Dr. L. Subramanian in concert

If The first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program disappointed, the same cannot be said about the Fairfax (VA) Symphony program honoring India's 60th anniversary of independence that featured Dr. L. Subramanian, his wife Kavita Krishnamurthy, and two of his three children.


Dr. L.Subramanian and son "Ambi" with supporting musicians

The program opened with traditional Carnatic music, featuring Dr. Subramanian and his teenage son "Ambi" on violins. Additional musicians performed on Mridangam (drum), Ghatam (clay pot), Kanjeera (tambourine), and Morsing (jews harp) [the links are to audio clips from Swar Systems that demonstrate the sounds of these instruments - ed.]


Kavita Krishnamurthy and stepdaughter Seetaa Subramaniam performing Freedom Symphony

The rest of the program featured three of Dr. Subramanian's compositions that fuse western and Indian music styles: Global Symphony, Freedom Symphony, and Turbulence Concerto. Freedom Symphony, which was billed as a world premiere, featured poems of Rabindranath Tagore (Jodi Tor, a favorite of Gandhi, in Bengali), Subramanya Bharati (Acham Illai, in Tamil), and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (Vande Mataram, in Sanskrit) set to music. We were seated near the stage, where we were thrilled to see and hear Kavita Krishnamurthy at such close range.

The entire program was awe-inspiring. I don't think that I'll hear or see such a program again.

NOTE: I am indebted to Cathy Smith, Director of Marketing, Fairfax Symphony, for the photos and supporting information.