December 1: It's past midnight and a crowd throngs Chennai's iconic Music Academy. An hour later, this crowd shows no signs of thinning, instead, the number swells as more and more music enthusiasts join in. No, there isn't a film shoot happening or a celebrity passing by. Instead this is the rush for season tickets for Chennai's annual music festival.
With each passing year, the fervour around Margazhi Utsavam or the December Music Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. This is the time when music aficionados are spoilt for choice as close to 2,000 classical music concerts are held across the city between December 15 and January 15.
The season ticket is the most sought after for a good reason. It entitles the holder to watch any programme at the sabha throughout the season after making a one-time payment. If not for this ticket, music enthusiasts would have to come a day before every concert to purchase tickets - with the availability based on their luck and the demadnn for any particular concert, says a sabha secretary. As one watches the line outside the Academy lengthen, it is noteworthy that this year too the interest has been shown mostly by senior citizens, braving the mild chill in their monkey caps and mufflers to get the coveted season tickets.
The sabhas are of utmost importance in the music world as they help conduct the concerts and also bestow titles and awards on artists. The Music Academy happens to be one of the oldest sabhas in the city and, according to most music connoisseurs, it is also one of the most organised. The enthusiasts who gather in the wee hours of the morning are greeted with the comfort of chairs and hot cups of coffee.
N Murali, president, Music Academy, says that this year the Academy has decided to give tickets only to those who carry identification cards. Moreover, one person will not get more than two tickets. This is to avoid a person or a group from walking away with tickets in bulk, like in the past.
The first 250 lucky souls are taken into the Academy's mini hall to get those precious two tickets, the price of which varies from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. The rest turn away disappointed, waiting to try their luck a day before a particular concert. The demand for seats always outstrips the supply.
While the Academy's seating capacity is 1,400, its members alone number 1,500. Over and above this, it sells around 400 season tickets. Murali says that it's a calculated risk the sabha is taking, something akin to the practice in the airline industry.
This annual festival, earlier called Madras, has come to be known as the 'December Season', since most of the concerts are held in the winter month, with a few spilling over to mid-January.
The month was chosen mainly because of the pleasant climate and with it being holiday time for children, families are at leisure to attend concerts. Besides, for Hindus the Tamil month of Margazhi is a time for devotion, and south Indian classical music's very genesis lies in bhakti or devotion.
According to Murali, every artist feels privileged to perform in Chennai during the season as it provides a platform to those who wish to take up music as a career. To be seen at one of the concerts is a sure way of establishing yourself as a rasik (music enthusiast). The music season traces its roots to the All India Music Conference, held on the sidelines of the political meeting of the Indian National Congress in 1927. It then became a mainstay of Chennai's cultural scene when the Academy began conducting concerts since its first annual conference in 1929, and converting it into a week-long music festival.
Kutcheribuzz.com, one of the leading cultural websites of the city, states that traditional arts like the Harikatha (or the story of God - a formalised musical telling of devotional, mythological and didactic stories) and nadaswaram playing were given little attention earlier, but the past few editions of the December Music Season have brought these into sharp focus. While interest in vocal music has gone up, the attraction of instrumental music has waned a bit, says Murali, rueing this trend. The duration of the concert too has come down by an hour.
The promising trend is the increasing diversity in events - from discussions and informal interaction with artists to art exhibitions and album launches. Interestingly, despite the economic slowdown, the volume of sponsorships hasn't gone down. This season, there are 15 sponsors for concerts at the Music Academy - a trendsetter of sorts - with each contributing Rs 4 lakh. There are also 6 to 8 daily sponsors, each paying Rs 45,000 a day.
"The sabhas definitely make money during this time and they should use what funds they collect to upgrade their infrastructure and help upcoming artists," says Murali, while adding that the Academy has accumulated around Rs 15 crore in the past 5-7 years, and placed it in fixed deposits. Of late, besides the air-conditioned auditoria in the city, alternative venues like well-known temples and heritage bungalows are also being used. With more venues and, therefore more concerts, money doesn't seem to be much of a problem for the future.
With each passing year, the fervour around Margazhi Utsavam or the December Music Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. This is the time when music aficionados are spoilt for choice as close to 2,000 classical music concerts are held across the city between December 15 and January 15.
The season ticket is the most sought after for a good reason. It entitles the holder to watch any programme at the sabha throughout the season after making a one-time payment. If not for this ticket, music enthusiasts would have to come a day before every concert to purchase tickets - with the availability based on their luck and the demadnn for any particular concert, says a sabha secretary. As one watches the line outside the Academy lengthen, it is noteworthy that this year too the interest has been shown mostly by senior citizens, braving the mild chill in their monkey caps and mufflers to get the coveted season tickets.
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N Murali, president, Music Academy, says that this year the Academy has decided to give tickets only to those who carry identification cards. Moreover, one person will not get more than two tickets. This is to avoid a person or a group from walking away with tickets in bulk, like in the past.
The first 250 lucky souls are taken into the Academy's mini hall to get those precious two tickets, the price of which varies from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. The rest turn away disappointed, waiting to try their luck a day before a particular concert. The demand for seats always outstrips the supply.
While the Academy's seating capacity is 1,400, its members alone number 1,500. Over and above this, it sells around 400 season tickets. Murali says that it's a calculated risk the sabha is taking, something akin to the practice in the airline industry.
This annual festival, earlier called Madras, has come to be known as the 'December Season', since most of the concerts are held in the winter month, with a few spilling over to mid-January.
The month was chosen mainly because of the pleasant climate and with it being holiday time for children, families are at leisure to attend concerts. Besides, for Hindus the Tamil month of Margazhi is a time for devotion, and south Indian classical music's very genesis lies in bhakti or devotion.
According to Murali, every artist feels privileged to perform in Chennai during the season as it provides a platform to those who wish to take up music as a career. To be seen at one of the concerts is a sure way of establishing yourself as a rasik (music enthusiast). The music season traces its roots to the All India Music Conference, held on the sidelines of the political meeting of the Indian National Congress in 1927. It then became a mainstay of Chennai's cultural scene when the Academy began conducting concerts since its first annual conference in 1929, and converting it into a week-long music festival.
Kutcheribuzz.com, one of the leading cultural websites of the city, states that traditional arts like the Harikatha (or the story of God - a formalised musical telling of devotional, mythological and didactic stories) and nadaswaram playing were given little attention earlier, but the past few editions of the December Music Season have brought these into sharp focus. While interest in vocal music has gone up, the attraction of instrumental music has waned a bit, says Murali, rueing this trend. The duration of the concert too has come down by an hour.
The promising trend is the increasing diversity in events - from discussions and informal interaction with artists to art exhibitions and album launches. Interestingly, despite the economic slowdown, the volume of sponsorships hasn't gone down. This season, there are 15 sponsors for concerts at the Music Academy - a trendsetter of sorts - with each contributing Rs 4 lakh. There are also 6 to 8 daily sponsors, each paying Rs 45,000 a day.
"The sabhas definitely make money during this time and they should use what funds they collect to upgrade their infrastructure and help upcoming artists," says Murali, while adding that the Academy has accumulated around Rs 15 crore in the past 5-7 years, and placed it in fixed deposits. Of late, besides the air-conditioned auditoria in the city, alternative venues like well-known temples and heritage bungalows are also being used. With more venues and, therefore more concerts, money doesn't seem to be much of a problem for the future.