Tiruchy L. Saravanan
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Tiruchy L. Saravanan, also known as Flute Saravanan, is one of the foremost disciples of Dr. N. Ramani, one of India's most acclaimed Carnatic flautists.
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[edit] Education
Also a disciple of the late K. S. Narayanan (one of the prominent disciples of Dr. N. Ramani), the late V. Sundaresan, and the eminent violinist Nagai R. Muralidharan, Saravanan is a Yuva Kalabharathy Award winner from the Government of Tamil Nadu. His highly energetic yet melodic and vocal renditions of many Carnatic compositions have made him one of the most respected Carnatic flautists in the music fratinity of Tamil Nadu.
He began his schooling at a very young age in both vocal and Carnatic Flute. After several years of schooling in music under renonwned teachers, he got the rare privilege of learning under the tutelage of Dr. N. Ramani, whose revolutionary techniques of improvised flute playing brought a new image and dimension to Indian Classical Music as a whole in the 1900s. Looking at the style of Saravanan which is similar to himself, Dr. N. Ramani's highly disciplined method of instruction which focuses on bringing out the human voice in the flute, honed Saravanan into a young, fine and exceptional flautist in the orthodox tradition of Carnatic music.
[edit] 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 world renowned 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.
A prolific performer himself, Saravanan has accompanied some of the finest musicians in the country 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 renowned 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 R. Visweswaran, a disciple of the legendary Santoor Maestro Pt. Shivkumar Sharma.
His involvement in the dance fratinity is respectable being an accompanist to renowned dance exponents such in the likes of Padmashri Smt. Sudharani Raghupathi, the legendary Padmashri Smt. Chitra Visweswaran and Padmashri Dr. Smt. Saraswathi Sundaresan.
His expressive embellishments, powerful sense of raga bhava and superb 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.
[edit] Contribution in Singapore
Saravanan is also a composer in the National Arts Council of Singapore (NAC) in the prestigious 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 perfect 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 violin, a pair of vocal support, flute, mridangam and the 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 brilliantly.
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.
[edit] The experimentalist
Saravanan is probably one of the few Carnatic flautists in the world, who has tailor made his flutes ranging from the venu to the bansuri 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. 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.
[edit] 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 tradion of chaste Carnatic music with barely cine or external influences, he brandishes a style that suits any connoisseur of classical music.
In Singapore itself, 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. He was also formerly on the advisory panel of the National Arts Council, regulating, reviewing and deciding on policies concerned with the musical field and the larger field of arts in Singapore.
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. [1]
With such an impeccable standard as a performer and a teacher, Saravanan is also exploring 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.
