PALLAVI OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT, INC P.O.BOX 1732 LATHAM, NY 12110 PHONE: 518-522-2720 EMAIL: pallavicapital@gmail.com (Please note new email) Website: www.cs.rpi.edu/~moorthy/Pallavi2008/ Newsletter # 2/08 Upcoming programs: Saturday March 29, 6:00 PM: An evening of Indian Classical Vocal Music With Sikkil Gurucharan Nagai Sriram (Violin) Neyveli Skandasubramanian (mridangam) at: Steamer 10 Theater 500 Western Avenue, Albany, NY www.steamer10.org 518 438 5503 Saturday April 5, 6:00 PM: An Evening of Indian Classical Instrumental Music With Chitravina N. Ravikiran ("..Mozart of Indian Music.." "..perhaps the greatest slide instrumentalistin the world today..") at: Academy Hall Auditorium (Corner of 15th St and College Ave) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 ________________________________________________________________________________________ Pallavi of Capital District presents an evening of Indian Classical Vocal Music with Sikkil Gurucharan Nagai Sriram (Violin) Neyveli Skandasubramanian (mridangam) Date Saturday March 29, 2008 at 6.00 PM Tea 5.15 PM Steamer 10 Theater 500 Western Avenue Albany, NY www.steamer10.org 518 438 5503 Contacts: Janaki Krishnamoorthy 273 6624 Sunanda Sukumar 274 2968 Ramanath 522 2720 Chandra Yerramalli 557 1356 Ishwara Bhat 383 4859 General $10 Couple/Family $20 Students/Children Free Sponsor $ 50 Patron $ 100 Sikkil C. Gurucharan - Vocal Sikkil C. Gurucharan is a disciple of Vaigal sri S. Gnanaskandan (Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer's disciple) for more than 12 years. Gurucharan is the grandson of the eldest of Sikkil sisters. Born and brought up in a music family, commenced his carnatic music training 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 the Music Season. He has performed all over India, and more recently, in the USA and Singapore. He is an A Grade artiste of the All India Radio. Gurucharan's sonorous voice and unique style adds glamour without assaulting tradition, and has been widely applauded by critics. He has released several albums on Thiruppavai, Thiruvembai, Bhajans, Gaana Prabhavam, Kaaveri Pattinam, Ramayanam, Ganapatyam, Melakarta ragas, Peranandam and many more. He has won numerous prizes and awards from several prestigious institutions since his school days. Recent awards include Yuva Kala Bharathi Award (Bharat Kalachar), Isai Chudar (Karthik Fine Arts), Kalki Memorial Award (Kalki Trust), and Swarna Venkatesha Dikshitar(Music Academy). Gurucharan holds a masters degree in Financial Management. Nagai Sriram - Violin 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 accompanied several top musicians such as Madurai Seshagopalan, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, and S. Sowmya, and has traveled abroad many times. Sriram has won many prizes and awards including Yuva Kala Bharathi, and has won the Best Violinist Award from the Madras Music Academy for the last 6 consecutive years. He is a B-high artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan Television in Chennai. Neyveli S. Skandasubramanian - Mridangam Skandasubramanian is a disciple of Vidwan Thiruvarur R. Krishnamoorthy and Vidwan Kalaimamani Thiruvarur Sri. Bakthavathsalam. Hi training with the latter was supported by a scholarship granted by the Government of India. Skandasubramanian has performed in more than 10 countries worldwide for more than 20 years, during which he has accompanies major artistes including Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, Dr. N. Ramani, Sri.T. V. Sankaranarayanan, T.N.Seshagopalan and Nithyashree. His awards include Yuva Kala Bharathi (Bharat Kalachar), Youth Excellence Award (Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Trust), Best Mridangam Artiste Award (Madras Music Academy, Sri.Krishna Gana Sabha, the Indian Fine Arts Society). He holds a diploma Mechanical Engineering. Concert Locaation and Directions: Steamer10 Theater, 500 Western Ave, Albany, NY 12203(518) 438-5503 Email: art4kids@nycap.rr.com From the Northway (I-87): go south to Western Ave and turn left. We are three miles from the end of the Northway. When the road forks, veer left. From I-90: take Exit 5, and go south on Everett Rd. Proceed to Central Ave and turn left. Take a right onto N. Allen St. and then a left onto Western Ave. From there the Steamer 10 theater is the first building on the right, located on the back half of the police station. The drawbridge is the entrance. You may park at the meters on the street (free on weekends) or at the Citizens' Bank lot (free during non-banking hours). ________________________________________________________________________________________ Pallavi of the Capital Region Presents An Evening of Indian Classical Instrumental Music With Chitravina N. Ravikiran ("..Mozart of Indian Music.." "..perhaps the greatest slide instrumentalistin the world today..") Date April 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm Tea - 5:15 pm Admission: $12 General Adm. -- $20 Family Children/Students -- Free Where: Academy Hall Auditorium (Corner of 15th St and College Ave) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 12180 (See directions below) Running Time: 3 hours Further Info: Ramanath 522 2720; Janaki Krishnamoorthy 273 6624; Sunanda Sukumar 274 2968; Chandra Yerramalli 557 1356; Sudharsana Srinivasan 372 1248 Chitravina N Ravikiran (Chitravina) Hailed as 'perhaps the greatest slide instrumentalist in the world today' by Radio Australia, Ravikiran made headlines as the world's youngest prodigy at the age of two (in 1969), identifying and demonstrating 325 ragas, 175 talas and answering numerous other questions. He presented his first vocal concert at 5, first chitravina recital