Click on Concerts below for details

Saturday, March 22, 2008	Uday Bhawalkar - Dhrupad Vocal
Sunday, March 30, 2008	Chitravina N. Ravikiran
Saturday, April 5, 2008	Aniruddha Knight and Ensemble, Dance (in collaboration with P.E.M.)
Sunday, April 6, 2008	Sikkil Gurucharan, Carnatic Vocal
Thursday, April 10, 2008	Steve Gorn, Natraj & Visiting Artist Shashank, Jazz Fusion (Co-sponsored by MITHAS, LearnQuest and MFA, Boston)
Sunday, April 27, 2008	Shanno Khurana, Hindustani Khyal (VENUE RESTORED to Stata Center (Kirsch Auditorium): See below for more details and map!)
Sunday, May 18, 2008	T.M. Krishna, Carnatic Vocal

Uday Bhawalkar - Dhrupad Vocal With Samir Chatterjee (Tabla & Pakhawaj) When: Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 7:00 PM Where: Stata Auditorium, MIT New Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission Seniors & Existing Members - $15 Non-members/General Admission - $20 Non-MIT Students - $10 Artist's Website http://www.udaybhawalkar.org Uday Bhawalkar is one of India's most respected and critically acclaimed performers in the ancient Dhrupad tradition from the long-standing Dagar Gharana. Uday-ji was born in Madhya Pradesh, India and began his initial training in music at the age of eight under the guidance of his sister. His training in Dhrupad started in 1981 when he received a scholarship to the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal where he became a student of the renowned Dhrupad vocalist, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. He received his further training from the Veena maestro Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. Since 1985, Uday-ji has performed at many prominent music festivals, and has had successful concert tours in India, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Uday-ji has received a National Scholarship and a Junior Fellowship from the Government of India, the "Rashtriya Kumar Gandharva Samman" award from the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the "Vishva Sangeet Ratna" from the Della Heritage Foundation. Uday-ji has served as visiting faculty at the Rotterdam Conservatorium, at the World Music School in Amsterdam, and at the Asian Music Summer School. He has collaborated with artists from other disciplines and cultures including the contemporary dancer Astad Deboo, Ensemble Moderne in Germany, and professional musicians from Spain and the United States. Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player of India. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and western musical traditions. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. Chatterjee began his studies early with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pt. Balaram Mukherjee, Pt. Rathin Dhar and Mohammad Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Pt. Amalesh Chatterjee (since 1966) and Pt. Shyamal Bose (since 1984). All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of Tabla-playing, which he now represents. Samir Chatterjee is an A-rated artist of the national radio and television of India. He can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India's greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ud. Vilayat Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Pt. V.G. Jog, Pt . Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Ud. Amjad Ali Khan, Ud. Salamat Ali Khan, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, Ud. Ashis Khan, Ud. Shujat Khan, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Ud. Rashid Khan, Pt. Tejendra N. Mazumdar, Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, to name only a few. Samir recently performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 2008.

Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N. Ravikiran Vishaal Sapuram - Chitravina support Akkarai Subhalakshmi- Violin Trichy Sankaran - Mridangam When: Sunday, March 30, 2008 - 4:00 PM Where: (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN VENUE) Room 34-101, MIT Map of MIT Showing Changed Venue New Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission Seniors & Existing Members - $18 Non-members/General Admission - $24 Non-MIT Students - $12 Artist's Website: http://www.ravikiranmusic.com N. Ravikiran, recognized as a musical prodigy at a very early age, debuted as a vocalist at age five in Coimbatore, India while under the tutelage of his father, the great Narasimhan. At the age of ten, anticipating his voice changing, he took up the Chitraveena, presenting his first concert at age 12. Although best known as an instrumentalist, Ravikiran had the rare privilege of learning from the celebrated vocalist T.Brinda, widely acknowledged as a musicians' musician. His interaction with her added a whole new dimension to his perception of the fine nuances of music. Currently he presents both vocal and instrumental performances. Among his unique contributions to his art are the use of a teflon slide to replace the traditional ebony and the invention of a new instrument, the Navachitraveena. His masterful knowledge of Carnatic music, his musical acumen, imaginative approach, breath control and diction, have made him a much desired artiste in prominent venues both in and outside India.Recognized in world music for his concept Melharmony, which he successfully premiered in collaboration with artistes of the BBC Philharmonic orchestra for Kalasangam's Global Echoes during the Millennium Festival in UK, Ravikiran is one of the more prolific composers today with over 500 original pieces that include music-dance productions such as Lakshmi Prabhavam (USA 1997), Savithri (Australia, 1998), Cosmos (Canada 1999), Vinayaka Vaibhavam (USA 2000) and Long White Moonlight (USA 2001). Ravikiran has written several articles and authored two widely read books, Appreciating Carnatic Music and Perfecting Carnatic Music. Master Vishaal Sapuram, one of the finest talents from USA, presented his maiden vocal concert at the age of nine at the Music Academy Hall, Madras. Blessed by legends like Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Smt D K Pattammal, Vishaal presented a few vocal concerts before switching over to the chitravina. As a seven-year-old, he received the Best Vocalist award in the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival in 1998. He has presented solo concerts and has also provided chitravina support to his guru, Ravikiran in several cities. He has earned the distinction of being the youngest guru in the world when he trained and presented 13-year old Austinite Master Arjun in Chennai, when he himself was only 14. He has several other students in the pipeline. Akkarai S. Subhalakshmi, a child prodigy started giving violin solo and vocal programs at the tender age of eight. She had her initial two years training at Nadha Brahma Vidyalaya with V. Janakiraman. She is now under the guidance of Swara Raga Sudha Violin School run by her father Akkarai S. Swamynathan. She is not only an expert violinist but also a well recognized vocalist. She is learning vocal music from Padma Bhushan P.S. Narayanaswamy and Chithra Veena N. Ravikiran. She is a B-High grade artist of All India Radio, Chennai. She had accompanied eminent artists like Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Dr. N. Ramani, T.M Krishna, Chitra Veena N. Ravikiran, Sriram Gangadharan, N. VijaySiva,Shashank, Bombay Sisters, Nithyashree Mahadevan,Bombay Jayashree, Priya Sisters, Ranjani and Gayatri and others. She has won a number of awards including the Yuva Kala Bharathi Award by Bharat Kalachar, Youth Merit Award by The Rotary Club of Madras and KS Mahadevan Award from the Narada Gana Sabha In 1999, the Music Academy gave her the outstanding Young Violinist Award. Trichy Sankaran had his early musical training first under his cousin, Sri P. A. Venkataraman, and later became the star disciple of the legendary mridangam maestro, Sri Pazhani Subramania Pillai. He made his debut at the age of 13 in a concert given by the Alathoor Brothers at Nanrudayan Temple in the town of Trichy, Tamil Nadu. Since then he has performed with all top ranking Carnatic musicians, including Sri Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Sri Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bhagavatar, Sri Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Sri Musiri Subramania Iyer, Sri Tanjore Viswanathan,Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Sri G. N. Balasubramaniam, Sri Madurai Mani Iyer, Sri T. R. Mahalingam, and others. Winner of the All India Radio gold medal in 1955 and the President of India award in 1958, Sankaran is one of the world's top ranking mridangam players today. In addition to being the most sought after successor to the style of Pazhani Subramania Pillai, Sankaran has cultivated and infused new dimensions to the art of performing on his instrument, thus making his style innovative, yet treading ever so finely within the confines of tradition. He has developed over the years a unique style of accompaniment trademark to only himself for which he is highly sought after amongst musicians, percussionists, audiences and connoisseurs alike. The forte of his style includes the most superior of nadai calibration, subtle koraippu structure, innovative mora korvai permutations and most significant of all is his innate ability to present performances in any tala combination, not compromising detail or structure. Added to his reputation are, his tala-specific renditions, highlighting patterns contouring the tala orientation. His lyrical displays of rhythmic aesthetics in mridangam playing have been the object lessons of the percussionists' logistics He has dedicated himself for the cause and propagation of Carnatic music in North America in more than one way: as academician, global artist, composer, and collaborator. He is a professor of music at the York University.

