If December means Christmas for the west, it would be Music Festival for the East.
More so the Famous Carnatic Music Festival of Tamil Nadu.
December Music Festival, also popularly known as the Chennai Music Season is an event hosted for 6 weeks from December First Week to Mid January. It consists of traditional carnatic music concerts performed by renowned artists.
Every year top Carnatic performers alongside amateur or rising music talents come together to perform in the city. The traditional December Carnatic Season which was full of live music, lectures, demonstrations and award ceremonies have now morphed into more sophisticated culture rich events by being inclusive of Traditional Dance and Drama
India is a land rich in culture and heritage. A land that comes alive with all it’s traditions, colors, festivals, dance and music.
Chennai music festival – Origin
The Madras Music Season was first created in the 1927. It was created by a group of individuals who later went on to establish the Music Academy.
Concerts where held at various venues at different places every year, before the Music Academy settled on its present venue at TTK Road. Although the season was initially held during March/April (the Tamil month of Panguni), the timing of the season was later changed to December (the Tamil month of Maargazhi) due to more favourable weather conditions and the likelihood of attracting more tourists during this period.
The Music Season has grown over the years, and has been described as one of the world’s largest cultural events.
Generally, the concerts take place in the afternoons and nights, and consists of all sorts of Carnatic music compositions and improvisations. In 2004-2005, there were over 1200 performances by about 600 artists (about 700 vocal, 250 instrumental, 200 dance, 50 drama and others).
Chennai Music Festival 2019-2020 | Where is it happening?
Chennai Music Season 2019 will be hosted in various places in the City from December 2019 to 15th January 2020.
Best of the Margazhi Music Fest happens in Sabhas of Mylapore! We can go on to say the Mylapore is the landmark of December Music Festivals. The name of the Sabhas and Halls are listed here.
Margazhi Utsavam Sabhas and Halls
The performances are typically organised by Sabhās.
Prominent Sabhas
The following prominent sabhaas have regularly organised concerts during the Music Season:
Top Concert Organizers of Chennai
Brahma Gaana Sabhaa: Sivagami Pethaachi Auditorium (Mylapore, Chennai) Sri Paarthasaarathy Swaami Sabhaa : Vidyaa Bhaarathi (Mylapore, Chennai) Kalaa Pradarshini: Bhaarathiya Vidyaa Bhavan Auditorium (Mylapore, Chennai) Mylapore Fine Arts Club (Mylapore, Chennai) Rasika Ranjani Sabhaa : Dakshinamoorthy Auditorium (Mylapore, Chennai) Naadha Inbam : Raaga Sudhaa Hall (Mylapore, Chennai)
Madras Music Academy: TT Krishnamachari Auditorium (Gopalapuram, Chennai) Narada Gana Sabha: Sathguru Gnaanananda Hall (Teynampet, Chennai) Chennaiyil Thiruvaiyaaru – Kaamaraajar Arangam (Teynampet, Chennai) Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society : Tatvaloka, (Teynampet, Chennai)
Chennai Cultural Academy Trust (Mambalam, Chennai) Sri Krishna Gaana Sabhaa(T. Nagar, Chennai)
Sri Thyaaga Brahma Gaana Sabhaa: Vaani Mahaal (T. Nagar, Chennai)
Indian Fine Arts Society: Baala Mandir German Hall (T. Nagar, Chennai)
Kalaarasana: Rani Seethai Hall ( Thousand Lights, Chennai )
Kaartik Fine Arts ( Abhiramapuram, Chennai )
Mudra : Freedom Hall
Hamsadhwani NRI Sabha (Adyar, Chennai) Sat Sangam Sabhaa – (Madipaakkam, Chennai )
Tamil Isai Sangam: Raja Annaamalai Chettiar Hall (Esplanade Road, Chennai) Triplicane Music Festival; NKT Muthu Hall ( Triplicane, Chennai) TAPAS Music and Dance Festival (Valasaravakkam, Chennai)
We have tried to collaborate the top events from a variety of concerts! Please find the detail schedule and contact number for each of the organizers below.
Chennai music festival 2019 Schedule
We have tried to collaborate the top events from a variety of concerts! Detailed Schedule of individual events can be viewed below.
Concert Organizer’s name, Timing of concerts, Concert Performers Lists and Contact numbers are all provided on these Individual events schedule snippet.
This Event calendar snippet can be added to your mobile calendar and has maps functionality that can help you quickly navigate to the Sabha Location.
Cost of Tickets
Please note a lot of these concerts are priced Nominally. Most of the Vocal Concerts are priced at Rs. 250 to Rs. 300.
However, some premiere concerts are priced at Rs. 2000 per seat.
All prices inclusive of GST. We recommend you contact the concert organizers through the phone number provided in the events calender links below, to get the information of the actual cost.
Chennai December Season 2019 – Concert Timings:
Many Concert Organizers offer free to attend sessions for carnatic shows that are organized during the day. But, the best Organizers limit their concert timings to just two or one carnatic fest a day.
Music Academey Madas is about to host five shows from morning 9:00 a.m to evening 6:45 p.m. Each show is scheduled to be for two hours.
Tamil Isai Sangam hosts four shows from 2:30, 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00.
The famous Brahma Gana Sabha Mylapore (of Lakshman Shruthi musicals) will host only One Show at 6:00 p.m
if you want to get the best of carnatic music, evening Concerts is where you need to head to.
Shows from 4:00 to 7:00 across organizers had great variety to their scheudle. Best performing artists for Vocals, Violin, Mridangam, Ghatam, Flute and Veena were all booked only for evening shows.
The shows between 6:00 p.m and 7:00 is where the pudding is. The evening shows are priced higher owning to their great demand.
On the free tickets, please contact and check with the indiviudal concert organizers from the shabha event links below.
December 2019-20 Music Season Complete Schedule & Venues
Each of the concert schedule have been covered in-depth and presented as ‘events’ that can be added to your mobile calender.
Please find the detail schedule and contact number for each of the organizers below.
Music Academy | Rasika Ranjani Sabha | Brahma Gana Sabha | Chennai Cultural Academy Trust | Tamil Isai Sangam | CAF MYLAI to KANYAKUMAR 2019
From various digital public ratings, Music Academy had the highest concert ratings. Second Positions were equally shared by Brahma Gana Sabha and Tamil Isai Sangam equally.