Tribute to Stalwarts of Yesteryears and the living legend (Dec’96) :

Indian music has a rich tradition and is  adorned by musical giants who made an indelible mark in the field through their inimitable style of singing. The immediate past includes G.N.Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Musiri Subramanaya Iyer, Alathur Bros, Maharajapuram Viswanathan Iyer and others. Mudhra’s seminar focussed on the styles and salient features of these veterans’ music through lectures, audio clipping, slides and lively discussions. As a fitting finale, a video clipping of a live concert of the living legend- Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer was presented. Participants: T.V.Gopalakrishnan, T.K.Govindarao, S.Rajam, Charumathi Ramachandran, Chengleput Ranganathan, Dr.S.A.K.Durga And Sruthi Pattabhiraman. PHOTO: T.V.G speaking about Chembai

Microphones in Concerts (Dec’97)

With the shifting of music concerts from courts and temples to sabhas and auditoriums, mikes have become indispensable in order to make the music heard to a large audience. This Seminar had a lively panel discussion on ‘ Does mike make or break a concert?’ by N.V.Subramaniam, T.R.Subramaniam, Sudha Raghunathan, Ravi Kiran, Abhayambika, Sriram Parasuram, B.Kannan. The other sessions focused on  technical aspects like  auditorium, types of mikes, radio , commercial recordings etc.

Talas and Talavadhyas (June ‘98)

Though the tala is a vital to music as raga, not much focus has been made on this subject. Mudhra’s seminar on Tala included a panel discussion on the subject ‘Role of percussion in concerts’ by N.V.Subramaniam, T.R.Subramaniam, S.Sowmya, Vijay Siva, V.Suresh, K.S.Kalidas. The afternoon sessions focussed a detailed study by eminent musicians on each of the concert percussion instruments - mridangam, Ghatam, Kanjira & Morsing, followed by live demonstrations. A session on ‘ Tala in Films’ and Tala across the three systems - Carnatic, Hindustani and Western made a fitting finale to the day long seminar.

Tradition and Innovation in Music (Dec’98)

There is a general feeling that the pristine glory of Karnatic music is a story of the past and standards are falling rapidly. Many opine that tradition is being broken in the name of innovation. But a deeper study definitely reveals that innovation through regular usage and practice tends to get absorbed into a system and become the so called tradition. This seminar analysed the concert trends to make a survey of the journey of Karnatic music from the past into the future.

TUKKADA (June’99)

There was a Panel discussion in the morning session on the topic ‘the success of the concert is assessed by crowd or standard ‘participated by T.N.Seshagopalan, R.Krishnaswamy, Ramachandran, Ashok Vasant Kumar, Kalidas & Va.Ve.Su followed by technical session on various tukkadas (Virutham, Ragamalika, Padam, Javali, Tevaram, Thirupugazh, Divyaprabandam, Kavadi Chindu, Arutpa, Bhajan, Abhang, Ashtapathi, Tarangam & Tillana) by eminent performers.

Human in an Artist (Dec’99)

There was a Panel discussion in the morning session on the topic “Professionalism - the need of the hour for a proficient Artist’ participated by Anita Rathnam, Gnani, Srinivasan, Saranathan, Chandramouli & Naresh Purushotham followed by Technical session by Dr.Mathrubootham & Dr.Rangarajan on the Psyche of an artist and Srinivasan on teamwork and personality development.

Pallavi (June 2000)

There was a Panel discussion in the morning session on the topic “Role of pallavi in the present day concerts’ participated by TRS,Dr.Durga,Dr.Vedavalli,Jairaj,Varalakshmi, Rajsree followed by Technical session on popular pallavis by Gayathri Girish and role of accompaniment for pallavis by Ghatam Suresh and M.A.Sundaresan.

Media and Music (January 2001)

Artists resort to different media to publicise themselves and the media in turn uses the artist as a means to market its product. Thus, it is a two-fold process where the artist and the media are mutually benefited and ultimately, art also grows and flourishes in full measure. 
 
Media may be broadly classified into three -Print media, electronic media and web media. 
 
The morning session had a panel discussion on the topic- Media in Music - a boon or bane ?
 

 
The Noon session had technical talks on -

Print media - How music is benefitted by the print media and what role music plays in marketing through the print media. This will include aspects of self - publicity like visiting cards, brochures, handbills, posters as well as general publicity media like newspapers, magazines, books etc.
 
Electronic Media - The role played by AIR, Doordarshan, Satellite Channels, Commercial Cassettes, CD, VCD etc.
  
Web Media - How web sites help to project and propagate music and how in turn, music is benefited by it.
 
A special guest lecture on Media and Communication with regard to music was the finale to the seminar.
 

Janaka - Janya Ragas (June 2001)

PANEL DISCUSSION : Topic - ' Theoretical knowledge of Ragas - Is it essential for music appreciation?' Participants : V.V.Ramani, K.Balasubramaniam, Anand Subramanian, Naresh Purushotham, Thyagarajan,, Jayashree Jayaraj Co-ordinator : Radha Bhaskar
Followed by INTERACTIVE SESSION on Janaka-Janya Ragas by Sri.T.R.Subramaniam & Sri.S.Rajam
  

Music and its Forms (December 2001)

Music has a universal appeal. We all love to listen to music though our preferences for the "type" of music may differ. On a broad perspective, the sum total of all music can be categorized into four types - Folk music, Devotional music, Classical music and Popular music. Each of these forms have a different musical content and mode of expression. This in turn results in different kinds of social impact by each.
 
This One Day Seminar on " Music and its Forms" dealt in depth with all the types of music, their content, purpose and contribution to the society. 

Inauguration of Seminar by Violin Maestro Dr. Kunnakudi Vaidhyanathan
 
Panel discussion on - "Which has greater social impact - Folk, Devotional, Classical or Film Music? Panelists - O.S.Arun, Aruna Sairam, Dr.Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Naresh Purushotham, Vamanan followed by audience session.
 
Technical Sessions : Folk Music by Dr. R.S.Santhakumari, Devotional Music by Dr. Prameela Gurumurthy, Classical Music by Radha Bhaskar, Popular Music by Kalaimamani Dr. P.B.Sreenivos and Thiagarajan. Seminar Coordinator : .Radha Bhaskar
 

Tamil Fine Arts Festival (June 2002)

One day seminar on “ROLE OF LYRICS IN MUSIC”

Morning session there was a panel discussion on the topic – ‘ Does lyric enhance music appreciation?’ The panelists from right: Kavi Kannan, Mohan Vaidya, Prof. T.R.Subramanian, Dr.Va.Ve.Su, Alamelu Ramakrishnan . Dr. Radha Bhaskar anchored and coordinated the seminar.
 

The post lunch session elucidated the grammar involved in writing lyrics by Dr.Va.Ve.Su and the method of putting them to tune by L.Krishnan. It was a very interactive session where Va Ve Su gave lyrical passages to Krishnan who composed music to it on the spot very aptly, keeping in mind the mood and context of the lyrics. The audience were also given an opportunity to use their imagination and write corresponding lines to the theme line given by Va Ve Su.

Prof. TRS who summed up the seminar said that it was a very productive programme and highly educative too.

The seminar was indeed very informative as `music’ and `language’ were analysed in full depth by all the participants who shared valuable insights on the subject.