MITHAS hosts Hindustani and Carnatic Classical music concerts by inviting high quality musicians from across the globe to present at MIT and the Greater Boston area. The concerts not only present a forum for the artists to perform but also fulfill our mission of bringing the unique and ancient music to people in the communities we serve.
We present the concerts split into two series annually - a Spring Series, which usually runs from April through June; and a Fall Series, which usually runs from August through November. Typically, each concert series include four to six concerts and special events. MITHAS members enjoy FREE admission to all MITHAS Exclusive concerts at MIT.
We now have the below concert recordings from our Spring 2009 and Fall 2009 Series ready:
Pandit Jasraj (Hindustani Vocal)
Smt. Sowmya (Carnatic Vocal)
Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan (Carnatic Vocal)
Sri. VV Subramaniam with Sri. Bakthavatsalam and Sri. VVS Murari (Carnatic Violin)
Sri. Sugato Nag (Hindustani Sitar)
Sri. LGJR Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmi (Carnatic Violin)
Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe comes from a family of musicians. Her father, late Pundit Shankar Shripad Bodas, was a disciple of Pundit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Young Veena started her musical education with Kathak dance. She was initiated into Khayal singing by her father and her brother, late Pundit Kashinath Shankar Bodas. Padmashri Balwantrai Bhatt, late Pundit Vasant Thakar and late Pundit Gajananbua Joshi have also contributed to her education.
The style she has created for herself retains the fundamental values of Gwalior Gharana while borrowing somewhat from Kirana and Jaipur gharanas. The vidwans laud the authenticity of her music while most listeners are moved by its directness and intensity. Apart from Khayal, she is sought after for her rich repertoire of bhajans.
She has sung at all the prestigious venues and occasions including Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior and Sawai Gandharva in Pune. At the Vokalfestival in Stockholm and at the Voices of the World festival in Copenhagen she represented Indian Classical Voice. She has recordings under many leading labels. She has been awarded the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 1993.
Besides being a popular performer, she is also a composer and a teacher. Her compositions adorn many of her recordings. She has taught voice at institutions as well as privately.
Sri. Shantilal Shah is one of the torchbearers of the Banaras Gharana and is a much sought-after accompanist. He acquired his basic training in Tabla playing under Mahadev Prasad Mishra of Banaras. During his initial years as a Tabla player, Shantilal Shah was named a gold medallist at the Sangeet Natak Academy of Lucknow, and also won a National scholarship awarded by the Govt. of India. A Sangeet Prabhakar from the Prayaag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, he is also A graded artiste of All India Radio & Television. For the past several years, Shantilal Shah has been performing all over India, Asia and North America with some of the greatest names in Indian Classical music including Pt. Jasraj, Late Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pts. Rajan-Sajan Mishra, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Ustaad Shujaat Khan, Smt. Laxmi Shankar, Smt.Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Smt. Padma Talwalkar and Smt. Arati Ankalikar, and dancers like Rohini Bhate and Shama Bhate. Shantilal Shah is also a crowd-puller in the fusion-music arena by virtue of his natural ability to create the right rhythmic blend between the Tabla and Western drums. He has performed in several successful fusion concerts with celebrity Western musicians.
Sri. Kedar Naphade received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar. For over 15 years, he has been a leading disciple of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, arguably the most acclaimed harmonium player in India today. Kedar has also had the privilege of training from Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, like his guru, Kedar's music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional hindustani vocal art form.
In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.
Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center in Mumbai, The Lincoln Center in New York, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C etc. He has also been featured on NPR. He has shared the stage with luminaries such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Prabha Atre, Smt. Laxmi Shankar, Pt. Phiroz Dastur etc.
Sri. Lalgudi Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmi (Carnatic Violin Duet)
Sri. Patri Satish Kumar (Mridangam)
Sri. Tripoonithura Radhakrishnan (Ghatam)
When: Sunday, October 4 @ 4:30PM
Where: Wong Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Tickets: Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission
General Admission/Non-members - $20
Non-MIT Students - $10; Seniors - $15
Click here to become a MITHAS member NOW, and attend this and all other MITHAS-only concerts for FREE for 1 full year from your enrollment date.
