Swathi Kamakshi is a proficient Bharatanatyam dancer, who has been performing for the past nineteen years. Her grace and talent was evident even at a young age, when Swathi performed her arangetram at the tender age of eleven. Swathi has given numerous performances--solo recitals and group dance dramas--in many of Chennai's prestigious sabhas and cities in southern India.  Swathi's knowledge of Indian dance includes her training in Kuchupidi and Mohiniattam dance forms also.  Swathi has won prizes in televised dance competitions in India and has participated in many video recordings for Doordarshan.  In addition to her experience in performing classical dance, Swathi has also choreographed several classical, semi-classical, and folk-dance numbers for stage programs and competitions and won awards. Swathi is a student of  'Natyamanjari', a Bharatanatyam dance school in the Kancheepuram Ellappa Mudaliar style of dance run by ‘Kalaimamani’ Guru Sri Udupi Laxminarayan and Smt. Madhumathy Prakash. She has experience in teaching children and young adults the nuances of dance and was recently awarded the title 'Natya Makaranda' by ‘Natyamanjari’. She is a Software Engineer and recently moved to Seattle.

Barbara was first exposed to and inspired by Indian classical music in 1981, while attending Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.  She discovered Ragamala in 1988, and has been attending Ragamala concerts ever since.  Barbara learned Sitar technique briefly from two extraordinary teachers, Gareth Lewis and Shujaat Khan.  Her travels have taken her to India three times, very specifically to attend festivals of music in Delhi and Chennai.  After sitting on the Ragamala Board (quite literally according to her) for several years, she served as Ragamala's logistics coordinator in 2006.  This year, she is going to be taking over as Treasurer for the organization.  Barbara has done accounting work, mostly for various non-profit organizations, for the last ten years.  She is presently employed at the Seattle Art Museum.

Shantha Benegal

Shantha Benegal is actively involved with the promotion of performing arts from South Asia. She is a singer and teacher. She studied Dhrupad from Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Khayal from Pt. Murli Manohar Shukla and Ustad Yunus Hussain Khan.  Her deep interest in Thumri, Dadra, Qawwali and Folk music, led to study with such visiting artists to Seattle as Urmila Nagar, Sabri Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Shujaat Khan. Shantha served as a publicist in the University of Washington School of Music for 18 years, and has also presented a program titled Music of India on KRAB-FM for 13 years.  She is currently on the board of Leela Kathak Dancers and Northwest Puppet Center.

Ramesh Gangolli

Musician, musicologist, mathematician and educator, Ramesh Gangolli has for decades been a pillar of the musical scene in Seattle, where he has taught mathematics as well as music at the University of Washington. He is also a primary motive force behind Ragamala, the organization which has organized performances of Indian classical music and dance in Seattle for over two decades.  Prof Gangolli started his initial training with Sharad Gadre in Seattle. Later he trained as a vocalist under the guidance of several well-known vocalists of India, including Late Pt. K.G. Ginde and Pt. Dinkar Kaikini of the Agra gharana. He has a deep interest in various compositions of Agra Gharana, especially by Pt. S.N. Ratanjankar and has several to his own credit. He has also been engaged in the study of the texts of the oral repertoire of the hereditary lineages of musicians of North India. He has given a number of recitals and lecture demonstrations in the US and in India relating to his work. He also teaches Indian music in the Ethnomusicology Program in the School of Music at the University of Washington.  A mathematician by profession, Prof Gangolli obtained his doctoral degree from MIT and started teaching at the University of Washington since 1962. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and an Adjunct Professor of Music at UW.