Aniruddha Knight & Ensemble, Dance (A MITHAS and PEM Presentation) T. Vegavahini, (Vocal) Vidya Sankaranarayanan (Dance Master & Vocal) Usha Shivakumar (Vocal) T.R. Moorthy (Flute) Douglas Knight (Mridangam) When: Saturday, April 5, 2008 - 4 PM Where: Morse Auditorium, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA Members (MITHAS and/or PEM) - $20 Non-members/General Admission - $25 Friends of Indian Dance - $50 Artist's Website http://www.aniruddhaknight.com Aniruddha Knight, solo dancer, is the only grandchild of the world-famous T. Balasaraswati, and the last direct inheritor of the hereditary style of dance from South India known as bharata natyam. He is a ninth generation representative of one of India’s most distinguished families of professional performing artists. His concerts, a suite of music and dance compositions partly choreographed and partly performed extemporaneously, follow the format established in the early 19th century in the Royal Court of Thanjavur where Knight’s ancestors were known to have danced. In the tradition of his family, Knight is both a musician and a dancer, trained from infancy by his mother, Lakshmi Knight, Balasaraswati’s daughter and principal student. He also studied the family musical repertoire with his great-uncle, Sangita Kalanidhi and National Heritage Fellow T. Viswanathan, and his great-aunt T. Muktha. He is currently a vocal student of his aunt T. Vegavahini. Knight began his career as a vocalist for his mother during the 1990’s, appearing with her at such venues as the World Music Institute (New York), the Institute for Intercultural Performance (UCLA) and the International Festival of Sacred Music. He gave his debut dance concert in Chennai, India in 1994 and his American dance debut at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1997. In the past few years, Knight has been presented by leading cultural organizations throughout India, including the prestigious National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai, and the Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai. In 2003, he had the rare honor of performing at the Brihadiswara Temple in Thanjavur, a World Heritage Site. His recent US appearances include concerts at Asia Society, UCLA, Wesleyan University, the American Dance Festival, Bates College, Bowdoin College, and the University of Oklahoma. T. Vegavahini, vocal, is the senior performer of the Dhanammal family style of music. She is the daughter of the legendary singer T. Brinda who, along with her cousin Balasaraswati, was among a handful of female musicians who transformed the role of women artists in South India during the 20th century. Vega first learned music with her grandmother T. Kamakshiammal. She continued learning music with her mother, particularly the family repertoire of padams and javalis, jewels of the dance music. Vega then became a disciple of the renowned singer Ramnad Krishnan, who performed and taught at Wesleyan University during the 1960’s. She is now the recognized repository of her family’s extraordinary repertoire, representing several direct lineages of the musical tradition of South Indian “classical” music, as well as the separate musical tradition of bharata natyam, for which this family is famous. A child prodigy, Vegavahini first performed solo at the age of five on a broadcast on All India Radio. She performed at the Madras Music Academy at the age of ten. Vega is today recognized throughout India as a formidable musician with the richness and authority of South India’s great hereditary musical style, combined with the rhythmic virtuosity of her famed mother. She has toured the United States and Southeast Asia since the 1960’s. She resides, teaches and performs in Chennai. Vidya Sankaranarayanan, dance master and vocal, learned music first in Madras from her mother, S. Saraswati. She continued to learn the music of bharata natyam and the art of nattuvangam (dance master) from Lakshmi Knight, with whom she has performed throughout India, and has toured the US several times. She began performing with Aniruddha Knight in 1994. Mrs. Sankaranarayanan is herself a well-known performer of bharata natyam, a senior exponent of the distinguished style of the famous K. Kittappa Pillai, who is a direct descendent of the codifiers of traditional bharata natyam at the Royal Court of Thanjavur. She brings to the ensemble the valuable perspective of a practitioner of a hereditary style from a famous family of dance teachers from the same region as the family of T. Balasaraswati. Usha Shivakumar, vocal, first learned music from her mother, S. Saraswati. In 1991 she was one of eight young musicians selected from throughout India to take master classes with T. Viswanathan, a Ford Foundation project. She further learned the Vina Dhanammal family repertoire with T. Brinda. Mrs. Sivakumar continued learning for several years to study with T. Viswanathan and Lakshmi Knight from 1989 to 2001. She toured the United States with Lakshmi Knight on five occasions, and has been supported by the Asian Cultural