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shankar92622017-02-23 07:34:022017-02-23 07:34:02Interview for Carnatictimes.comMy Story
My story starts in the beautiful, quaint city of Ottawa in Canada – where I was born. My parents noticed that I loved singing as a child, and had to be pulled away from mikes! Although they had no background in music, they returned to India when I was hardly 4, with a vision that I should sing. Whatever I am today, is on account of their foresight and encouragement towards my music!
I started lessons with Smt. Geetha Ramachandran, and later trained underSangita Kala AcharyaSmt Seetha Rajan, in the ‘Semmangudibani’. For 20 years, I trained in a Gurukulam environment – and spent nearly all waking hours at the Guru’s house. I even did my B.A.(Music) through correspondence,and soaked in music through the day – listening, analyzing and discussing music, witnessing my Guru’s practice, teaching juniors, researching.
When I was 18, I won the Sangeetha Shri title from RR Sabha (Trichy) after a grueling 3-day competition with advanced manodharma. The uncompromising judges had not been satisfied enough to award this title to any contestants in preceding years’ competitions – and I felt blessed to receive it from such an uncompromising panel!At 22, I was awarded an AIR A-grade as a rare double-promotion when I applied for a B-High. These unexpected windfalls bolstered my belief – and concretised my dreams, of performing.
Simultaneously, I was fascinated by scholars of the caliber of Prof N Ramanathan, who has been an academic role model for me. So I did an MA in music (where I was blessed with the Gold Medal of the Madras University), and followed it up with a PhD in Sanskrit and Musicology – interpreting musicological manuscripts from 2 BCE to 1600 CE. I also learned Telugu and taught at the SV College of Music and Dance (Tirupati) – where Telugu is the medium of instruction.
I got married soon after completing my PhD, and became a member of one more family, that is equally supportive of my music. My husband is a student of Hindustani music, and my mother-in-law is also trained, in the lineage of Sri Mysore Vasudevacharya.
After marriage, I quit my job at Tirupati, and shifted back to Chennai and decided to focus on a career in performance. The response has, ever since, been overwhelming! I was blessed to receive the ‘OutstandingVocalist’award in the junior category at the prestigious Music Academy (Annual Music Conference in December 2014), and was promoted to the sub-senior category after my performance at the next edition of the Conference.
I am now settled in Chennai, splitting my time between performance, research, teaching and writing. I have also been working on special, off-beat projects in Carnatic music.
A Doctor’s biggest satisfaction is to see happiness in the lives of people that she has helped heal. An engineer’s satisfaction, is when people get connected through the bridges she engineers and builds. Likewise, my job satisfaction as a musician, is when I am able to share a small glimpse of the joy of music – whatever little I am able to convey in my renditions – with music-lovers and rasikas.
Thank you for visiting my website. If you have the time for it, please do watch the videos, look through the special projects, browse through my writings – whatever you might feel interested in – and please feel free to drop me a line!
Short Profile – Performance
Dr. Padma Sugavanam is an A-graded (PrasarBharati) Carnatic vocalist, and also an academician with a PhD in Sanskrit and Music from the Madras University. Padma has served as a Lecturer of Music for 10 years, in the Sri Venkateswara College of Music and Dance, Tirupati. She is a highly sought-after artiste who gave 60 performances in the last year 2016.
Born in Canada, Padma showed tremendous musical potential – and her parents relocated to India for her to train in the Gurukulam system. Commencing her training with SmtGeethaRamachandran, she later learned from Sangita Kala Acharya Smt Seetha Rajan of the Sri SemmangudiSrinivasaIyerbani, for over 20 years.
Padma was awarded a coveted A-grade as a special double-promotion when she was just 22 years old, which is a rare honour. She also received a gold medal in her MA degree around the same time. Padma aspired for academic scholarship alongside performing excellence, and hence pursued a PhD along with a faculty position in the SV college, Tirupati. She has also published several academic research papers, while simultaneously balancing a busy performing career.
Padma has performed in most major sabhas in India, and has also done seven international concert tours – the most recent being a 17-concert tour of US in Spring season 2016, followed by a tour of Singapore and Malaysia. Padma was awarded the Most Outstanding Vocalist award in her category in 2014, at the prestigious Madras Music Academy, and was subsequently promoted to the sub-senior category.
Padma has presented academic presentations and lecture-demonstrations at prestigious venues like the Madras Music Academy (morning academic sessions of the December music festival) and the Ivy League institution, the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).
Padma C V
Interviews
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shankar92622017-02-23 07:34:022017-02-23 07:34:02Interview for Carnatictimes.com
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shankar92622017-02-23 07:28:122017-02-23 07:30:40Interview for the Sruti Magazine
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shankar92622017-02-23 07:23:122017-02-23 07:36:03Interview for Lok VaniMusical and Aesthetic Values
In my teens, I used to think that one must set GOALS, and do whatever it takes, to get to them. However, I am now of the firm view that I must set my VALUES – instead of GOALS – and go upto whatever point they take me. I must fix the journey, not the destination – because verily in life, the journey IS the destination.
My musical values, are to pursue excellence over popularity. Only if I am true to myself as an artiste, can I be true to the audience. So I present music that’s true to my sense of aesthetics – a traditional Pathantara with weighty sangati-s in consonance with the pristine raga-bhava. I also work hard on the sound experience – which, for me, is a combination of vocal clarity, tonal purity and resonance.
A wholesome concert for me,is a sublime experience – where artistes and audiences acquire a match of wavelength. Although I am considered to possess a flexible and fast moving voice, I believe in singing with restraint. I sing vilamba-kala items in every concert – I love the grandeur and majesty of the slow gait.
I do not believe in populism – and I admire musicians who acquired popularity without resorting to populism.
Music must not be pulled down to suit an audience – rather, the audience should be elevated through the music. For instance, Pt Ravi Shankar never compromised classicism in his landmark concert before the hippy, counterculture crowd of the Woodstock festival! We should aspire to take our music to such heights, that it intuitively appeals to the uninitiated, even before it intellectually appeals to the scholar.
