My best ever New Year gift received from my rasika, a portrait of my self from 11 year friend for this New Year. Thank you and hope i keep up your hopes.

Pls visit the link to see an article on myself in The Hindu dated 31 December 2006

Article in The Hindu

A great day for me and family as my uncle Embar S Kannan performed a solo concert in the prime slot for Kalarasana at Rani Seethai Hall. I understand due to some unforeseen circumstances Sowmya akka could not sing today at this slot and as my mama was suppose to accompany her Sri Srinivasan suggested mama to play a solo in the same slot and it was indeed a great time we had listerning to mama's concert.

ESK mama started off with Nalinakanthi varnam of Lalgudi sir's and tehn played Srimahaganapathim in Gowla set to misra chaappu. The best was the krithi on Nagabhushani and the RTP on Natakurinchi with the phrase "Naatai kurinchi enbar sirandha engaladhu". He played three ragams during alapana adn thanam presentation flowing so beautifully from one to the other namely Naataikurinchi, Naatai and Kurinchi. He then gave a presentation of kalpanaswaram also in the same order and rounded off with korvai with the same order. It was indeeed facinating for me to ehar a great piece.

For this RTP Neyveli Narayanan uncle played Kanda nadai on mrudhangam, Anirudh anna Thisra nadai on Kanjeera and Arunkumar anna - Misra nadai on rhythm pad during the thani. Mama ended off the concert with Lalgudi sir's Desh thillana and the team got a standing appaluse from the audience present.

Whoever came there for attending Sowmya akka's, I am sure would second me in the opinion of having attended a great Violin solo concert by Embar S Kannan - my uncle.

It was indeed one of the good concerts of Ghatam Karthick uncle's heArtbeat concerts i have attended today 28th December, 2006 at Rani Seethai hall for Kalarasana.

The photo is of the release of their cd titled "Thana Dhirana Jam" by Sri Sujatha - Journalist.

If you had missed this team's concert this season do try and attend tmrw morning at Chitrakulam Panjamugaanjeneyar sannadhi at 9am or on the 2nd January'07 at Parthasarathy Sabha at 10am.

It was indeed a hectic 3 days of concert activity 2 each on the 22nd & 23rd and one on the 24th Dec'06. The highlight is the gift i got from violin Villiwakkam Raghuraman uncle who has presented me with a cute looking (effective) sony mpe recorder for getting the POGO Award. Grest gesture and i have already been using it from teh 22nd concert itself.

The other thing is the appreciation i received from many for rendering the navagraha krithi Suryamoorthey at MFAC on the 24th Dec'06 & Balu uncle in particular. I was very happy to see him nodding his head in the positive sign and showing thumps up sign before he eleft the hall after hearing he krithi.

I am also enjoying the food at many sabhas along with good concert and the pcik of the food is Tiffin - Narada Gana Sabha and meals Music Academy. As far as music i liked every ones rendention. I had attended three of my mentor - guru Shri Mandolin Shrinivasji's and coup[le of Guru Kanyakumari madam till date apart from others like Sudha aunty's, Aruna Sairam aunty's Guitar Prassanna uncle's, Saranathan mama's Ravikiran sir's,Sanjay Subramaniam sir's etc.

I also had the oppurtunity to take a photo with my guru- mentor Shri Mandolin Shrinivas alongwith MFAV secy. Venkatraman mama after his concert on the 25th Dec'06. I sincerely thank Sri Pyarilal of www.carnaticsangeetham.com for this photo.

I had been to Thiruvannamalai on 24th after the concert with appa, amma, Hari uncle and his mother. They did girivalam and i stayed in a room and was watching tv. We had good dharshan and went to Ramanashram next day & had great time over there. Above are the pictures at the ashram with the room of Maharishi and peacock.

Shall post some interesting picutres on the season soon.

I was happy to come back to Sastry Hall for another performance, this time for Sri Kapali Fine Arts on the 19th Dec'06. I was al little tired after coming straight from school to perform but recooped in time. How ever the audio was little disturbing as it was the normal amp which was there instead of a mixer.

