On the occasion of Teachers Day, an online digital archive (www.chowdiah.com), featuring the compositions of renowned violinist and music guru, Mysore T. Chowdiah will be launched by the Shankar Mahadevan Academy Trust in collaboration with the Indian Music Experience Museum. The website features video recordings of the compositions of the maestro, along with the notations. Other information includes a biography of the artiste, rare photographs, as well as articles and blogs on his life and work. This archive and learning resource is brought out through the Shankar Mahadevan Academy’s “Archive to Alive” project, which aims to bring alive hidden gems of Indian classical music. The project is a brainchild of Karnatic vocalist and Director of Indian Music Experience Museum (IME), Manasi Prasad, and the website has been curated by the IME.
With a vision to popularize the compositions, an online competition of Chowdiah compositions is being organized starting October 25th, where the winners would get to interact with Shankar Mahadevan in an online session, and an opportunity to perform online for the IME’s public program series.
“Not many know that Chowdiah was a composer”, says Manasi Prasad. “My mother belongs to his shishya parampara, and recently when I presented a concert of some of his compositions, I realised these were not readily available on the internet. This led to the birth of this project to record all his compositions and upload them on the internet for easy access. We hope the archive will grow in the months and years to come to become a definitive hub for all information related to this great artiste.”
Sridhar Ranganathan, Founder Trustee of the Shankar Mahadevan Academy Trust, says “The Shankar Mahadevan Academy Trust through its Archive to Alive initiative endeavors to bring back all and any lost musical treasures to enrich lives of music lovers. In Guru Chowdiah, we had a fantastic violinist and a composer. I am glad that we are able to unearth such rare compositions and bring them alive to music enthusiasts and learners. ”
“My grandfather was one of the greatest musicians and a pride of Karnataka. It is our collective responsibility to keep his legacy alive. We are extremely happy that this online digital archive will make his compositions more accessible to the public, and hope that many musicians will learn and perform his compositions”, says Sheela Boriah, grand daughter of Chowdiah.
Besides Manasi, the other vocalists on the project are Bangalore Brothers (Ashok- Hariharan) and Ranjani Nagaraj. The recording project was supported by grants from the Academy of Music (Chowdiah Memorial Hall) and others. The family of Chowdiah has also provided valuable information and photographs. Other content contributors include Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira, a prominent music Sabha of Bangalore.
While the songs and notations are available for listening and self-study free of cost, the compositions can also be learnt directly from the artistes involved in the project. Visit www.chowdiah.com for details.
About Indian Music Experience Museum
The Indian Music Experience Museum (IME) is India’s first interactive music museum. Located in Bengaluru, the IME is a non-profit initiative of the Indian Music Experience Trust, supported by the Brigade Group. The vision of the IME is to introduce the youth to the diversity of Indian music and to preserve India’s rich musical heritage. The IME
comprises a hi-tech Exhibit Area, a Sound Garden, a Learning Centre for music education, and several performance spaces. The IME’s work spans across Exhibition, Conservation, Audience Development, Education and Community Outreach. Besides museum visits, the IME hosts a wide variety of public programs. More details about the IME can be
found at www.indianmusicexperience.org.
Queries: info@indianmusicexperience.org
About Shankar Mahadevan Academy
Music should be accessible to one and all – whether they are from an underprivileged community or children with special needs. With that vision in mind, Shankar Mahadevan Academy Trust has launched projects to spread the Joy of Music. The goal is to make music a household conversation in all communities and use the power of music to bring about social change.
Inspire India: The Academy teaches music to students from underprivileged communities. The purpose of this project is to make music a household conversation and unearth talent from across socio-economic strata of India.
Joyful Choir: Music programs to create special moments of elevation for children with special needs.
Music for Senior Citizens: Programs to bring the joy of music to people in their golden age
Archive to Alive:Archives rare works of past maestros, and keeps those artists' music alive
SMA SAMAAJ. Harnesses the power of music to bring about social change by bringing poets and songwriters to raise their voices towards a worthy cause.
Queries: trust@shankarmahadevanacademy.org
About Archive to Alive
Shankar Mahadevan Academy is striving to bring the works of great artists and their rare compositions to the world through its project - "Archive to Alive". Often, these gems of creation get lost in time and forgotten. The Archive to Alive project, not only allows a way to archive these great works of art but also provides them to the public to listen and learn thus perpetuating the works generation after generation. Archive to Alive has already brought compositions of Ustad Kadhim Hussain Khan to hundreds of listeners and learners. The Chowdiah compositions is the second such project by Archive to Alive.
https://www.shankarmahadevanacademy.org/archivetoalive/
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