PALLAVI OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT,INC P.O. BOX NO 1732 LATHAM, NY 12110 Phone: (518) 273-6624 Website: www.cs.rpi.edu/~moorthy/Pallavi2003/ Newsletter 3/2003 July 7. 2003 TWO PALLAVI CONCERTS IN JULY 2003 Next Pallavi Concert on July 19 ( Saturday) at 7 PM. Pallavi and RPI Union Performing Arts Committee proudly present a major carnatic vocal concert by the renowned Sri T.V. Gopalakrishnan. Srimathi Devi will provide vocal support with Shiv Kalyanaraman on violin and David Nelson on mridangam. TVG is giving only a handful of concerts in USA and we are fortunate he included Albany in his schedule. Thanks are due to Dr Sukumar Nagamani of Troy,NY for arranging the concert. Date and Time: Saturday July 19 at 7 PM Venue: Mothers1;, RPI student Union, 15th Street, RPI campus, Troy, NY . The Student Union is located at the intersection of 15th Street and Sage Street and you may park anywhere on campus at that time. Donations: Patron $ 101; Sponsor $ 51, Adult $ 10. Students FREE Please make checks payable to Pallavi of the Capital District, and mail to PO Box 1732 Latham, NY 12110. Mark checks TVG Bios of artists and the Flyer are attached.. To view the colorful Flyer and photos go to Pallavi website at www.cs.rpi.edu/~moorthy/Pallavi2003/ and follow the link to July 19 concert. You will also be able to view Thyagaraja Aradhana pictures at the website ( link # 5 in Newsletter section). ********************************************************************************** Sunday July 27 Vocal Concert by Vidya Kaushik at 3 PM at Mothers , RPI Student Union Shiv Kayanaraman will be the violnist and Harihar will play mridangam. The concert is also at Mothers , RPI Student Union and will be from 3-6 PM. For information, please call Sharanya Shivkumar at 782-7875 THE ADMISSION IS FREE; HOWEVER, VOLUNTARY DONATIONS WELCOME TO MEET THE COST AND HONORARIUM. Vidya Kausik had her initial training in Carnatic music from Smt. Bala Narasimhan of Toronto, Canada, a disciple of Sri D.K. Jayaraman and Calcutta Sri K.S. Krishnamurthi. Though the majority of her early training took place in Toronto, she was fortunate enough to visit India every summer to learn from Sangeetha Kalanidhi Smt. D.K. Pattamal. In 1996, her family made the decision to re-locate to Chennai where Vidya was able to continue her tutelage under Smt. D.K. Pattamal and also came under the expert guidance of Calcutta Sri K.S. Krishnamurthi. Vidya has won prizes from various sabhas in Chennai such as The Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts and the Indian Fine Arts Society to name a few. She has also won the first prize in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. Vidya has given many performances both in India and in North America. She currently lives and teaches music in Baltimore, Maryland. ************************************************************************************************** Upcoming Confirmed Pallavi Concerts in Fall 2003 . 1. Sitar Concert by Shahid Parvez with Akram Khan on Tabla on September 28 ( Sunday) from 6-9 Pm at Troy Arts Center, Troy, NY . We are solicitng sponsorships for the concert. For this and more information call Nalini Madiwale at 356-2688 2. Violin Duet Concert by Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandan and Anuradha Sridhar on November 1. Details later Monday Night Navavarnam Club Janaki Krishnamoorthy is organizing a group which will start meeting at the Hindu Temple, Albany ( Old temple Premises) every Monday from 6:30 PM to 9 PM, starting June 30, to learn and practice singing Dikshitar's Kamalamba Navaavaranam kritis. Those interested are welcome to attend. For more details call Janaki at 273-6624. Other Area Activities and concerts 1. Hindu Temple presents Hindusthani classical Musicand Bhajans by Ganapath Bhat on July 18 at the Temple premises. The concert is at 7 PM. For more information contact Ravi Pilar at 785-5833 2. Hindu temple Albany again this year is organizing religious discourses in English by Prof. Prema Pandurang ji from August 16-24, 2003.She will discourse on Mahabharatha part II. For more information, contact N. Balasubramanian at 346-5125. Gift Matching from General Electric Corporation We are happy to inform that effective March 7, 2003, Pallavi has been approved for gift matching under the More Gifts, More Givers Program of General Electric Corporation. Our code is # 1064C. Under this scheme, approved gifts from eligible participants (General Electric employees, retirees and directors) will be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis. As a precondition to continue the scheme, Pallavi should in any calendar year receive gifts from a minimum of ten individual donors and a total of $ 1000. . Please indicate along with your donations that it is under the matching gift program. Pallavi hopes that GE employees and retirees donate liberally under the scheme. We are happy to inform that we have already received about $450 so far as donations. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call Sri Narayan Nair (399-1774) nknair@nycap.rr.com . Pallavi is grateful to Sri Narayan Nair for leading the effort in securing the approval. Also visit pallavi website to know the detailed instructions on how to make the matching gifts and the terms and conditions of the program. Membership Pallavi welcomes the following new members and renewals. Madhavi and Vembar Devanathan Family Lakshmi Mohan Individual Patron Anupama and Suresh Rajaraman Family Patron Narendran Paliath Individual Patron Janaki and M. krishnamoorthy Promoter/Sponsor Ramani and M. Raghavachari Promoter/Sponsor Rama and A.Ramani Family Patron Jaya and Mattur Balakrishna Life Member Sheela Rao Individaul Patron Geetha and Kumar Family Patron Suchinthaka Namassivaya Individual Raji and K. Balasubramaniam Family Sunanda and Sukumar Nagamani Family Patron J Membership for the new year 2003. Please renew your membership of Pallavi for the year 2003. A large membership base will augment our resources to organize more concerts confidently without the fear of losing unduly on the concerts. Since 9/11, the cost of organizing concerts (by artists from India) have gone up considerably. Please also help in recruiting new members. A copy of the application form is shown in the next page. We have different