Sri. Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan and Smt. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi are the torch bearers of the hoary Lalgudi tradition. It is an onerous responsibility to maintain the qualitative quotient of this matchless style, and it is to the siblings' credit that they have emerged with flying colors. Their illustrious father and guru Padmabhushan Lalgudi G. Jayaraman has honed shaped and moulded the duo's innate musical talent to such perfection that this duo is regarded as top rankers among contemporary violinists. Both Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi with determination, discipline and dedication have hardly ever sacrificed the classical values of South Indian music at the altar of mere showmanship. Both made their debut when they were thirteen and have never looked back. The violin trio concerts of Lalgudi Jayaraman, Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi radiated a melodic, musical energy that electrified both the audience and the ambience. Their duets all over the world have won the hearts of Music lovers. Both of them have accompanied several senior vidwans Krishnan's jugalbandi programmes with leading Hindustani musicians have been widely appreciated. Krishnan is the recipient of many a title like Sangitha Choodamani, Kalai Mamani, Isai Perolli, etc
Sri. Patri Satish Kumar is one of the most sought after Mridangam artist. Apart from having played many recordings with different melodic instruments from India and the West, Satish has also conceived a special Laya Vinyasam (a cascade of rhythms) titled ‘Dancing Drums’. An integral part of the Percussion department of A.I.R, Satish Kumar has regaled audiences in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Emirates, Italy, Japan. Mauritius, etc. He has played in many international festivals such as the Festival of France, Miami Beachfront Festival and the India Gate Festival. A very innovative artiste, he has played with leading bands such as Flute Shashank, Violin Ganesh Kumaresh, etc.
Sri. Tripoonithura Radhakrishnan stepped in to this music field through his father, who was his first Guru. He is also the disciple of Shri Parassala Ravi and Shri. T V Gopalakrishnan. He has been on stage with great vidwans like Lalgudi Shri Jayaraman, Late Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Semmangudi Sreenivasa Iyer, Maharajapuram Santhanam, etc. He has been accompanying Padmabhooshan K J Yesudas in his Carnatic Music Concerts for the last 32 years all over the world. He has travelled extensively across the globe. He has composed and leads the famous percussion ensemble “LAYA VADHYA THARANGAM” which includes Violin, Flute, Mridangam, Khanjira, Ghatam, Muharsang, Tabla, Chenda, Edakka and Konnakol.
Sri. Kadri Gopalnath (Carnatic Saxophone)
Kalaimamani. A. Kanyakumari (Violin)
Sri. B. Harikumar (Mridangam)
When: Friday, October 23 @ 7PM
Where: Nashua, NH (NOT at MIT, Please checkout the Venue details and directions below)
Nashua High school North Auditorium.
10, Chuck Druding Drive, Nashua, NH.03063 (map)
US- 3 North.
Rte.130 towards Hollis/ Nashua Exit # 6.
Turn left on Broad Street (1.6 miles)
At rotary go around 270° .
School will be in front of you.
From Manchester/North
US-3 south towards Hollis/Nashua Exit #6.
Turn right on Broad street (1.6 miles)
At rotary go around 270 degrees.
School will be in front of you.
Tickets: Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE General Admission
VIP Seating - $50
General Admission/Non-members - $20
Non-MIT Students - $10; Seniors - $15
Click here to become a MITHAS member NOW, and attend this and all other MITHAS-only concerts for FREE for 1 full year from your enrollment date.
Dr. Kadri Gopalanath (born in 1950 in Dakshina Kannada) is a pioneer of Carnatic music on the saxophone. He acquired a taste for music from his father Shri. Thaniappa, a nadhaswaram vidwan. Young Gopalnath once saw the saxophone being played in the Mysore palace band set. Thrilled on hearing the vibrant tone of the saxophone, Gopalnath decided to master it. It took nearly 20 years for him to conquer the complex western wind instrument and he was eventually crowned as the \"Saxophone Chakravarthy". Gopalnath had to make certain modifications to the conventional alto saxophone to play Carnatic music. So successful has this adaptation been that the great musician Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the doyen of Carnatic music, has acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath as a true Carnatic music genius. Gopalnath learnt the instrument under Gopalkrishna Iyer of Kalaniketana, Mangalore. In Madras, Gopalnath came in contact with the mridangist T.V. Gopalkrishnan who identified the youngster's potential and tutored him. His maiden performance was for the Chembai Memorial Trust. The 1980 Bombay jazz festival was a turning point for Gopalnath and he never looked back ever since.
