‘Madurai Mani Iyer’s music like a Kanchivaram sari’

“Madurai Mani Iyer’s music is like a Kanchivaram saree. You might ask for MS Blue, but when you drape the saree, you will also see myriad hues that you would not have noticed previously. This is true for his music too,” said ‘Cleveland’ V V Sundaram, one of the founders of the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, during the centenary birth celebrations of Carnatic musician Madurai Mani Iyer at the inauguration of the Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2012 here on Friday.

Organised by Carnatica in association with Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, this year’s event sought to combine the birth celebrations of Mani Iyer with the eighth year of the Bharat Sangeet Utsav. 

Musicians such as Padma Vibhushan awardees M Balamuralikrishna, Umayalpuram K Sivaraman and the event’s chief guest, Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetti, reminisced about Mani Iyer’s music and their memories of him. Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission chairman R Natarajan and Apollo Hospitals managing director Preetha Reddy were the other guests of honour.

“We can speak volumes about Mani Iyer’s music, but his humility and love for music stand out,” said Sivaraman.

The 10-day Utsav was inaugurated by Consul General of the United States in Chennai Jennifer McIntyre, who expressed her desire to hear Balamuralikrishna croon as her parents had already seen him in concert once.

Speaking about the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, she said, “These people -to-people ties have been a strong link between our countries for decades and our educational and cultural ties continue to expand, in the US and here in India.”