I enjoyed the photo session by an uncle from Kutcheri Buzz who took many photos of our concert. Hope tos ee it in their news soon.

I was treated for my good performacne (i believe so) by Sri Siva Sankaran, a leading advocate who took all my family members and my ammamma & another aunty to Mylapore Club & made us eat well. He has also promised me to join in the Tennis and Cricket coaching if i liked. I have told him that i will get back to him after the season.

Felicitation

I was felicitated by Kunnakudy School opf Music and T.S. Mahalingam & Sons at the Sri Karaneeswarar Temple, Saidapet after the concert of Ms Amrutha Venkatesh - Bangalore who was supported by Sri Karthick on violin and Ms Rajna Swaminathan on Mrudhangam (from USA & student of Mrudhangum maestro Sri Umayalpuram Sivaraman sir).

It was nice of Smt Bala aunty to have made banners to felicitate Vignesh and myself (POGO Chennai Winers) and also invited Sri T. K. Govinda Rao, a renowned musician and author of many books for this function. Ramjhi uncle and Balu uncle were also there. We received great books from them as gifts.

Sri Govinda Rao emphasised the need of Gurus and their blessings. He advised every one to keep the guru bakthi at the highest level and that it will give great strength. Ramjhi uncle spoke about our talents and how he campaigned to make us victorius. Mrs Bala aunty blessed us and it was indeed a pleasant function. I was more happy because this is the same temple where i performed on the 18th Nov (Sani Pradhosham) and left for participating in the POGO finals on the 19th Nov and now rgetting felicitated after a month at the same premises on a Pradhosham day. great

It was a great moment in Velacheri today when i was there at Nada Sudha for their innagural concert in which Balu uncle's sambandhi gave me gifts. It was great books and i am happy to have got them as it will be great reference and source of learning. It was also a day in which Ramjhi Uncle was honoured with the award "Kala Seva Bharath" by Bharat Kalachar. I could not attend the function as i had to be in Vellacheri at 6pm. Balu uncle gave an excellent speach with lots of information.

I was also happy to see my thatha and ammamma (my appa's parents) come all over to Velacheri and i had the pleasure of travelling back to drop them. It was also nice of Anirudh (Balu uncle's younger son) who was there to listen to my concert. I think he also enjoyed the concert. He told me that i was very fast and he liked all the fast phrases.

The secy and joint secy apprecdiated my performance and i was very thrilled. I was happy about today's performacne as i was with real josh!! after the POGO winning experience.

Felicitation

It was a great feeling to have shared for the first time with great peopl like Nalli sir, Natarajan sir, Sudha Raghunathan aunty and Ramjhi uncle. It was also new experience to be on stage without performing and just to receive appreciation. Both Vignesh and myself enjoyed the moment and it was so nice of all them to have complimented us. Thanks to Ramjhi uncle & family, Mudrqa Baskar uncel and Radha Baskar aunty for co-ordinating this kind of a large scale feleicitation for us.

I was blessed with lots of rasika and parents opf IssaiMazhalai group & sincerly thank them all.

I also extend my sincere thanks to my chairman Mrs YGP amma who had come to bless us during this felicitation and Balu uncle, India Today Rajesekar uncle & News Today Anand uncle.

The canteen at MUDRA this season is great and all of you should pay a visit to the canteen located just opposite to the INFOSYS Hall, Ramakrishna Mission School, near T.Nagar Viveks, where this year Mudra music festival is being conducted.

I also enjoyed the evening with Murali auncle and Ranjani aunty who had taken me and my parents to theri house and also hosted us for a great dinner at Vrindavan restaraunt in Hotel Woodlands.

Brahma Gana Sabha treat to me with a concert call for winning the POGO Award.

It was a dream come true for me as i got a call from Brahma GAna Sabha to perform at 7pm on the 11th Dec'06 after my flight just arrived at 515pm. Yes having performed a evening concert on a fusion format with my uncle Embar S Kannan last year, i wanted to perform pure carnatic this year on the same slot. But i got the slot in the morning to perform on the 24th Dec'06 from 10 - 12 noom.