Council. She is distinguished for her extensive repertoire of the music for bharata natyam, and her adherence to the Balasaraswati family style of music. She has a Master’s Degree in Music from the University of Madras. T.R. Moorthy, flute, is the only flutist in India performing in the distinctive style of T. Viswanathan, T. Balasaraswati’s brother and founder of Wesleyan’s program in South Indian music. Moorthy learned music from T. Balasaraswati and her mother, T. Jayammal, and was a member of Balasaraswati’s legendary musical ensemble. He began his discipleship with Viswanathan in 1962, and performed with him in concerts throughout India and the US. Moorthy is highly regarded for his interpretation of Karnatic music in the style of the family of T. Dhanammal, and for the depth of his experience performing the traditional repertoire of bharata natyam. He lives and teaches in Chennai, and performs worldwide. Douglas Knight, mridangam, has 35 years’ experience teaching, presenting and performing the Balasaraswati family style and repertoire to a wide variety of audiences in the US and India. Knight began to learn the mridangam with T. Ranganathan, with whom he studied from 1968 to 1978 at Wesleyan University and California Institute of the Arts. As a Research Fellow of the American Institute of Indian Studies he was tutored in mridangam accompaniment of bharata natyam by Kanchipuram Kuppuswamy Mudiliar, Balasaraswati’s drummer, and he studied mridangam with M. N. Kandaswami Pillai as a Fulbright Scholar. He accompanied Lakshmi Knight in dance concerts in India and North America for twenty-five years, and performed in concerts of Karnatic music with a number of artists, including T. Viswanathan. He has been performing with Aniruddha Knight for nearly 20 years. His scholarship in the performing arts of South India has been supported by Fellowships from the Asian Cultural Council, LEF Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Sikkil Gurucharan, Carnatic Vocal Nagai Sriram - Violin Neyveli Skandasubramanian - Mridangam When: Sunday, April 6, 2008 - 4 PM Where: Wong Auditorium, MIT New Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission Seniors & Existing Members - $15 Non-members/General Admission - $20 Non-MIT Students - $10 Artist's Website: http://www.sikkilgurucharan.com Sikkil C. Gurucharan, a disciple of Vaigal Sri S.Gnanaskandan (a disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer) for more than 12 years, is from the Sikkil lineage and a rising star in the firmament of Carnatic music. Gurucharan is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, eldest of the internationally acclaimed flautists SIKKIL SISTERS and the nephew of Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar, also a famous flautist. Born and brought up in a music family, there was a natural environment to learn Carnatic music from a very early age. His first concert was under the banner of Gnanaskandan trust at Music Academy, Chennai in 1994. Since then he has been performing at all important sabhas in Chennai during Music Season and has toured extensively in India and USA and Singapore to give performances. Gurucharan received numerous awards from several prestigious institutions from his school days. He became a graded artist of All India Radio (AIR) Chennai in 2000 by winning their All India Competition. The AIR further awarded him the A Grade directly from B Grade in 2002. He has released several Albums like Thiruppavai, Thiruvembai, Bhajans, Gaana Prabhavam, Kaaveri Pattinam, Ramayanam, December 2004 Live, Ganapatyam, Melakarta ragas, Peranandam and many more. His sonorous voice and a style that does not assault tradition, but adds glamour to the concert, has been applauded by all and he is fortunate to have been accompanied by several stalwarts like Umayalapuram Sivaraman, Dr. TK Murthy, Vellore Ramabhadran, Parur MS Anantharaman, Thiruvarur Bhaktavasalam, Srimushnam Raja Rao,Nagai Muralidharan, Mannargudi Easwaran and many others. Gurucharan holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce and Masters in Financial Management. Nagai Sriram was born into a family of musicians. He started learning violin from his grandmother Smt. R. Komalavalli and underwent advanced training from his uncle Sri Nagai Muralidharan. He has won many prizes and awards, namely "Yuva Kala Bharathy" during the year 2003. He is a B-high artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan Television in Chennai. Neyveli Skandasubramanian is a disciple of Sri R. Krishnamoorthy and Sri Thiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam. He is a recipient of Govt. of India scholarship. He has been awarded the ‘best mridangist' award from a number of prestigious organizations like the Madras Music Academy, Sri Krishnaghana Sabha and The Indian Fine Arts Society to name a few. He is a graded artiste with AIR. He has accompanied senior stalwarts like Sri Balamuralikrishna, Sri OS Thyagarajan, Sri Ravikiran, Sri TV Sankaranarayanan and others. Academically, he is a Mechanical Engineering Diploma holder.