when he was 12 and set a record with a non-stop show for 24 hours when he was 18. Ravikiran has toured around the world several times and performed in numerous international festivals and venues such as Autumn Festival, France, Millennium Festival, UK, Brisbane International Festival, Australia, Esplanade, Singapore, Pablo Caslo Festival, France, Cal Arts Festival, USA, Harborfront Festival, Toronto, Canada, House of World Culture, Berlin, Vienna Palace and Theatre de la Ville, Paris. Ravikiran has been featured by networks including CNN, BBC, ABC, Channel 4 and Swiss National TV and record labels such as Nimbus, Naxos, Waterlily, Music Today & EMI. His collaborations with top world music stars such as Taj Mahal and Glen Velez have brought him world honors including The New Age Voice Finalist Award (USA) for Best Contemporary World Music for 2001. Ravikiran has been the first or youngest to receive several awards from the age of six, including Star of India, Kalaimamani, Kumar Gandharava Samman, Sangeeta Choodamani, Vadya Ratnakara and Isai Peroli. 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 authored two widely read books, Appreciating Carnatic Music and Perfecting Carnatic Music, and has penned several articles on wide-ranging subjects. He has also launched a Tele-Teaching program in 1996, which has enabled students from various parts of the world to learn effectively from him. He attributes all his success to his gurus Chitravina maestro Narasimhan and Sangeeta Kalanidhi T Brinda. For more info on him, visit www.ravikiranmusic.com. Akkarai S Subhalakshmi (Violin) Trained by maestros O. V. Subramaniam, P. S. Narayanaswamy and Chitravina Ravikiran, as also her father Akkarai Swaminathan, Subhalakshmi has blossomed into a prodigiously talented violinist. She has accompanied eminent artistes and performs widely in India as well as in other countries like USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Bahrain, United Kingdom, Singapore and Canada. She also gives vocal concerts and violin duets with her sister, Swarnalata. She has been featured in several albums, and has won several awards including the Rajiv Gandhi Youth award, Yuva Kala Bharati, Kala Bhooshan and Kalki Award. Shubhalakshmi is also a member of faculty of Ravikiran's International Foundation for Carnatic Music. Akshay Anantapadmanabhan (Mridangam) This young mridangist made his debut when he was 15. He had his initial training with Sri T.S. Nandakumar at Shanmukhananda Fine Arts, Mumbai, and from Sri Poovalur Viswanathan when he moved to New Jersey in 1997. Since 1999, he has been learning from Dr. Venkat Natarajan, and Prof. Subhash Chandran. He has accompanied several top artistes such as Chitravina Ravikiran. Besides mridangam, Akshay plays tennis and likes to sketch. DIRECTIONS TO ACADEMY HALL, RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, TROY, NY 12180 From I-87 take exit 7 for route 7E; this becomes Hoosick St. Take right at the 4th light onto15th street. Go through 3 signal lights and under a walk-bridge, to the blinking yellow light. Academy Hall is at the corner of 15th St and College Ave, on the right hand side. The auditorium is upstairs. You can also enter from the rear and take the elevator. You can park at the visitor's parking lot on the left, soon after the walk-bridge. Parking is also available in front of the hall and in the rear, in addition to street parking on 15th street and College Avenue. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Other concerts in the area: On May 10th at 2.00 pm TRICIA is organizing a Kucheri program at the Albany Hindu Temple. The artists are Dr. Nirmala Sunderajan and Dr. Subhashini Parthasarathy from Chennai. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Pallavi Membership for the Calendar Year 2008 Please renew your Pallavi membership as soon as possible. If you are not a member, please become one and support music activities in the capital district. You can send the check to Pallavi of the Capital District, P. O. Box 1732, Latham, NY 12110. Pallavi has obtained tax exemption status under section 501(c) of the IRS code. Pallavi board members are doing their best to bring in talented musicians to our area. Please consider paying your membership dues early in the year so that we can estimate our revenue position better. Also please become a Family Patron member or even better Promoter/Sponsor class member. The categories of membership and donations remain the same and are noted below: Annual Membership Classes Family Patron (Admission to all concerts free for two people) $120 Individual Patron (Admission to all concerts free for the individual) $ 60 Family Membership (Pass for two people for one concert) $ 30 Individual Membership (Pass for one concert for the individual) $ 20 Student Member (Admission to all concerts free) $ 10 Life Member (Admission to all concerts free for two people for Four years) $400 Note: Life membership fee can be paid in two consecutive annual installments of $200 each or in one installment of $400. Annual Special Donation Categories Patron/Promoter $ 500 Sponsor/Promoter $ 250 Patron/Promoter and Sponsor/Promoter Donors will be recognized at every event of Pallavi during the year as Patrons or Sponsors. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2008 ____________________________ __________________________ Last name First name Spouse (if applicable) ________________________________ Mailing address __________________________________ Phone: _______________________ E mail address________________________________ Category of membership_______________________________________________ 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 following address: Pallavi, PO Box 1732, Latham, NY 12110.