Karunbithil Music Camp turns 20 this year

Mangaluru: An earnest effort at music appreciation that started at Nidle, a small backward village near Dharmasthala is set to turn 20 this year. Having started out in 2000 as a small effort at getting people to appreciate music, the camp in the past 19 years has grown big and drawn some of the biggest names in the field of music, who have come and imparted their knowledge to students who range in the age-group of four to 75.
Such has been the impact of this camp, which this year gets under way on May 14 and ends on May 19, that many students not just vow to but also return to the camp, notwithstanding challenges that staying in the calm surroundings of Karunbithil in Nidle village poses. Such music aficionados come well prepared for the duration of the camp, says Vittal Ramamurthy, convener of the camp, adding their wholehearted participation lends it charm.
With no sponsors of fee taken from the participants, the music camp is run wholly on acts of philanthropy of music lovers and voluntary contribution by the students themselves. The camp caters not just to the seasoned musicians but also to those who arrive to learn the basics. Making this effort interesting is the fact that the resource persons too go down to the level of the students and teach them nuances of music in lec dem format, he says.
Some of the students from the Karunbithil camp, as it is popularly referred to on the music circuit, have gone on to start their own music academies and accompany senior artistes in music concerts or give solo performances on their own. This is the true measure of success for any camp organisers and Karunbithil camp has scored a high on this count, says Ramamurthy, adding that the resource persons too impart their knowledge without expectations.
While the first camp in 2000 that Ramamurthy and his sisters conducted drew a handful of students, the subsequent camps has seen Nidle village resonate with voices of more than 200 students of late. What started as a strictly family affair, now has senior students and visiting artistes treating it as something they would treat if it had something to do with their home, he said, adding they also share various tasks of conducting the camp.
The likes of Lalgudi G Jayaraman, M Balamuralikrishna, Umayalpuram K Sivaraman and Bombay Jayashree have graced the camp as resource persons, and this year, vidwans T V Gopalakrishnan, V V Subrahmanyam, Udupi Gopalakrishnan, Bombay Jayashree, Abhishek Raghuram and S V Raja Rao will be resource persons. For details, log on to www.facebook.com/KarunbithilShibira or call 9444021850/9611308860.