Steve Gorn, NATRAJ) & Shashank (Flute), Jazz-Fusion (Presented as a part of the music festival co-sponsored by MITHAS, LearnQuest and MFA, Boston) Phil Scarff (Soprano Saxophone) Mike Rivard (Bass) Jerry Leake (Tabla/Multipercussion) Bertram Lehmann (Drums, Percussion) When: Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 7 PM Where: Stata Auditorium, MIT (map) (PARKING UPDATE: Unfortunately, the MIT East Parking Lot near the Stata Center is being closed for the construction of a new MIT building. Alternative parking lots you can use are the West Parking Annex on Vassar Street (map) and the Hayward Surface Parking Lot (map) near MIT Medical. More information on parking alternatives can also be found at this website) Premium Admission: $30 (First four rows) General Admission: $ 25 Students & Seniors: $20 Steve Gorn is creating a new idiom, a music that combines the essence of classical Indian tradition with a contemporary world music sensibility. Steve’s first steps on this path were taken as a young jazz musician studying composition at Penn State. He noticed how John Coltrane and Charles Lloyd had begun to incorporate aspects of Indian music into their playing. He investigated modal music and listened to Bismallah Khan who played the shenai, (Indian oboe), and to Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan who were then only beginning to become known to Western audiences. Drawn by these sounds, he followed the music east and found himself in Benares, India in 1969, in a boat on the Ganges with the famous sarangi master, Gopal Misra, listening to his classical raga float out over the water in the evening light. In Benares, Steve studied shenai with a local teacher and then traveled to Calcutta where he was invited to meet the Bengali bansuri master Sri Gour Goswami. Steve would eventually tour with Gour Goswami and go on to earn the praise of the most demanding of Indian audiences and reviewers. Returning to the U.S., he brought his elegant bansuri sound to American pop music, influencing a wide range of musicians, recording with Paul Simon, Richie Havens, Paul Winter, Jack DeJohnette, Glen Velez, and many others. He has composed for film, television, dance and theatre, and performed in concerts and festivals throughout the world, drawing from classical Indian, jazz and world music to create a distinctive signature sound. His landmark world music recording, “Asian Journal,” and the unique “Wings and Shadows” have become cult favorites, and his acclaimed CD, “Luminous Ragas,” was named one of the top ten recordings of the year by Los Angeles Reader. Phil Scarff became interested in playing Hindustani classical music through his work with vocalist, bassist, and composer Senders, playing in Antigravity beginning in 1980. As a jazz musician, he was interested in new techniques and ideas for improvising, and the Indian concepts were very intriguing to him. After several years of listening to recordings and attending concerts, Phil began his formal study of Indian classical music in 1985, first in Boston, and then in Pune, India. He has performed Indian classical music, both in the context of his Indo-Afro-jazz ensemble Natraj, and in smaller, more "traditional" Indian classical settings. Mike Rivard, is the bassist and leader of the critically acclaimed group Club d’Elf. He was about 12 years old when he started playing electric bass, after beginning on guitar. Mike moved to Boston in 1981 to attend The Berklee College of Music where he studied both electric and acoustic basses as well as composition. During this time he also studied privately with the renowned jazz improv teacher Charlie Banacos. A scholarship in 1986 led to his studying with Dave Holland at the Banff Center for Fine Arts, Canada. Mike, through his association with Natraj has played with Ghanian master drummers Godwin Agbele and Dolsi-Naa Abubakari Lunna, South Indian chitraveena player Ravikiran, Steve Gorn and others. Jerry Leake, an acclaimed percussionist and tabla player is the co-founder of the world music ensemble Natraj and the co-founder of the award-winning band Club d’Elf. Jerry graduated from the Berklee College of Music where he studied jazz vibraphone with Gary Burton and hand percussion with Pablo Landrum. He studied tabla in Pune, India with Rajiv Devasthali, and studies in Boston with Todd Nardin and Koashal Anand. In Chennai, India, Jerry studied Karnatic rhythm theory and mridangam with T. K. Ramakrishnan. He continues to study African music with Dolsi-Naa Abubakari Luna of the Dagomba tradition (northern Ghana) and has studied Ewe music (southern Ghana) with Godwin Agbeli and David Locke, and balafon/djembe with the Coulibaly family in Burkina Faso. He has written eight widely used texts on North Indian, West African, Latin American percussion, and rhythm theory. Jerry is on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University. He is former president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and has been a member of the Portland Symphony Kinder Koncert percussion ensemble since 1984. Bertram Lehmann is a freelance artist with numerous regionally and internationally active bands. He has performed with Paquito DRivera, Luciana Souza, The Caribbean Jazz Project, Danilo Perez, and Natraj. Lehmann has toured India, Ghana, Russia, Turkey, Spain, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, and Germany. He is an Assistant Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music and adjunct faculty at Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. Shashank was barely nine months old when he was initiated to south Indian classical music, even before he started speaking. He learned only vocal music as advised by flute maestro T.R. Mahalingam, studying with veteran musicians such as Palghat K.V. Narayana Swamy. At six, Shashank picked up his father's flute and stunned onlookers by playing, spontaneously, to signal his entry into the flute world. His maiden flute concert was at Adelaide, Australia in September 1990 when he was 11, followed by his debut in India on December 20, 1990. He became the youngest musician of the century to have been invited to play the prestigious "SADAS" concert on January 1, 1991 at the Music Academy, Madras. Since then, Shashank has been a celebrity flutist the world over and performs in the company of top-ranking artists in India and abroad. Some landmark concerts for Shashank have been Rashtrapathy Bhavan (The President's Palace at New Delhi), India UNESCO Paris, Tropical Institute (Amsterdam), J. Paul Getty Hall, Hollywood, National Academy of Sciences and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., in Japan in Xebec Hall (Kobe) and in Across Fukuoka. Shashank's introduction of transposed fingering techniques to merge flutes of different frequencies/lengths to the tonic note produces a range from deep bass to piccolo sounds. He has propelled the bamboo flute to an enviable position in Indian music and has been acclaimed the world over by music lovers for his significant contribution. Shashank currently pursues Hindustani vocal (North Indian) music from the legendary vocalist Pt. Jasraj. He has numerous awards to his credit, including the prestigious title "Kalaimamani" conferred by the Govt. of Tamilnadu.

