Samyo & Tarang Awards 2013

Image: The Music India Family in the Capstone Garden

As we always say at any event or performance, it’s a challenge to be a member of Samyo or Tarang, especially considering our musicians take a solo, improvised genre, and perform as an orchestra or ensemble. Apart from that, our collection of Hindustani and Carnatic musicians are having to learn to play music inspired by both styles, as well as elements of different genres from around the world. It’s an achievement to get a place in either Samyo or Tarang, and we always congratulate our members for that, but there are also some outstanding individuals who excel over the year and are deserving recipients of our annual awards.

Samyo 2013 Orchestra Awards

Musician of the Year: Tharani Nithiyananthan

Tharani’s last year in Samyo coincided with the 10th anniversary season, and she worked tirelessly to help make sure that we were ready with our performances. Her leadership was needed at a variety of times, from lunch times to film shoots, backstage prep to concerts, and her performance over the year won the overall award. Watch the film about her Samyo story here.

Merit Award (Best new member): Jainee -Khushali Patel

Jainee was virtually an ever-present for all Samyo activities, despite having to make the long journey from Bolton to London on many occasions through the year. She also brought her talent and love for Jazz to Samyo, and played Saxophone with the National Youth Jazz Collective, and with Samyo, during the Samyo10 concert at the QEH in March 2013. You can read about Jainee’s Samyo journey here.

Leadership Awards:

Orchestra Leader 2013/14: Raam Jeganathan

A relatively new member of Samyo, Raam has quickly become an integral part of the orchestra, with a calm and quiet approach that spread throughout his fellow musicians, which he will now bring to his role as Leader. Raam has shared his views on Samyo throughout 2013, and enjoyed his debut season during the 10th anniversary celebrations. You can watch Raam’s Samyo story here.

Deputy Orchestra Leader 2013 /14: Sanjay Raguseelan

Sanjay is currently Samyo’s longest serving member, and auditioned for the orchestra in 2007. He has seen Summer schools and concerts all over the country, from Devon to Edinburgh and has formed a great partnership with his brother Saju, that you can learn more about here. Sanjay is an ambitious and talented violinist and has been rewarded with Orchestra Leadership in 2014/15.

Percussion Leader 2013/14: Gobi Varatha-Rajan

Gobi is a long serving member of Samyo, and a talented Mridangist. He has learned from Patri Satish Kumar in recent years and has performed excellently throughout the Samyo10 performance season. Gobi is rewarded with leadership of the percussion group in 2013/14, and will have responsibility for the coordination and training of the group.

Tarang 2013 Ensemble Awards

Musician of the Year: Rishii Chowdhury

Rishii is developing a career in professional music as a tabla player, and has performed all over the country at Milapfest events and productions, including recently at the World Museum in Liverpool for our joint series of performances for the exhibition “Telling Tales”. Rishii is an ambitious performer and has learned from Ustad Zakir Hussein, amongst others. Read more about him here.

Merit Award (Best New Member): Bhavana Selvarajah

Bhavana is a violinist who first joined Tarang in early 2012 and has performed excellently at all Tarang concerts since her debut season. She has excelled in her training and development and is well on the way towards a professional career. Bhavana was rewarded for her progress with the 2013 Merit award for Tarang.

Team Production Winners:

Jasdeep Singh Degun
Brahmjot Singh
Jessica Mistry
Gobi Varatha-Rajan
Saju Raguseelan

At Music India 2013, we asked six ensembles of Samyo and Tarang members to create a production of 10 minutes that could be adapted for a Milapfest performance in the future. There was a series of fascinating performances of great variety and imagination watched by tutors and students of Music India and Dance India in a late night performance on Friday 2nd August. The winning ensemble, with its mentor Gaurav Mazumdar, created a fantastic interactive exhibition of Indian music, demystifying its terms and characteristics in an excellent performance. Watch out for its professional début in the near future.