Sri. B. Harikumar hails from Changanasery, Kerala, and was moulded into the bani of Late Mridangom maestro Shri Palakkad Mani Iyer by his illustrious Guru Shri Mavelikara Velukkutty Nair. After completing the post graduation in Mridangom from Swati Thirunal Music College, he joined All India Radio, Tiruchy in 1989 and is working as Staff Artiste. For more than 25 years, he has been accompanying maestros of Carnatic Music.
Kalaimamani. A. Kanyakumari is a leading violinist in Carnatic Music strictly adhering to the traditional form of Carnatic Music as soloist, accompanist, teacher, innovator and organizer, dedicating life to Music alone for more than 4 decades. As a successful Soloist, She has performed Concerts in US, France, UK, Mexico, Switzerland, Canada, Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Srilanka both as Soloist and also as an Accompanist.As an accompanist, she has accompanied to the great Dr.M.L.Vasanthakumari for nearly 2 decades and also to many other top ranking artists. She's been providing accompaniment to Dr. Kadri Gopalnath for the past few years.
Tickets: Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission
General Admission/Non-members - $20
Non-MIT Students - $10; Seniors - $15
Click here to become a MITHAS member NOW, and attend this and all other MITHAS-only concerts for FREE for 1 full year from your enrollment date.
Padma Bhushan T. V. Sankaranarayanan (Tiruvalangadu Vembu Iyer Sankaranarayanan, born March 7, 1945) is an eminent and popular Carnatic vocalist (South Indian classical singer), known for his vibrant music that essentially stems from the style of his late uncle-guru, Madurai Mani Iyer.
Sri. Sankaranarayanan, a winner of the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi award instituted by the Madras Music Academy, is particularly noted for the easy reach of his voice to the upper notes and colourful dilineation of the solphas (swaraprastaram).
At the age of nine, he started learning music from his uncle, Madurai Mani Iyer. He made his debut on the concert platform in 1968 and then gradually established himself as a Carnatic vocalist. His emotion-laden style of singing has won him a large following among music lovers. He has performed widely at home and abroad and has several albums to his credit. In a profile published in the Financial Express, Subbudu, a highly respected music critic, once wrote: "Sankaranarayanan is indeed an asset to the Carnatic music world, where the tribe of good vocalists is dwindling."
Sri. Srimushnam Raja Rao has been performing for nearly 4 decades now. Having started at the age of 7, he has since accompanied almost all the stars and veterans of the field. As a top-ranking artiste of the All India Radio, Sri Raja Rao has enchanted music lovers with his masterly performance on the mridangam. Raja Rao is also a fine vocalist and an exponent of the khanjira and morsing. A popular mridangist, he is a regular globetrotter.
Sri. Nagai Muralidharan hails from a family of gifted musicians. With nearly 35 years of concert experience, Shri Muralidharan today ranks among the top Carnatic violin artistes. He had his initial training from his mother Smt Komalavalli and later under Vidwan Shri RS Gopalakrishnan. Shri Muralidharan over the years has developed a unique original style of violin technique that is ideally suited to bring out the best values of Carnatic music. His specialty is his ability to lift the overall quality of the concert and the performance by his sensitive accompaniment and inspirational solo versions. Nagai Muralidharan has accompanied almost all the doyens of Carnatic music like Semmangudi, Dr Balamuralikrishna, Shri KVN, Maharajapuram Santhanam & Flute mastroes Mali as well as Dr Ramani. He has been on many concert tours abroad and has been visiting North America from 1982. Shri Muralidharan served on the staff of All India Radio, Trichy for 26 years. He was awarded the "Kalaimamani" title by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Memorial Hindustani Music Festival
Concert #1: Sri. George Ruckert (Sarod) - 11AM
Lec-dem: Sri. George Ruckert - 1PM
Concert #2: Sri. Bruce Hamm (Sarod) - 3PM
Concert #3: Sri. Peter van Gelder (Sitar) - 4:30PM
With Sri. Abhijit Banerjee (Tabla)
When: Sunday, November 8 - 11AM - 6PM (full day festival)
Where: Wong Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Tickets: Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission with ID
General Admission/Non-members - $30
Non-MIT Students - $15 (with ID); Seniors - $25
Click here to become a MITHAS member NOW, and attend this and all other MITHAS-only concerts for FREE for 1 full year from your enrollment date. This festival is Funded (in part) by the Council for the Arts at MIT.