Shanno Khurana, Hindustani Khayal   When: Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 4 PM Where: Kirsch Auditorium (Stata Center), MIT (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN VENUE BACK TO STATA) Map of Stata Auditorium (PARKING UPDATE: Unfortunately, the MIT East Parking Lot near the Stata Center is being closed for the construction of a new MIT building. Alternative parking lots you can use are the West Parking Annex on Vassar Street (map) and the Hayward Surface Parking Lot (map) near MIT Medical. More information on parking alternatives can also be found at this website) New Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission Seniors & Existing Members - $15 Non-members/General Admission - $20 Non-MIT Students - $10 Padmabhusan Shanno Khurana carries on the tradition of the Rampur khyal gharana as she learned it from her famous guru, Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan. Highly respected for her command and presentation of the traditional repertoire, she presents the old compositions of the Rampur traition with soul, dignity, and imagination. Her concerts often contain renditions of rarely- heard tappas, the old light-classical love songs which feature a flurry of note motions in a romantic mode. In this concert, she will be accompanied by her student, Maitreyi Majumdar. Ustad Ahkar Hasan, now of Delhi, represents the Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) tradition of tabla playing, in which broad family is included a host of great names of vocalists, sarangists, and tabla players. Shri Bharat Bhushan Goswami was born into an artistic family in Mathura. Realizing his keen interest in music, his grandfather, Shri Amal Chandra Goswami, began to train him in vocal music. He received his initial training in Sarangi from Swami Kanhaialal. Later he proceeded to Benares for advanced training in Sarangi under the guidance of Pandit Hanuman Prasad Mishra.

