Short, but Sweet concert

Ananya Ashok gave a short, 90-minute concert under the auspices of South India Fine Arts at the Santa Clara Convention center on Sunday, October 1st, 2017. She was accompanied on the veena by Hrishikesh Chary and on the mridangam by Vignesh Venkataraman.

She began her concert with the Tyaagaraaja kriti bhavanuta na in mOhanam. This was followed by the popular Dikshitar kriti sarasijanabha sOdari in naagagaandhari - an apt song on devi considering that navratri had just concluded. Ananya sang the Purandara Dasa kriti, nInE anAtha bandhu next. The neraval on madanayya madhusUdananendare mundindali bandodagide krishna was exquisite. She sang the fast paced Papanasam Sivan kriti saravanabava guhane shanmukhane next. This was the lead in to the main song, which she sang next. Her detailed alapana in Bhairavi was truly a treat to listen to. She sang the Shyama Shastri classic, kamakshi amba. Hrishikesh also rendered a superb Bhairavi alapana. Vignesh's taniavartanam in mishra chaapu was shortened due to the condensed time of the concert. Nevertheless, he did justice in his allotted time. Ananya concluded her concert with a soulful rendering of the padam by muttuAndavar in khamAs, theruvil vArAnO. 

In this short concert, Ananya had weaved in songs from all three major composers. She included songs in Telegu, Kannada and Tamil.

Kudos to South India Fine Arts for providing the platform for up and coming, young artistes. The nearly full Elizabeth Hangs is testimony to the support from the audience in the Bay Area.

We certainly hope to listen to a full length concert by Ananya (for Bay Area audiences) in the near future.