Tiruchy L. Saravanan
Encyclopedia
Tiruchy L. Saravanan, also known as Flute Saravanan, is a prime disciple
of Dr. N. Ramani
, one of India
's pioneer Carnatic flautists.
. Trained as a vocalist equally, Saravanan incorporates both the demands of vocal and instrumental techniques in his renditions satisfying the needs of the composition rather than the wants of the audience.
He began at the age of 10 in both vocal and Carnatic Flute
. After several years of schooling in music under renonwned teachers, he started performing by the age 14 in All India Radio, Tiruchy. After several years of performing experience, he got the rare privilege of learning under the Flute Maestro, Dr. N. Ramani aided by the Govt. of India Advanced Learning sponsorship. Dr. N. Ramani himself is the direct disciple of Mali, who elevated the status of the flute in Carnatic concerts with vocal techniques. Dr. N. Ramani polished his teacher's methodology to high vocal standards and brought a new image and dimension to Indian Classical Music
in the 1900s. Saravanan, being trained under vocal and violin teachers assimilated Dr. N. Ramani's technqiues aptly.
He performs in Ramani's Academy of Flute regularly and with Dr. N. Ramani, Saravanan has taken part in uniques flute concerts like 5-flute concert incorporating a series of flutes in a single concert.
He has made solo albums with recording companies like Kalavardhini with his own gurus accompanying like the violin exponent Nagai Muralidharan and the famed mridangist Srimushanam Raja Rao.
He also received the Saptha Swara Kulal Isai Mani and the Senior Flautist awards from the Madras Music Academy
. In the Rama Gana Sabha in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh he was honoured as Venu Gana Nipuna.
He was a Flute lecturer with the Tamil Nadu Government Music College before he joined the SIFAS Academy as a Carnatic Vocal and Flute Tutor in January 2004.
Saravanan has accompanied musicians including Padmashri Sudha Raghunathan
, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Bombay Jayashri, Kalaimamani A. K. C. Natarajan in clarinet
and flute duets, Sangeetha Kalanidhi
and Padma Bhushan
T.N.Seshagopalan, Sangeet Saamrat Chitravina N. Ravikiran
and chiefly Padma Vibushan Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna
on world tours.
He has also performed with other famous accompanying artistes such as the tavil exponent Padmashri Valayaptti A. R. Subramaniam and Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel, the violin exponent Kumari A. Kanyakumari. He has also given Santoor
-Flute
Jugalbhandi concerts with the late R. Visweswaran
, a disciple of the Santoor Maestro Pt. Shivkumar Sharma
.
His involvement in the dance fratinity is respectable being an accompanist to dance exponents such in the likes of Padmashri Smt. Sudharani Raghupathi, Padmashri
Smt. Chitra Visweswaran and Padmashri Dr. Smt. Saraswathi Sundaresan.
His copious fluidity in
sangathi creation, strong raga bhava and apt control of rhythm got him the 1st prize in the All India Radio
National Flute Competition in 1990 and has also won the gold medal in the Calcutta Youth Festival in 1996.
Saravanan's natural gift in understanding the nuances of Carnatic music, put him on the edge over other composer musicians in Singapore. His sensitivity and almost near diction in orchestrating Indian classical music is noteworthy. In 2006, he again created the SIFAS ensemble now with a ten member team incorporating North Indian music instruments such as tabla
and sitar
in a Carnatic music orchestral piece, a unique ragatalamalika with different ragas and talas, blending with the traditional South Indian instruments with a pair of violins, a pair of support vocalists, flute, mridangam, and ghatam. In a challenging NAC National Indian Music competition, he won the second prize again and winning critical acclaim from the judges and the audience for his individual effort and unique creativity in orchestrating a Carnatic music ensemble blending North and South Indian music instruments. Bringing the sitar and veena, the tabla and mridangam in a single platform was conducted by him for the first time in a national music competition in Singapore.
Saravanan has also composed several other compositions for the institution and in the year 2006, he also composed for the President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam
a ragamalika based on the President's own poems, in a cultural show in SIFAS celebrating the visit of the president to SIFAS and was well received by the President himself.
by himself, partly due to his skill in recognising the accuracy of the swaras, which are often difficult to achieve in flutes. By recreating the 7 hole bansuri flute in the bamboo
(from Kerala
) used by venu flutes, he has widened the avenue of Carnatic style Bansuri playing in Carnatic music which was pioneered by his famous guru. This is a tediously time consuming process taking years to form in timbre and quality before reaching the concert platform. In using these heavier yet deep base flutes which often require heavy blowing techniques as in the venu flutes to achieve the tonal clarity of the bansuri flutes made of the Assam
bamboo, he is able to bridge the worlds of both the bansuri and the venu into a single classical dimension by playing both North and South Indian ragas with ease.
This tireless effort has easily allowed him to collaborate with North Indian artistes such as the Odissi exponent Sonal Man Singh as he is able to bridge Carnatic techniques and North Indian ragas well. To increase his repertoire, he also performs in rare ragas, to explore more possibilities with the Carnatic flute.