T.M. Krishna, Carnatic Vocal R.K. Shriramkumar (Violin) K. Arun Prakash (Mridangam) When: Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 4 PM Where: Wong Auditorium, MIT (map) New Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission Seniors & Existing Members - $15 Non-members/General Admission - $20 Non-MIT Students - $10 Artist's Website http://www.tmkrishna.com T.M.Krishna is one of the leading artists in the field of Carnatic music (Indian classical music-south Indian style) today. He has been performing from the age of 12 years. Today he is the youngest singer to occupy the top slot in almost every major music festival. From a very young age, he showed immense talent in the art of classical vocal music. He used to pick up all the songs that his mother learnt during her music classes. Taking notice of this talent, his mother put him under the tutelage of Vidwan Sri Seetharama Sharma at the tender age of 6 years. He has been learning from him ever since. He has also undergone special Ragam Thanam Pallavi (a special component in a Carnatic music concert) training under Sri Chengalpet Ranganthan. He had advanced training from Dr. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer for more than seven years. T.M.Krishna’s music is marked with a very high level of aesthetics in conception and execution. He is known for his tremendous Manodharma (Imagination) and Sampradaya Sangeetham (Traditional music). His complete involvement and his ability to unfold ragas with ease have left many a listener lost in his music. His renditions of vilamba kalam (slow tempo) compositions are soaked with bhakthi (devotion) and bhava (emotion) are a treat to every listener. T.M Krishna is also deeply involved in research in the field of Carnatic music. He has given numerous lecture demonstrations on various facets of Carnatic music and its history at important institutions (including Harvard). He is presently working on audio archiving the Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini, a musical treatise of very great importance and significance in relation to the development of Carnatic music. In 2001, along with musicians Bombay Jayashree and Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Krishna authored a book on Professor Sambamoorthy, an Indian musicologist of great international repute, to commemorate his birth centenary. Recently, he co-authored the book “Voices Within” along with Bombay Jayashree. He has traveled widely in India and abroad and won applause from connoisseurs and critics. He has been on tours to South Africa, North America, South East Asia, Australia and the Middle East numerous times. He has received numerous awards and titles from many leading organizations the latest being the Young Achievers Award by India Today. R. K. Shriramkumar, grandson of veteran violinist ‘Sangita Kalaratna' Shri R.K. Venkatrama Sastri, learnt initially under Smt Savitri Satyamurthy, later under his grandfather, and had advanced guidance from Professor VV Subramanyam. He has also had training in vocal music from Sangita Kalanidhi Shri D.K. Jayaraman. Shriramkumar has given many solo violin concerts and has accompanied doyens like Semmangudi, MS Subbulakshmi, DK Pattammal, DKJayaraman, T. Brinda, KV Narayanaswamy, TV Sankaranarayanan, TN Seshagopalan, Dr. N. Ramani, and Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna. Shriramkumar has toured internationally in countries such as US and UK. He is the recipient of the All India Radio National Competition prize, the ‘Yuva Kala Bharati’ award from Bharat Kalachar, Madras and the Kalki Memorial Award from the Kalki Krishnamurti Memorial Trust, Madras and several other awards and prizes from premier institutions including The Music Academy, Madras. He is graduate in Mathematics from the Madras University, also an alumnus of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School and Shri Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Madras. He is the founding member and former treasurer of the Youth Association for Classical Music, Madras and former committee member of the Madras Chapter of SPICMACAY. K. Arun Prakash is one of the sort after mrudangist of the younger generation. He is a dynamic performer who hails from a musical family. He is the son of Shri L. Krishnan, a composer. He started learning Mrudangam from the age of nine under the late Sri Ramanathapuram M. N. Kandaswamy (disciple of Palani Subranlania Pillai). Arun Prakash has performed in all leading music Sabhas and over the years accompanied all leading musicians like D. K. Pattammal, K. V. Narayanaswamy, D. K. Jayaraman, T. N. Seshagopalan and U. Srinivas. Arun Prakash has won many awards and performed in USA, Canada, Middle East and U. K.

