P Akshaya (middle) is accompanied by Sarvesh Karthick on Mridangam and Haritha Narayanan on violin.Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Three Carnatic concerts are scheduled for the next few weeks. For P Akshaya, the 26-year-old is like a jackpot. After debuting at his December Music with Marghazhi Matram his season (a festival for musicians with various disabilities organized by his non-profit SciArtsRUs), Akshaya enjoyed playing the violin in Narada Gana Sabha, Brahmagana Sabha. to And RK Convention Center.
A performance on “Season” could be a calling card for many aspiring musicians. And for visually impaired artists like Akshaya, this is a big step towards inclusion.
With a graduate degree in music, Akshaya has been knocking on the doors of various musical groups in Chennai for over a year. “In July he appeared in Narada Gana Sabha, but the main purpose was to secure a slot for Marghazhi,” said the man, who has little vision in his right eye and earns his living from music classes. says Akshaya.
For the Chennai Music Season to be inclusive, more Sabah are stepping forward to provide key slots for artists with different disabilities and to invest in disability friendly infrastructure inside and outside the auditorium. need to do it.
said Sridhar Ramakrishnan, president of Parallel Music Fest, a platform promoted by the Rotary Club of Madras Coromandel for classical musicians with disabilities.
For most musicians with disabilities, payment is secondary when they struggle to find spaces that show that they are more talented than others.
“What I want now is name recognition and the opportunity to be the first to showcase my talent,” says Akshaya.
Platforms such as Marghazhi Matram and Parallel Music Fest are doing more to provide a starting point for artists with various disabilities, but agree that more needs to be done.
For example, Marghazhi Matram spends an average of 10,000-12,000 rupees on artists. But when you discount the travel and food costs that artists from another city had to bear, they take home only a fraction of the money.
California-based biochemist and molecular biologist Ranjini Kaushik, founder of ScieArtsRUs, said more Sabah must work together to encourage artists with various disabilities to step into the limelight. says it won’t. She says she has to allocate slots to feature them during the season.
“It’s hard to pay musicians if you don’t have enough sponsors,” says Ranzini.
SciArtsRUs currently has over a dozen individuals from the United States sponsoring this event. “We need more Indian companies to sponsor the fest if this is to continue,” says Ranzini.
The music festival has brought artists from different cities to perform during Marghazi. This year Margazi his Matram also visited Madurai. “We need to figure out which model works better for the artists: bring them to Chennai or have festivals in different cities,” said Ranjini, noting that there is a shortage of talent in the music sector. I added no.
There is a layer of inclusivity added by the organizers. According to Sridhar, the list of extraordinary artists recognized by Parallel Music Fest will be given to Sabah. “For example, the Academy of Music has invited some of these artists to give concerts,” he says. When the club held his first event in 2005, there were no sponsors. “Club members raised money to host the event,” he said.
According to him, the club will publish a book outlining the 16-year journey of the Parallel Music Fest, with information and contact details for artists with disabilities. The annual charter he releases at night will be distributed to artists so that they may be selected for gig work,” he says Sridhar.