SRUTI-The India Music and Dance Society
Presents Nirmala Rajasekar on the Veena (South Indian lute)
accompanied by
Ranjani Ramakrishnan:Violin, Sriram Natarajan: Mridangam
Ravi Balasubramanian: Ghatam
Saturday, June 5 2010 at 4.30 P.M.
550 East Township Line Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422
Tickets: General Admission $25, Sruti Members $20.
Seniors and Students $15
Core member passes and season passes will be honored
Nirmala Rajasekar- Veena: Nirmala Rajasekar made her debut as a solo performer at age 13 in Bangalore, India. She is a disciple of veteran veena Guru octogenarian Smt.Kalpakam Swaminathan and has had vocal mentoring under Bhagavatula Sri Sitarama Sarma and Prof. T. R Subramaniam. Nirmala’s music is marked by a repertoire which reflects her adherence to rich patanthara (lineage and heritage) of her Gurus. Nirmala is a dedicated teacher and is featured on several National and State rosters of educators of caliber in the USA. She was awarded the ‘Distinguished Educator of the year’ at the Minnesota Music Educators Convention in Feb 2009. Nirmala is the founder director of the Nadha Rasa Center for Music based in Plymouth Minnesota where she teaches over 30 interested students every week in veena and vocal music.
On Jan 1 2010, the Music Academy, Chennai awarded Nirmala two prizes for her concert performance in the 2009 -2010 Music festival of the Academy. In addition, Nirmala was awarded the Best Senior Veena Vidwan award of Narada Gana Sabha and the Maharajapuram Endowment prize of Krishna Gana Sabha during the December 2009 music season in Chennai.
Nirmala Rajasekar's website
Review in Hindu
Video
clip
Ranjani Ramakrishnan- Violin: Ranjani Ramakrishnan started learning violin from her mother Smt. Seetha Ramakrishnan at the early age of 4 along with her sister Radhika. She received her basic and intermediate vocal training from Chennai based Guru Smt. Lata Ramchand. Ranjani's performances span nationally in almost all major cities in India and internationally in USA, Singapore and Muscat. She has accompanied illustrious artists such as Padmasri Alarmel Valli, Kum. A Kanyakumari, Smt Nityasree Mahadevan, Smt. S. Sowmya and many others. She has also performed at music festivals in Madras, India and also the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival (the largest Indian music festival outside india). She has also provided artistic input to movies based on South Indian Calssical (Carnatic) music, including a featured performance as a violinist in the movie "Morning Raga".
Sriram Natarajan- Mridangam: Sriram is a versatile and collaborative Mridangam artiste and world musician. He started training on the Mridangam from the age of 9, under the able guidance of veteran Guru Sri K V Maniappan. He later underwent advanced training at the NCPA India from renowned maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Padma Sri Palghat Raghu. Besides playing the mridangam, Sriram is also adept in playing the one-handed tambourine “Kanjira”. Sriram has accompanied several prolific artistes in India and the US such as the Carnatica Brothers, R Suryaprakash and Nirmala Rajasekar on the Mridangam and the Kanjira.Sriram is presently being mentored by Tanjavur Sri Murugaboopathi. Sriram lives and teaches at Apple Valley, Minnesota and blogs at layyasaaram.blogspot.com.
Ravi Balasubramanian- Ghatam: Dr. Ravi Balasubramanian is the most sought-after Ghatam artiste in North America and is known for his energetic and sensitive accompaniment and solos. With over five hundred concerts, Ravi has extensive experience in Carnatic percussion, including performing on the Ghatam at top
musical institutions such as the Chennai Music Academy and the Cleveland Aradhana for over sixteen years. He received the title Yuva Kala Bharathi in 2003 from Bharat Kalachar, a music organization in Chennai, for excellence and dedication in the art of Ghatam. Ravi received his initial tutelage from Palghat Sri P. K. Sekar and Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. T.K.Murthy and later pursued advanced training from Sri V.Suresh in Chennai, India. Ravi has given lecture-demonstrations on the Ghatam in Wesleyan University, the University of Pittsburgh and Chatham college in Pennsylvania. He is also Guru to several students in USA, guiding them in the vast ocean of Indian percussion theory and performance.
Ravi Balasubramanian's website