April 9 - 13, 2008 : LearnQuest Music Festival (co-sponsored by MITHAS and MFA, Boston) This music conference, a five-day event, will be held at multiple locations in the Boston area. The opening concert on April 9th will take place at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the second day, April 10th, events will be held at the Stata Center of MIT, Cambridge. The remaining events from April 11th to April 13th will be held at the McDevitt School in Waltham, MA. Some of the featured Artists include: Abhishek Raghuram, Anindo Chatterjee, Anirban Dasgupta, Aruna Sairam, Debashish Bhattacharya, Geeta Murali, Gundecha Brothers, Jayanti Kumaresh, Kedar Naphde, Kumkum Sanyal, Madhav Gudi, Nitin Mitta, O. S. Thiagarajan, Partho Chatterjee, Prabha Atre, Prabhakar Karekar, Purbayan Chatterjee, Ramdas Palsule, Ronu Majumdar, Shashank, Shujat Khan, Vishal Nagar, Warren Senders To learn more about the LearnQuest Festival, please visit http://www.learnquest.org/conference2008

New Membership structure announced (?): New member rates apply to members who renew/sign-up for a 12-month membership starting February 2008 onwards: Patron of Arts $500 - 4 free tickets/concert (all MITHAS concerts), a collectible MITHAS item & 4 free MITHAS CDs Family $240 - 4 free tickets/concert (all MITHAS concerts) Couple $180 - 2 free tickets/concert (all MITHAS concerts) Single $100 - 1 free ticket/concert (all MITHAS concerts) Free tickets do not apply to MITHAS co-sponsored events and fundraisers. All members get priority seating and discounts on MITHAS concert recordings and CDs Current members who wish to convert to a new membership package may pay the difference and immediately take advantage of the free admissions for the remainder of their membership period. To convert your existing membership to a new membership, please click here to send an email mithasmembership@gmail.com. Members who do not convert will continue to pay $15 per ticket until their membership expires. Visit the Membership Page for more details

For information, please call MITHAS (617) 258-7971

MIT Students attend all Wong Auditorium concerts free

MITHAS 2008 Membership Drive is on!

MITHAS works hard to bring the highest quality performing arts to the Boston Area. We take great pride in our tradition and your continued support has inspired us to excel for over ten years and 100 performances!

We absolutely rely on the generous help of our patrons and members to keep this wonderful vision afloat. By becoming a member you help us plan better, further the cause of arts in the region, provide a platform for talented local artists, and support community outreach programs.

Visit the Membership Page for more details