Raaja by RaGa - DC/VA/MD,

About the event

Presented by Eppo, this first of its kind US Concert tour of Ranjani-Gayatri is a celebration of Isaignani Ilayaraaja. Each concert will feature his various compositions in films and outside of it in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, carefully curated, explained and presented with classical interpretations by the versatile virtuoso duo “Ranjani-Gayatri” and their team of co-artists. It showcases a hereto unexplored point-of-view to Ilayaraaja's hugely popular music thus making it much more interesting and intellectually stimulating for the listeners.

Vocal - Ranjani-Gayatri

Violin - Vittal Rangan

Mridangam - Delhi Sairam

Ghatam - S Krishna

Why should you sponsor?

A Carnatic music concert generally consists of compositions by legendary poets that are deeply rooted in devotion and bakthi in the Hindu Religious tradition.  There is a specific format to each concert that has been handed down through generations and is fairly strictly adhered to.  In this background, the Raaja by Raga tour stands out as a shining star due to it's unique nature and expanded appeal to the listeners.

The Raaja by RaGa tour is a celebration of Iayaraaja's legendary music in a Carnatic flavour.  The dynamic sister duo of Ranjani-Gayatri have created a unique combination of Raaja's music wrapped in the traditional Carnatic format.  This brand of music shows a hereto unexplored point-of-view to Ilayaraaja's hugely popular music thus making it much more interesting and intellectually stimulating for the listeners.  The Concert will feature his various compositions in films and outside of it carefully curated, explained and uniquely presented with the classical interpretations.  It brings out the brilliance of Raaja's compositions in a very new light.  The offering is expected to cater to a very wide spectrum of audiences.  While the rich technicality of the presentation will appeal to the highly discerning Carnatic music audience, the popularity of Raaja's compositions will pique the interest of the common listeners.

There has only been one such concert performed - ever.  It was done in Chennai, India in the venerated Music Academy.  The concert sold out in a couple of days.  Here is an independent review of that concert: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/a-tribute-in-carnatic-idiom-to-ilaiyaraajas-classicism-in-film-music/article65488340.ece.  Here is the legend Ilayaraaja himself talking about the concept: https://twitter.com/ilaiyaraaja/status/1533790425961869312.  Here is a video review of the concert: Raja by Raga - A concert by Ranjani Gayatri of Ilaiyaraaja Songs | Concert Review

We are fortunate that Raaja and RaGa have chosed USA to be the first location for a full fledged tour based on this concept. 

Viswanathan Subramanian

BKRS LLC is a product development company based in Virginia, USA founded by Vish Subramanian and Bhaskar Srinivasan. As ardent followers of the Indian Classical music scene, we have always felt that the artist was not getting the appropriate value and returns for his/her skills and effort. This lead us to make "Adding value to the art form" a core motto/principle for us. The Eppo Music brand was conceived and started as a manifestation of that core principal. 

 

The Artists

 

The name of the tour is Raaja by RaGa.  Raaja refers to Ilayaraja and RaGa refers to the sister duo Ranjini-Gayatri

 

1. Ilayaraja

 

Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of the most prolific Indian composers, in a career spanning over forty-five years, he has composed over 7,000 songs and provided film scores for over 1,000 films,[1] apart from performing in over 20,000 concerts.[2] Ilaiyaraaja is nicknamed "Isaignani" (the musical genius) and often referred to as "Maestro", the title conferred by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.[3]  (Credit: wikipedia)

 

Ilayaraaja's music is hugely popular with the Indian American population in the United States.  He has conducted multiple tours of the US and each venue has been sold out.

 

Here is a link to his bio for more information - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006137/

 

1. Ranjini-Gayatri

 

Ranjani and Gayatri are world renowned versatile musicians whose thirty years of professional accomplishments include studio recordings, television, radio, concerts, festivals and lecture demonstrations. They have performed as soloists, violin duos, accompanists, vocal duos, composers, educators and ambassadors of Indian Classical Music. As top class Indian classical musicians, Ranjani and Gayatri are conservators of their genre's unique beauty and preserve ancient tradition as they continue to innovate within it.

 

Ranjani-Gayatri are currently considered the #1 artists in the Carnatic music genre. They have toured US multiple times and have consistently drawn huge crowds.

 

Here is a link to their bio for more information - https://www.ranjanigayatri.com/about

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