Welcome to Saamagaana

Little did we know that on Jan 4th, 2015, Sahakaranagar, 5.30PM when a team of young musicians took to stage to render a Carnatic vocal concert under the banner Saamagaana Sangeetha Sanje, we would embark on a journey which has led us to here; today.  Flash back into late 2014, on a pleasant evening, a serious discussion started on the lack of platforms for Carnatic artists in North Bangalore. We debated much on what could be the reasons for having or not having a professionally managed and curated concerts in this part of Bangalore. For students of music and rasikas alike, attending a good concert meant travelling to South or West Bangalore in the maddening traffic. The discussion led to a decision that led to “Saamagaana Sangeetha Sanje”.  A simple and a modest chamber concert series where upcoming and established artists get a platform to showcase their talent, a venue which was ten minutes from most places in North Bangalore, a platform where students of music could learn from their peers and an event where rasikas could enjoy good quality music.    The idea was to have one concert every quarter in a chamber concert format which brings a closer connect between the rasikas and the artists. Eventually we ended up doing 5 concerts in the very first year and started an annual music festival series which served as a platform for students to showcase their skills and also invite India’s top musicians to perform. Thinking about it now, not only did we end up establishing a platform for musicians but also an eco-system for musicians, rasikas, students, art patrons in SahakarNagar.  With the inclusion of a bigger event “the annual music festival”, we faced an enormous challenge of raising funds need to execute such a big event. What was self-funded so far, no longer was viable to execute without donations. Family and Close Friends were the first ones to help when we reached out. A team of like minded came together for making the first annual event of such proportions a huge success. The annual event of 2015 saw 300+ in attendance with some of the top notch artists of India perform. 

 गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः । 

गुरुरेव परंब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

is an apt expression specially in the performing arts. Hence the event also included a Guru Vandana program to honour some of the senior guru’s in Carnatic music fraternity starting with my guru Vid. Padmamalini Ragunanadan without whose guidance I wouldn’t have been in this field at all. The team which came together for the event stuck together to establish a non-profit trust and thus “Saamagaana Sangeetha Sabha” came into being as a registered trust from Jan 2016.