In Singapore, he has won the respect and blessings of the most famous critic in Singapore's Carnatic music fratinity; Viswakala Bharathi Shri Eelanallur S. Sathyalingam, the music director of Apsaras Arts Ltd. A disciple of famous doyens like Mysore Vasudevachar,Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer and Papanasam Sivan in Kalakshetra, Shri Sathyalingam's music is synonmous with orthodox and tradition.
Saravanan's students include students of all age groups and even a student of Dr. N. Ramani, who is currently the music director of the Indian orchestra in the National University of Singapore.
Saravanan is also exploring inspiration from other genres of classical music from Hindustani to Western classical with even showing interest in Greek, Persian, and Chinese music to reach a yet higher level of performance in his concerts without altering the very fabric of Carnatic music.
He has also founded a pioneer instituition in Singapore, Vamshidwani in Jul 2007 to propagate and popularize the Carnatic flute in Singapore and around the region.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
of Dr. N. Ramani
N. Ramani
N. Ramani is a renowned Indian Carnatic flautist.-Early life and background:N. Ramani was born in Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. Aside from the influence of his place of birth, Ramani was born into a musical family...
, one of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's pioneer Carnatic flautists.
Education
Saravanan is also a disciple of the late Sri K. S. Narayanan (senior most disciple of Sri Mali), the late V. Sundaresan, and the eminent violinist Nagai R. Muralidharan, Saravanan is a Yuva Kalabharathy Award winner from the Government of Tamil NaduTamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. Trained as a vocalist equally, Saravanan incorporates both the demands of vocal and instrumental techniques in his renditions satisfying the needs of the composition rather than the wants of the audience.
He began at the age of 10 in both vocal and Carnatic Flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
. After several years of schooling in music under renonwned teachers, he started performing by the age 14 in All India Radio, Tiruchy. After several years of performing experience, he got the rare privilege of learning under the Flute Maestro, Dr. N. Ramani aided by the Govt. of India Advanced Learning sponsorship. Dr. N. Ramani himself is the direct disciple of Mali, who elevated the status of the flute in Carnatic concerts with vocal techniques. Dr. N. Ramani polished his teacher's methodology to high vocal standards and brought a new image and dimension to Indian Classical Music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
in the 1900s. Saravanan, being trained under vocal and violin teachers assimilated Dr. N. Ramani's technqiues aptly.
He performs in Ramani's Academy of Flute regularly and with Dr. N. Ramani, Saravanan has taken part in uniques flute concerts like 5-flute concert incorporating a series of flutes in a single concert.
He has made solo albums with recording companies like Kalavardhini with his own gurus accompanying like the violin exponent Nagai Muralidharan and the famed mridangist Srimushanam Raja Rao.
National recognition and awards
Saravanan has received several awards and titles for his performances, in particular, the Senior Fellowship from the Government of India and the Yuvakalabarathy award.He also received the Saptha Swara Kulal Isai Mani and the Senior Flautist awards from the Madras Music Academy
Madras Music Academy
Madras Music Academy, or simply Music Academy, is one of the premier and early Music Academies in the South Indian city of Madras, now Chennai. It plays an important role in encouraging and promoting primarily the Carnatic Music south Indian art form. It also played an important role in revival of...
. In the Rama Gana Sabha in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh he was honoured as Venu Gana Nipuna.
He was a Flute lecturer with the Tamil Nadu Government Music College before he joined the SIFAS Academy as a Carnatic Vocal and Flute Tutor in January 2004.
Saravanan has accompanied musicians including Padmashri Sudha Raghunathan
Sudha Raghunathan
Sudha Raghunathan is a Carnatic music singer from South India. She was awarded a Padma Shri for excellence in singing. She was born in Bangalore and went to Good Shepherd Convent. She did higher education at Bangalore, Karnataka and obtained a Masters Degree in Economics.She started singing at...
, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Bombay Jayashri, Kalaimamani A. K. C. Natarajan in clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and flute duets, Sangeetha Kalanidhi
Sangeetha Kalanidhi
Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangita Kalanidhi is the title awarded yearly to an expert Carnatic Musician by the Madras Music Academy. This honour is considered one of the highest awards in Carnatic music.-----Sangeetha Kalanidhis:-External links:*...
and Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
T.N.Seshagopalan, Sangeet Saamrat Chitravina N. Ravikiran
Chitravina N. Ravikiran
Chitravina N. Ravikiran is an Indian Carnatic music musician and composer. He gives both vocal concerts and concerts in the instrument chitravina . He is the grandson of famous musician gottuvadyam Narayan Iyengar....
and chiefly Padma Vibushan Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna is a Carnatic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and a playback singer. He is also acclaimed as a poet, composer and respected by all Indian classical musicians for his knowledge of Carnatic Music....
on world tours.
He has also performed with other famous accompanying artistes such as the tavil exponent Padmashri Valayaptti A. R. Subramaniam and Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel, the violin exponent Kumari A. Kanyakumari. He has also given Santoor
Santoor
The santoor is an ancient stringed musical instrument, native to Kashmir and Iran. It is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer often made of walnut, with seventy two strings. The special-shaped mallets are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers...
-Flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
Jugalbhandi concerts with the late R. Visweswaran
R. Visweswaran
R. Visweswaran was an Indian classical musician, and master of santoor. Visweswaran belonged to a family of musicians, and was the nephew of G.N. Balasubramaniam. He was trained to play hindustani music on the santoor by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma...
, a disciple of the Santoor Maestro Pt. Shivkumar Sharma
Shivkumar Sharma
Shivkumar Sharma is an Indian santoor player. The santoor is a folk instrument from Kashmir and Jammu. Sharma is often referred to by the title Pandit.-Early life:...
.
His involvement in the dance fratinity is respectable being an accompanist to dance exponents such in the likes of Padmashri Smt. Sudharani Raghupathi, Padmashri
Smt. Chitra Visweswaran and Padmashri Dr. Smt. Saraswathi Sundaresan.
His copious fluidity in
sangathi creation, strong raga bhava and apt control of rhythm got him the 1st prize in the All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
National Flute Competition in 1990 and has also won the gold medal in the Calcutta Youth Festival in 1996.
Contribution in Singapore
Saravanan is also a composer in the National Arts Council of Singapore (NAC) in the biennial National Indian Music Competition which showcases budding talents in the field of Indian Classical Music. The SIFAS octet ensemble which he composed in 2004 won the second prize in the competition.Saravanan's natural gift in understanding the nuances of Carnatic music, put him on the edge over other composer musicians in Singapore. His sensitivity and almost near diction in orchestrating Indian classical music is noteworthy. In 2006, he again created the SIFAS ensemble now with a ten member team incorporating North Indian music instruments such as tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
and sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
in a Carnatic music orchestral piece, a unique ragatalamalika with different ragas and talas, blending with the traditional South Indian instruments with a pair of violins, a pair of support vocalists, flute, mridangam, and ghatam. In a challenging NAC National Indian Music competition, he won the second prize again and winning critical acclaim from the judges and the audience for his individual effort and unique creativity in orchestrating a Carnatic music ensemble blending North and South Indian music instruments. Bringing the sitar and veena, the tabla and mridangam in a single platform was conducted by him for the first time in a national music competition in Singapore.
Saravanan has also composed several other compositions for the institution and in the year 2006, he also composed for the President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam
Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a renowned aerospace engineer, professor , and first Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram , who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007...
a ragamalika based on the President's own poems, in a cultural show in SIFAS celebrating the visit of the president to SIFAS and was well received by the President himself.
The experimentalist
Saravanan is one of the few Carnatic flautists in the world, who has tailor made his flutes ranging from the venu to the bansuriBansuri
The bansuri is a transverse alto flute of Bangladesh, India and Nepal made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with six or seven finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is...
by himself, partly due to his skill in recognising the accuracy of the swaras, which are often difficult to achieve in flutes. By recreating the 7 hole bansuri flute in the bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
(from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
) used by venu flutes, he has widened the avenue of Carnatic style Bansuri playing in Carnatic music which was pioneered by his famous guru. This is a tediously time consuming process taking years to form in timbre and quality before reaching the concert platform. In using these heavier yet deep base flutes which often require heavy blowing techniques as in the venu flutes to achieve the tonal clarity of the bansuri flutes made of the Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
bamboo, he is able to bridge the worlds of both the bansuri and the venu into a single classical dimension by playing both North and South Indian ragas with ease.
This tireless effort has easily allowed him to collaborate with North Indian artistes such as the Odissi exponent Sonal Man Singh as he is able to bridge Carnatic techniques and North Indian ragas well. To increase his repertoire, he also performs in rare ragas, to explore more possibilities with the Carnatic flute.
A teacher of purity
As a Carnatic vocal and flute teacher, Saravanan imparts a performing verve to his students and the emphasis of practical presentation over theoretical knowledge proves that he is the torch bearer of Dr. N. Ramani's legacy. Just like his famous guru, his method of instruction is inclined towards excellent clarity of swarasthana with a high standard of classical tradition. Emphasising on the strong tradition of chaste Carnatic music strictly refraining from any form of popular music influences.In Singapore, he has won the respect and blessings of the most famous critic in Singapore's Carnatic music fratinity; Viswakala Bharathi Shri Eelanallur S. Sathyalingam, the music director of Apsaras Arts Ltd. A disciple of famous doyens like Mysore Vasudevachar,Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer and Papanasam Sivan in Kalakshetra, Shri Sathyalingam's music is synonmous with orthodox and tradition.
Saravanan's students include students of all age groups and even a student of Dr. N. Ramani, who is currently the music director of the Indian orchestra in the National University of Singapore.
Saravanan is also exploring inspiration from other genres of classical music from Hindustani to Western classical with even showing interest in Greek, Persian, and Chinese music to reach a yet higher level of performance in his concerts without altering the very fabric of Carnatic music.
He has also founded a pioneer instituition in Singapore, Vamshidwani in Jul 2007 to propagate and popularize the Carnatic flute in Singapore and around the region.