One artiste who has been receiving many rounds of applause this Season is mridangam maestro Umayalpuram K Sivaraman.

He is 90 now and has been seen on the stage at sabha concerts at at least four or five  spaces the past two weeks.

At Sastri Hall, Luz many people turned up to listen to his talks (lec-dems) over a couple of sessions.

The packed audience at Music Academy cheered him at Aswath Narayanan’s vocal concert where he was on the mridangam. He got a standing ovation too.

“I started playing at the Academy when it celebrated its silver jubilee,” he said here. And added, “In my case now, the spirit is willing though the flesh is weak. 90 is only a numerical number.”

He also got a standing ovation at Vani Mahal hall in T. Nagar, during the concert featuring vocalist Sandeep Narayan.

In recent years, Sivaraman has performed with many New Gen artistes on the stage. He now prefers to play seated in a chair.