How ever God was kind to me with a call from them to perform in the evening slot on the 11th Dec'06, just when i had reached after receiving the POGO award as a carnatic musician on keyboard. I think God gave me a good treat with this as i got the slot i wanted to perform and that too after just winning the award.

It was a nice of Annathakrishnan anna, Neyveli Narayanan uncle & Purushothaman uncle to have encouraged me that day so well, i didnot feel the tiredness at all and i think the concert came out very well as said by Gopi Maa (Coimbatore) who was in the audience throughout.

Also thanks to Pyarilal uncle for excellent photos and Sri Ravikiran uncle to have blessed me along with Prof uncle.

POGO Award - A dream come true

It was indeed a great moment for me when I was called as the winner of POGO AMAZING KID MUSICIAN 2006, on the 10th night around 130 (early morning of 11th Dec’06) by Sri Sivamani and I ran on to the stage and jumped with joy. I realize now that viewers all round the country enjoyed Carnatic on Keyboard and have voted me to be the winner including my great well wishers. I will surely try and live up to their expectations.

After boarding the flight my appa had informed of this news to the Chief purser of the Go Air flight and to my surprise he amade an announcement on this and all the paseengers on board (around 150) gave me a great applause which I can never forget.

I also enjoyed the trip as my cousin brother Surya came with us to Mumbai for this trip and it was his first flight tour. Along with Vignesh, who also won the award under Singer category, the three of us enjoyed playing cricket in the room and also getting on to the pool for a good swim.

Thanks to the entire POGO team for treating us so well during our trips to Mumbai and hope to see you all.

I take this opportunity to thank one and all for the great support extended and I need your continued blessings to reach higher goals.

I have to thank Bhart Kalachar and Chinmaya Sisters for having accepted to chage my concert date from 10th dec’06 to 02nd Dec’06 as I had to be in Mumbai for the finals of POGO Amazing kids 2006 Awards.

I enjoyed this concert very much as it was in my home ground i.e. Bharat Kalacha on the 2nd December. I am happy to have started with a good main slot for this year’s December music season and it came out well also. I think I got one of the best of appreciation from a great person like my chairman Mrs YGP – Rashmi amma and it is indeed a great recognition not only for my talent but also for the instrument as she herself accepted that it was sounding like a veena & Mandolin bringing out all the gamakas required.

It was for the first time I teamed with Phalgun anna on Mrudhangam and I enjoyed the concert thoroughly as he inspired and encouraged me very well. So was Anathakrishnan anna on violin, EMS mama on Ghatam and Sowrirajan anna on Morsing. Many in the audience came to me after the concert and appreciated the way I performed and it ws indeed a great day for me as an artist.

Due to some political meeting near Valluvar Kottam we were struck almost for 30 mts almost near Vanimahal and I ran from there to the venue just to inform of this jam. However we were on stage at 4pm but felt bad for the last minute rush.

I enjoyed my thatha and Patti listening to me sitting in the front row and also enjoyed the warmth of Mrs YGP giving iddli pcs to me. Yes the day was great indeed, also the idly from the hands of my Chairman!!

Trip to Hyderabad & Calicut

This was one of the trips i was eagerly awaiting as it had all modesof travel involved. Yes Chennai Hyd by trainon 24th evening , Hyd - Coimbatore by flight and Coimbatore - Calicut by car on the 26th Nov'6. The concert in Hyderabd came out very good and i had my appa's friends mom and uncle with the family attending this concert. I was very happy to get the blessings and compliments from Sri Peri Sriramamurthy _(violin artist) and Sri D.S.R. Murthy (mrudhangam artist) who i understand are the leading artists in their fields.

After the concert was over we went to the hotel and went to bed at around 12 midnight. We woke up at 5am on 26th Nov'06 and Srinivasan uncle was there to drop us at the airport. I was thrilled to see him as a fanatic of Sri T.N. Seshagopalan and every word from him was having reference on this greast musician. He also gave me a new clothes and I amsure to stritch them and will wear it asap.

