It is a truth universally acknowledged that a connoisseur of classical music, during Margazhi, must be in want of a sabha concert. Musical legends, the torch-bearers of the season, take over large auditoriums, drawing audiences in the thousands. But Chennai never stops there.
Across the city, musicians, singers, dancers, and artistes spill into sabhas big and small, and the committed listener moves through traffic and time itself, chasing one raaga after another. This year, however, an unconventional set of classical concerts will unfold not in a sabha, but beside softly whirring coffee machines at Beachville Coffee Roasters in Alwarpet.
The shift was driven less by novelty, and more by a shared sense of possibility. “We’ve been trying to build more community-oriented events at the café,” says Divya Jaishankar, founder of Beachville. “Margazhi is a season that revolves entirely around music and dance. After Aalaap organised a 13-day concert series for their 13th anniversary earlier this year, it felt like that format could be adapted to fit inside a café — more intimate, for a shorter duration,” she says.
Srinidhi Pennathur
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
For Akhila Krishnamurthy, founder of Aalaap Concepts, the logic of the café is also about timing. “In Chennai, a few hours after lunch, people instinctively want a cup of coffee. So we placed the concerts at 3pm,” she says. The format, she adds, mirrors the Margazhi routine without replicating it. “People come, listen to a , and drink coffee. The music stays fully classical. What changes is how close you are to it, and how naturally it fits into the rhythm of the day.”
Singer Girijashankar Sundaresan, who will be performing with Kanjira artiste Sundar Kumar sees the café format as a way to return Carnatic music to its emotional essentials. “Classical music doesn’t have to be confined to auditoriums,” he says. “It can exist as an intimate conversation between a small group of people.”
His concert, Viraha, is built entirely around the idea of longing. Accompanied only by a kanjira, he performs without a melodic support instrument. “Without the violin or veena, the sound becomes very close, very present,” he says. “You don’t need to understand everything that’s happening. Just being with the music is enough.”
Vignesh Ishwar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Vignesh Ishwar treats the café setting as a prompt to rethink musical structure rather than atmosphere. “Alternative spaces make us reconsider how we present a concert,” he says. “The expectations are different, and that changes how both the artist and the listener engage with the music.”
His performance is conceived as a continuous one-hour immersion in Ragam Kambhoji, accompanied by thavil played by Sunil Kumar and kanjira. “The thavil isn’t just rhythmic, it’s melodic too. It accompanies the alapana, the improvisation, everything,” he explains. The set unfolds without breaks, one idea flowing into the next. “If someone listens, feels curious, and wants to explore the music further,” he adds, “that curiosity itself is the success.”
At 21, Srinidhi Pennathur, the youngest performer in the series, sees the café concert as a gentle entry point rather than a rupture. “For someone unfamiliar with classical music, a setting like this can spark curiosity,” she says. “It makes you wonder what else the music has to offer.”
Girijashankar Sundaresan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Her performance is a violin–ghatam concert with percussionist Ranganathan, a pairing she describes as intimate and responsive. “The ghatam gives a softer push to the violin. It allows the music to breathe,” she says. Beyond format, the freedom of the series matters to her. “It gives artists room to think about presentation, to explore ideas and emotions within the classical framework, but in ways that feel personal.”
Together, the concerts offer a quieter parallel to Margazhi’s familiar circuits, one that trades scale for proximity and formality for focus. In a season defined by abundance, these performances make a case for listening closely.
A Carnatic Shot, the classical music concert series is hosted by Beachville Coffee Roasters from December 22 to 28. For tickets, visit @beachvillecoffee on Instagram.
Published – December 17, 2025 04:35 pm IST