Sri. George Ruckert is a Senior Lecturer in Music at MIT; MA, Music Theory and Composition, Queens College; Gayan Vadya Bid, Ali Akbar College, Ph.D., Ethnomusicology, UC Berkeley. After receiving a master's in western theory and composition, he became a student of the renowned Indian sarodist, Ali Akbar Khan in 1967. A co-founder and administrator of this master's important center for North Indian classical music in California, he has also performed and taught this music widely in the US, Canada, India, and Europe, and has composed for orchestra, film, and dance productions, as well as published five books on the classical music of North India. His recent publication of the fiddle music of Cape Breton's John Campbell will be published this year.
Being an acutely talented musician and one of the foremost disciples of Ali Akbar Khan, the legendary Indian sitar virtuoso, George could have easily chosen an illustrious career path of an immensely successful and popular professional player that he is. It's only the extreme providence of the students at MIT and the larger community of Indian Classical music enthusiasts that he instead chose to dedicate his abundant talent to serve the cause of music at a grassroots level by opting to teach music at MIT, thus exposing generations of music lovers at MIT and beyond to the richness of Indian Classical Music.
Sri. Bruce Hamm is a long time student of the great sarod master Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He has pursued a serious and continuous study of instrumental and vocal music with his Guru for the last 30 years.Since 1981 he has been an instructor at the Ali Akbar College in San Rafael.Mr. Hamm has performed numerous solo concerts in India and the US.
Sri. Peter van Gelderbegan his study of Sitar with Maestro Ali Akbar Khan in California and later in India where he spent years learning from the Khan family, notably Smt. Annapurna Devi (sister of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan.) Returning to California he resumed his study with Maestro Khan and became junior instructor at the newly formed Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California.
In 1989 he was awarded the prestigious A.I.I.S. Performance Fellowship from University of Chicago. He was Artist in Residence at Allauddin School of Music in Canada, and in 1991 he initiated a Music of India course at World College West. He continues to give sitar instruction at Ali Akbar College of Music.
A well known figure to Bay Area concertgoers, he has performed with world famous musicians including Zakir Hussain, Chitresh Das, and Lalgudi Krishnan. He has composed and collaborated on music for films and dance dramas, and his lucid sitar style has won praise from audiences around the world, from Europe to the Fiji Islands as well as India and China. He has given concerts and lectures in universities throughout America.
Sanskriti (Hindustani-Carnatic Ensemble)
Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya (Santoor)
Sri. T.H. Subhash Chandran (Ghatam/Konnakol)
Sri. Ganesh Kumar (Kanjira)
Sri. Lalith Kumar (Tabla)
Sri. Hari Krishnan (Piano/Vocal)
When: Sunday, November 15 @ 4PM
Where: Wong Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Tickets: Members (?) and MIT Students - FREE Admission
General Admission/Non-members - $20
Non-MIT Students - $10; Seniors - $15
Click here to become a MITHAS member NOW, and attend this and all other MITHAS-only concerts for FREE for 1 full year from your enrollment date.
Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya is a Santoor maestro, and has been mesmerizing audiences worldwide for over 25 years with his music at prestigious venues like Royal Albert Hall, Kremlin palace-De-Beaux (Brussells), Theatre-De-La-Ville (paris), Appollo Theatre (Spain), Jubilee Auditorium (Spain), etc. Pandit Bhattacharya is the only Santoor Maestro of the famous Maihar Gharana, the Gharana created by Baba Allauddin Khan Sahab and propagated by legends like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pt. Hariparasad Chaurasia and others. He uses his music as a strong social and humaitarian tool to touch human minds, influence values and generate positive eneregies. Some of his prestigious recognitions include the "Best Critic Award" in Germany, Pre-Grammy Nomination in 1997, etc.
Shri. Subhash Chandran is a world-renowned percussionist from Chennai. Subhash is well known for Konnakol (Vocal Percussion). Subhash Chandran has developed international repute through his spellbinding performances at the United Nations, the Festivals of India in the USA, Russia, Switzerland and Japan, and with the various philharmonics such as the NY Philharmonic conducted by Mr. Zubin Mehta, Norwegian Philharmonic, USSR Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic. He has performed with all time greats like Yehudi Menuhin, Stephen Graphelli, renowned srummers Tony Williams, Max Roach and several Indian greats including Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Shri. U. Shrinivas, Shri. Ravikiran and others.
Shri. Ganesh Kumar is a Kanjira exponent from Chennai. He had his fundamental training in Mridangam from Sr. T.H. Hari Hara Sharma and advanced training in Kanjira from Shri. Subhash Chandran. Shri. Ganesh Kumar received the prestigious 'Fulbright Fellowship Award' in performing arts for the year 2000-2001. He has been giving master classes, lecture demonstrations and presentations about Indian percussion at various universities and colleges in USA and Europe. Shri. Ganesh Kumar has performed with most leading musicians, in India and abroad, including Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Mandolin Shrinivas and others. He has also performed with many jazz greats and released Signature Series kanjira and instructional DVD. He currently runs the Sankara Academy of Arts and Music in New Jersey.
Shri. Lalith Kumar (born in Varanasi) comes from a family of musicians. He is a gold medal recipient from All India Radio and has also received scholarships from the Dept. of Culture., Govt. of India. He has given numerous solo performances and accompanied great musicians of Hindustani Music. He is currently teaching at the Mahila Maha Vidyalaya and the Banaras hindu University, India.
Sri. S. Hari Krishnan is the son of the renowned ghatam Vidwan Sri. T.H. Subhash Chandran. He started learning Carnatic Vocal at the age of 6 from Sr. H.Y. Narayanan. He had also undergone music training from Sri. S.R. Janakiraman, Sri. O.S. Thiyagarajan, Sri. N. Ravi Kiran and Sri. Delhi R. Sundarrajan. He is also trained in Carnatic percussion instruments, Western Classical Piano, and has composed music for feature films (Vikramadityan) and jingles for such companies as Mitsubishi Pajero Commercials. He has appeared as a performing artist in leading music festivals in India. In 2001 and 2002, he was the lead vocalist in concerts organized by the United States Educational Foundation in India. He traveled to USA during the 2007 concert tour of Panchamukha organized by IACRF Inc., NJ.
Lec-Dem by Sri. Lalgudi Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmi
MITHAS presents
Lecture Demonstration by Sri. Lalgudi Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmi
When: Sunday, October 4th @ 3PM
Where: Wong Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA
The event is FREE and open to public.
Please check out the concerts section for complete details about the artists.
Carnatic Music workshop by Sri. Lalgudi Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmi
MITHAS presents
Advanced Carnatic Music workshop by Sri. Lalgudi Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmi
When: Monday, October 5th (Time 5PM)
Where: Killian Hall, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Workshop fees: - $20 (MITHAS membership passes DO NOT apply)
Please check out the concerts section above for complete details about the artists.
MITHAS 2009 Membership Drive is on!
(?): All MITHAS memberships have a 12-month validity starting on the date of purchase. All active members get FREE passes to the concerts as listed below:
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
For information, please call MITHAS (617) 258-7971
MIT Students attend all Wong Auditorium concerts free
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.
For further
information, please contact us at mithastimes@gmail.com or call (617) 258-7971. A
full program of MITHAS concerts are scheduled this season at
MIT. See Concerts for a schedule and ticketing information, or
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about this website to: mithastimes@gmail.com
