‘Ilayaraja Melodies’ in Atlanta, uniquely presented!

by Viju Chiluveru

For years Atlanta’s talented singer, Ram Durvasula is known for doing things in style. The recent event Ilayaraja Melodies under the banner Swaralahari held on Saturday, May 18 at Sexton Hall, Cumming GA was even more stylish. Seriously… the songs selection was unique, the presentation was innovative and the enthusiasm of singers is inexplicable.

Ilayaraja Melodies was the second of the series introduced in 2018 by Ram Durvasula. The first one Swarabhishekam - a collection of songs from NTR Movies’ held in August 2018 was an amazing event by every count. To begin with, it was a great tribute to the one and only NTR, song selection included all-time favorites of many, well attended and finally well received by the fans.

Neelima Gaddamanu, a well-known Kuchipudi Dancer and Choreographer, moderated the event as an MC. She was helped by Director V.N.Adiya provided quite a lot of background information for each song.

Ilayaraja film composer, singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, orchestrator, conductor-arranger and lyricist who works in the Indian Film Industry, predominantly in Tamil. His work is liked by every music lover across India and throughout the world. Everyone song he composed becomes a legend.

The event was kicked off with a lighting of the lamp by Ramani Dronamraju And Sita Durvasula. There were two extreme genres of songs to cater to all the audience. The song Accha, Accha one hand and the unique Singarala Pairullona from the movie Dalapathi was on the other was a crazy mix of songs. Singers include the senior artist of Atlanta Venkat Chennubhotla (who adds spice and fun to every event), Shanti Medicherla, Bhanusri Vavilikolanu, Shilpa, Padma Pucha, Sandeep Kowtha, Srivalli Sridhar, Archana Reddy, Sirisha Durvasula and Neelima Gaddamanugu.

Swaralahari Ilayaraja Melodies was sponsored by Madhav Durbha, Venkat Chundi (Centillion), Viju Chiluveru (Maitri - an Organization for Visiting Parents). Refreshments were provided by Chennai Express. Photography courtesy was by Kiran Vaddamanu and Video by both Girish Modi. The audio was provided by Kirtan Sounds.
Stage decoration was by Rajanikanth & Nagesh Durvasula. All the sponsors and artists were recognized by presenting a plaque.

Ram Durvasula is always on to something unique… so stay tuned for the next exciting event soon.