Airdeccan flt to Coimabtore was on time and we had a car arranged by Sri Babu Swami, secy Swathi Music Dias - Calicut. We took the Omni van and its pilot Sakthi anna drove brilliantly and reached Calicut by 230pm. On arrival took 2 chappathi's as lunch (kerala as of now is a problem for my type of food) and went to the room to take rest. We saw Indian team getting belted by the South Africans and so switched channel to POGO and was fortunate to see my episode.

Sri Vinu - Violin, Sri Mysore Sudhanrshan on mrudhangam (a sishya of Guru Sri Karaikudi Mani avl.) and Sashi Shankar - Ghatam were all there before me near the stage but as i was asked / ionvited to the stage only at 715pm i went there. The concert well with all the three of them performing very well and i enjoyed playing with them. Babuswami uncle and his daughters were very sweat and praised me very much.

We went to the station at 1145 pm to take the train at 150am and luckily it was on time. I enjoyed the train journey and the Lays chips also. Reached chennai and as usual came home in Jayaram uncle's auto. Now i am looking forward to the POGO finals on 30th Nov'06

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I did not know that today was Saibaba's birthday and i think only with his grace the concert turned out to be one of the best. Yes i was trying many new things just as i am proceeding to hyderabad and Calicut were i am going to perform with some very good and senior most artists. Ananthakrishnan anna was all praise for me as i think i gave him some surprise package today in alapana and kalpanaswaras.

The atmosphere was full of good energy and the knowledgeble audience was an great addition to this. Appa told me that we might have to present some film numbers but the flow was so good i told him that we will do it only if any request to that effect came in. It turned out to be a nil request for films numbers and it was indeed a full length concert for 140 mts of great music. Suriyanarayanan uncel and Pradeep uncle were also at theri best and so it was a great day for the team indeed.

I had my dream come true when I was allowed to sit in the pilot’s seat of Air Deccan flight to Chennai which I traveled on the 21st Nov’06 after performing in the finals of Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 in Mumbai. I was so happy that after having performed well in the final of POGO Awards 2006, this was like an award god had given and thanks to the Airhostess who allowed me to speak to the captain. Both the captain and his deputy were very sweat and took photos of myself in their mobiles.

It was totally a thrilling trip for me this time as I also had a great time swimming in the Ashok Nagar Apartment complex pool, Andheri (East) where we stayed. Ms Varsa from Orissa under the dance category was also staying with us. Shashank another finalist in my category was also in our room for sometime and with Rahul Konneti the third from my category had a good time chatting with each other during the shoot days. Mahavir uncle and his team took care of us very well and I happy to convey my thanks with their photos in this blog.

Vignesh, (of Isai Mazhalai and a good friend of mine) one of the Top 3 nominees under the category Singer was also in the same apartment and we both had a gala time playing during our stay. When we went to the studio on the 20th Nov’06 Vignesh was performing the finals and he gave a great performance and was the darling of Ms Vasundara Doss, who was the judge. She confessed that she is his fan for the song Ye thara O’ thara which he had sung in the movie. Vignesh’s other contestants were Ashraf Khan from Jaipur – a Rajastani folk singer and Ranjith from Mumbai – gazhal singer. I am hoping that people will vote for Vignesh and make him the winner in his category.

I performed in the finals on the 21st Nov’06 and was indeed happy with the support of the band provided by POGO, especially the Tabla artist who was very supportive. My judges, Mr Shanthanu Moithra, a leading music director and Mr Derek O’brien (a famous quiz master) appreciated me for the excellent performance, in particular my own composition based on Keeravani, Kaapi and Gowrimanohari. I was so happy to see that I could impress them with my performance which was just for 90 secs of classical, 60 secs of own composition and 45 secs of Bollywood hit song. Both Shashank on Sarot and Rahul on violin gave equally an impressive performance. It is all up to the viewers who will have a tough time selecting the best.

I know I had given my best and hope that impresses all the viewers who see this final which is going to be on air on the 30th November in Pogo Channel at 730pm. Please do vote for me if you think i have performed well and if you feel Shashank or Rahul have done better go ahead and vote for them. Irrespective of the result i know i have won the hearts of both the other contestents and the judges.