance series on the luminous talents of Indian classical music who haven't been heard widely, has already been appreciated. It has now conceptualised and curated a new series called the Instrumentalists for which it has partnered with G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture.

"We are reworking the performance format without distorting the music. To draw people into the world of Hindustani music with its great improvisational energy and multiple narratives, every performance will be preceded by a story-telling session where the instrumentalist talks about the history of music and the instrument is interspersed with his personal narrative."

The target audience, she says, is the cosmopolitan crowd who, though curious about classical music, are intimidated by its trappings.The first such session begins on November 11 with UK-based sarod artist Arnab Chakraborty. The key is to bring more people into the fold of an immersive experience. Only then will it spark interest, which will lead to the making of new audiences.