VENU NADAM: A FESTIVE TRAIL / Vamshika Quintet / Review

 

VENU NADAM: A FESTIVE TRAIL

Vamshika Quintet

The Arts House Chamber

Sunday (18 January 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 January 2026 with the title "A celebration of Indian flutes".

Vamshika Quintet is an ensemble, part of the 10-year-old Brahmastra Arts House, that celebrates the culture and sounds of Indian bamboo flutes, the bansuri and venu. Established by Niranjan Pandian, the quintet – also comprising Logindran Govindarasu, Vishnu Veluri, Sabapathy Tirupathi Ramana and Ravindra Kumar – presented a 100-minute concert with seven works showcasing the breadth and depth of these instruments.

There are few sounds as haunting or beautiful as the Indian flute, which has a mellowness in timbre that eludes its Western and Chinese counterparts. When heard as a group of instruments with varying registers, the pleasure is multiplied manifold. To keep the ensemble, backed by violinist Sreeranjani Muthu Subramanian and drummers Lalit Kumar Ganesh (tabla) and Jayagowtham Annadurai (mridangam), in time and rhythm, the works were conducted by the quintet’s visiting mentor from India Vidwan Amith Nadig and Carnatic music veteran Lazar Sebastine.

The evening opened with Sri Muthuswamy Dikshithar’s Vathapi Ganapathim, an invocation to Lord Ganesh often heard as a prelude to temple festivals and ceremonies. Its lively rhythms were captured in solos and in various groupings.

When all five flautists play together, a choral effect is created, as heard in Vidwan’s Dream Garden. While polyphony was not sustained for long, it was the dominant heterophony that created an audible illusion of multiple sonic layers. Modern pop influences were also included in the arrangement to spice up the proceedings.

An interactive element of the concert got the audience to know the players a little better, who used their flutes to answer simple questions like “do you have a favourite flute?” or “what do you think of pineapples on pizzas?” Higher pitched and more florid responses indicated affirmation while lower pitched and falling tones meant “duh”.

SEA Medley sounded distinctly non-Indian because Gu Wei’s arrangement included melodies from Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore. The last was also the most recognisable, not Dick Lee’s Home but Dayong Sampan, celebrated by Leong Yoon Pin and the Chinese song Tian Mi Mi.

Vidwan’s Ragam Tanam Pallavi was the longest work on the programme, first sounding long-breathed and meditative as it evoked wind on the mountains, and later many spots involving improvisation. Carnatic violinist Sreeranjani got the lion’s share, and was justly applauded. The increasingly irregular meters were met with players clapping out rhythms as the music veered to near-intoxication.

After a short break, Pandit Ashwin Sreenivasan’s Panch Prayag resumed the choir-like harmonies from the flutes before breaking out into a raucous dance. In a similar vein, Niranjan’s fast and rhythmic Feathers of Grace evoked the regal strut of a peacock, with hundreds of flickering eyes following suit. Finally, Vidwan’s Thillana In Raga Pantuvarali saw the violin echoing the lowest pitched flute in dialogue, as the music wound its way to a celebratory close.

With such committed advocacy from Vamshika, the complexion of Indian flute playing in Singapore would never be the same again.

Mentor Vidwan Amith Nadig
receives his applause.