Photo Courtesy of Eswar Somasekhar

Vibhavaree Gargeya served on Ragamala's board in 2006-2007. She  currently maintains Ragamala's volunteers' Yahoo group, is coordinator for Fundfest, Ragamala's annual fund raising and membership drive,  and picks up various tasks as needed.   Vibhavaree is also active as a volunteer for Asha for Education and works at Cisco Systems

Chris (left) and Pepsi the Camel (right) on safari outside Jaisalmer

Brought up in a musical environment, Raman Iyer has shown a deep interest in music and Violin in particular at a very early age. He began learning violin at the age of six under the tutelage of Sri. Nedumangad Shivanandan for nearly 10 years. Simultaneously he underwent vocal training primarily from his parents, Smt. Valli and Sri. Mahadeva Iyer. He underwent brief vocal training with Sri. Ochira Balakrishnan as well.  The turning point in his musical career came when he was fortunate to have a short stint with the violin virtuoso, Dr. L. Subramaniam during the mid-nineties. This has immensely helped Raman to refine his bowing and fingering techniques. With strong foundation in violin technique and music in general, Raman strives to create his own unique style imbibing the best from great masters. He continues to pursue his musical aesthetics and training and is currently guided by Smt. Sreevidhya Chandramouli, the great grand daughter of the Veena Maestro, Karaikudi Subbarama Iyer.

Bharati Khandekar

Bharati Khandekar is an accomplished athlete who represented the State of Maharashtra nationally in softball, badminton and cricket.  As a founder member of the Seattle Maharashtra Mandal, she has served as a member of the Executive Committee several times, and at present is a Vice President for SMM.  Bharati is also actively involved in the efforts to organize the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal convention in Seattle in 2007, and serves as the Chairperson of the Registration Committee.  Bharati and her husband Mohan have been an integral part of Ragamala's family for a very long time, and as a team, are the first, smiling faces who greet patrons at the front desk at Ragamala events.  Bharati holds a bachelors degree in Economics, and worked as a banker at US Bank.  She is presently employed at the Northshore School District, where she is actively involved with the local union.  She continues to utilize her athletic skills as a member of the coaching staff of the fast pitch softball team at Bothell High School. 

Brandon McIntosh began studying with Seattle-based Dhrupad musician Jeff Lewis in 1998. From 2001 to 2003, after completing a degree in Music from Central Washington University, he moved to Kolkata, India, to begin studies with sarod maestro Buddhadev Dasgupta of the Senia-Shahajahanpur gharana. In 2005 he completed a Masters degree in music composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  In 2006, Brandon served as the co-director of Utsav, Seattle's annual festival of the performing arts of South Asia.  Brandon has been recognized with numerous awards and fellowships for his work in music, and has performed and collaborated extensively with organizations in Kolkata. He regularly travels to Kolkata to study under Buddhadev Dasgupta and recently has been accepted as a student at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, India. He has performed with such noteworthy artists as: Kathak dancer Sujata Banerjee, Dhrupad singer Arijit Mahalanabis, and tabla player Yogesh Samsi.
website: www.kaliproductions.org

An ardent supporter of Ragamala, Nandita Parikh is instrumental in making hospitality arrangements and providing refreshments to visiting artists on concert day.  Nandita studies music at the Sadhana School of Arts in Bellevue, and is also a student and practitioner of Pranayam and Yoga.  A zealous and feared competitor in her tennis league, Nandita is a dedicated and loving mother and wife.

One of Ragamala's great assets, Elmo Rajah has provided sound and lighting services to Ragamala for the last few years.  Often working under exceptionally difficult circumstances, Elmo always produces the right balance and sound quality, and has earned kudos from several visiting artists for exceptional sensitivity in his audio engineering.  Elmo provides sound services for many organizations around the Puget Sound, and has provided his services at concerts for artists such as S. P. Balasubramaniam, Hariharan, K.J. Yesudass and Unnikrishnan.  Elmo is also a member of the Tamil light music band Geetanjali and works as an electrical engineer for the Washington State Ferries. 

A full-time rasika of both Hindustani and Carnatic music, Lalitha was a software design engineer in a past life, having earned degrees from The Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore and the University of Washington.  She now spends most of her free time learning Khayal music from Dr. Sharad Gadre and tabla from Annie Penta. She also moonlights as a cricket player for a local league, loves trivia, solving cryptic crosswords and hanging out with her six year-old son.

Estela Raychaudhuri

Estela Raychaudhuri has loved all types of music and dance since she was a child.  She is particularly fond of Indian classical dance.  She is interested in educating young people about Indian classical music and dance with the goal of making it more approachable and is currently volunteering with Ragamala in its Outreach Program.  Estela is an engineer and co-founder of a local medical diagnostic company.  She is married with three children.