Sruti- The India Music and Dance Society presents

Sri Thyagaraja Aradhana 2012

Thyagaraja Aradhana registration is now closed. We are grateful and heartened by the overwhelming response. Thanks to everyone who registered. Happy practicing!!

Click here for guidelines for Individual & Group Participations

Admission*: $10 per individual & $20 per family
* Includes one lunch coupon for individuals and up to four lunch coupons per family.
Additional lunch coupons will be available for purchase ($5 per coupon)

Saturday, March 17 2012, 8:00 A.M.

Venue: Hindu Temple of Delaware
760 Yorklyn Road, Hockessin, DE 19707

For information: www.sruti.org,
email: srutiphila@gmail.com

Program:
08:00 AM - Pooja
08:15 AM - Utsava Sampradaya & Pancharatna Kritis
10:45 AM - Individual Participation
12:45 PM - Lunch (Included as part of entrance donation)
01:30 PM - Vocal Concert by Shri Ashvin Bhogendra 
04:00 PM - Individual Participation (Continued)
07:00 PM - Dinner (Available for purchase from Temple Kitchen)

About Ashvin Bhogendra: Vocal
ABAshvin D Bhogendra (D.B. Ashvin) hails from a family of musicians. His maternal grandfather Kalaimamani Late Shri T.K.Rangachary is one of the doyens of Carnatic Music and his paternal great-grandfather Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamacharlu is one of the greatest playwrights of Telugu drama. Ashvin was initiated into carnatic vocal by his mother Smt Mallika Jayanth Kumar at the age of 5. He was then under the tutelage of Shri B Seetharama Sharma and Kalaimamani Late Shri Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan for about 15 years. He is currently undergoing advanced training under Shri D Seshachary (Hyderabad Brothers).
Ashvin has been performing regularly in the Chennai music season at leading sabhas including The Music Academy, Karthik Fine Arts, Narada Gana Sabha and Krishna Gana Sabha. He has received the Best Concert Award in the junior category by the Music Academy during the 2009-10 season, D.K.Pattammal award of excellence by Kartik Fine Arts in the 2009-10 season, best vocalist at Krishna Gana Sabha Gokulashtami series.
Ashvin is a resident of New Jersey and a regular performer in various US venues. A devoted allegiance to the traditional bani of his grandfather’s, a rich resonant voice, inborn sense of laya and stress on proper understanding and delineation of sahitya are some of the outstanding attributes of Ashvin’s music.

About L.Ramakrishnan: Violin
lrL. Ramakrishnan hails from a musical family and was formally initiated into a musical odyssey by his mother at the age of 2. He was trained in vocal music for a period of 8 years. He commenced his schooling in Carnatic Violin at the age of ten under the able guidance of Smt. Visalam Vageeswar at the Shanmukhananda Vidyalaya, Mumbai. Ramakrishnan performed his first solo concert at the age of 12 at Shanmukhananda, Mumbai. He came under the wings of the distinguished violin maestro Kum.A.Kanyakumari at the age of 13. It was during this phase that he learnt the importance of vocal orientation in instrument playing and the proper enunciation of Sahitya. He imbibed the art of accompaniment at an early age from the revered Guru. He has performed with her in her grand musical ensembles on numerous occasions. He has also strengthened his repertoire by learning from Shri. T.K. Govinda Rao and Smt. T.R. Balamani. Ramakrishnan has accompanied many senior and upcoming artists: T. K. Govinda Rao, A. Kanyakumari, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, M. Balamuralikrisha, Abhishek Raghuram, to name a few. Among the many honors and awards conferred on him are Naada Bhooshanam – Nadopasana (Mumbai), Shanmukha Mani – Shanmukhananda (Mumbai), Best Violinist in sub-senior slot – Music Season (Music Academy). Ramakrishnan has performed all over India and continues the trend of being a sought after violinist across the United States. He currently works as the senior tech lead at Aetna in Connecticut.

About Akshay Anantapadmanabhan: Mridangam
aaAkshay Anantapadmanabhan is an energetic mridangam artist striving to explore his versatility in South Indian percussion to create an impact through Indian classical and World music in the United States. Akshay began his mridangam training at the age of six under the tutelage of Sri T.S. Nandhakumar, a renowned faculty member in Shanmukhananda (Mumbai). After moving to America when he was nine, Akshay started learning from Dr. Venkat Natarajan, the head instructor of Sankara Academy (New Jersey). As he grew as a percussionist, Akshay also had the opportunity of receiving advanced training in mridangam and kanjira from the world-renowned percussion maestro, Professor T.H. Subash Chandran.
Following the experienced mentorship and the creative rhythmic prowess of his guru, Sri T.H. Subash Chandran, Akshay continues to learn and improve as a musician. Akshay has been performing in Carnatic (South Indian Classical) concerts, accompanying several distinguished artists such as Sri. R.K. Srikantan, Sri. O.S. Thyagarajan, Sri Chitravina Ravikiran, Sri. Flute Shashank, Sri Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan, Sri. Sikkil Gurucharan and others. In April 2007, Akshay had the opportunity of performing in a percussion ensemble concert led by his guru, Prof. T. H. Subash Chandran, featuring other top percussion maestros - Sri. N.Ganesh Kumar (Kanjira) and K.Sekar (Tavil).
Akshay has performed in various venues in United States and India. He has performed at the leading sabhas during the December Music Season in Chennai making his debut performance at The Music Academy in December 2007.  Akshay has also accompanied several accomplished sitar artists such as Pandit Shivanth, Pandit Deobrat Mishra and Pandit Subroto Roy Chowdhury. He has collaborated with Latin jazz, rock and Brazilian musicians in unique showcases of Indian percussion. He also teaches several students and is part of the teaching and performing team at Sarva Sree Foundation, Iowa.