classes and we hope you will make generous contributions. PALLAVI OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT PO Box 1732 Latham, NY 12110 Phone: (518) 273-6624 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2003 ____________________________ __________________________ Last name First name Spouse (if applicable) ________________________________ Mailing address __________________________________ ____________________________________ ___________________________________ Phone: _______________________ E mail address________________________________ Activities you would like to be involved ____________________________________ (Some of the activities are : hosting of artists, fund raising, Brochure preparation, Food, collections at the desk, membership promotion, newsletter, mailing etc) Please make your checks payable to Pallavi of the Capital District and mail to the above address. Classes of membership (Annual) Please circle one. Donor categories PATRON/PROMOTER* $ 500 SPONSOR/PROMOTER@ $ 250 · Donor will be recognized as Patron for every concert during the year @ Donor will be recognized as Sponsor for every concert during the year Member categories Family Patron (All concerts free for two people) $ 120 Individual Patron (All concerts free for the individual) . $ 60 Family with a pass for two people for one concert .. $ 30 Individual with a pass for one concert $ 20 Student (All concerts are free) $ 10 Life member (All concerts free for two people for four years) $ 400 Note: Life membership amount can be paid in two successive annual installments of $ 200 each or in one installment of $ 400. RESUME OF ARTISTS FOR JULY 19 CONCERT TV Gopalakrishnan TVG s unique contributions to the world of music are multifarious! Apart from being a Vocalist in Carnatic and Hindusthani systems, as a percussionist par excellence, who created a new dimension in Mridangam performance, in the areas of accompaniment, solos, ensembles, compositions for Dance, theatre and even films. TVG is an incurable romantic! He is an innovator, in the art of making instruments, especially mridangam, Veena and Tambura, etc, using the latest technologies, and inputs from other developed nations. TVG s mridangam playing technique is the most unique as he has succeeded in producing rapturous musical sensations in playing the interludes and challenging question & answer sessions in a musical concert. Prof. TVG is today the most acknowledged specialist in the singing Voice and Voice therapy. Many instances of phenomenal successes that he has produced vouch for the authenticity of Prof.TVG s corrective techniques in Voice Culture. TVG spent considerable time in unraveling the intricate material on Voice-training expounded in Vedic literature and Upanishads in relation to singing. It is also noteworthy that TVG had intensive training in Yoga from the greatest Yoga exponent of the 20th Century, the Late Sri Krishnamacharya, for many years. These along with TVG s quest to understand the mysteries of the human voice through other systems like Western Classical music, Egyptian music and Gregorian music make him the most sought after Voice-Guru! DEVI - Born into an aristocratic family to Smt.Soudamini and Sri.Subashchandran in Palghat district in the Late sixties, Devi started singing when she was three. She started learning Classical music from Nalleppilly Sri Vaidyanathan, and by seven she started winning prizes in competitions! Devi was entrusted under the care of Prof.TVG at that time and continued her education and aspiration in Academics and music in his residence at Madras. Since then she has been his foster daughter and premier disciple. Till she finished her academic career (M.A. Music, Madras University) she continued to win first prizes in all the inter University and inter state competitions including the Akashwani music competitions. Devi has been trained by her father Prof.TVG to sing in any language, idiom and medium! She is equally at home in Carnatic, Hindusthani and Western and modern music. She has an effortless range of three and a half octaves from pitches G to F which is quite phenomenal and rare by international standards! Even at this young age she has gained vast experience in presenting different musical concepts -performing, teaching, Lec-dems and organizing shows in association with her father. In addition to giving concerts, and singing for recordings she has been the head of the Music Department, Vidyaa peetam Educational wing of Academy of Indian Music and Arts, affiliated to Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwa Vidyalaya, Khairagarh, MP, India. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman Violin Sri Shiv Kalyanaraman began his violin training in 1963 at the Secunderabad Music College under the guidance of Sri Peri Sreeramamurthy, a top violinist in Hyderabad. He completed a certificate course in music and continued his training with Smt. T. Rukmini in Chennai during his studies at IIT, Madras. He has also been mentored by vocalists Sri M.N. Subramaniam of the Semmangudi school and Sri BRC Iyengar of the Ariyakkudi school. He has performed several concerts in Albany and other parts of USA and has accompanied various leading artists such as Ashok Ramani, T.R. Subramaniam, Jayalakshmi Ramachandran, Suguna Varadachari, Ravi Kiran and others. He also teaches carnatic vocal music and violin to students in the Capital District. David Nelson Mridangam David Nelson has been performing and teaching South Indian drumming since 1975. From his principal teacher, the renowned T. Ranganathan, he learned to accompany a wide range of styles, including bharata natyam, South India s classical dance. He has a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, where he is Artist in Residence in South Indian drumming. He has accompanied well-known artists throughout the United States, Europe, India, and China. He has also written extensively on South Indian drumming, including a major article in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Directions to Mothers , RPI Student Union, RPI Campus, Troy,NY RPI Student Union is located at the intersection of 15th street and Sage Street. Mothers is a hall within the Student Union. On weekends, you can park anywhere on the campus eg. Visitor center, behind armory building etc