Raman Iyer and Arijit Mahalanabis

Indian Classical Music: A Pan-Indian Perspective

presented by the Cornish Music Series and Ragamala

Saturday, November 10th

8:00pm

PONCHO Concert Hall

Kerry Hall

710 East Roy Street

For a map to the venue, Please click here.

A recital highlighting the two major traditions of music in South Asia, the music of South India, or Karnatak Music, and the music of North India, or Hindustani Music. Seattle-based artists Raman Iyer, violin, and vocalist Arijit Mahalanabis, will present recitals of each form.

Tickets: $15 general, $7.50 for Ragamala members, students, alumni, and seniors.

Tickets can be purchased through Ticket Window at 206.325.6500, www.ticketwindowonline.com, or in person at Ticket Window's box offices located at Pacific Place, Pike Place Market, Broadway Market and Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center.

	After a brief career as an engineer, Arijit turned to music full-time in 2005. Aside from his duties at Ragamala, Arijit is a graduate student in the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. He is also an adjunct member of the faculty at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. He considers himself a student of three very prominent members of the "Seattle Gharana" - Prof. Ramesh Gangolli, Mrs. Shantha Benegal and Dr. Sharad Gadre. He has also received training in Dagar Bani Dhrupad from Pt. Uday Bhawalkar. Although his primary interest is Dhrupad and Dhamar, he practices Khayal, and Thumri as well. Arijit presently serves as the president of Ragamala, and is on the board of FASIS. He also co-chaired the first Utsav, Seattle's annual celebration of the performing arts of South Asia in 2004. Finally, although he doesn't use them anymore, he holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science and a bachelors degree in Computational Mathematics from Penn State University, and a masters in Computer Science from University of Southern California.

	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.

	Mohan Bhide started learning music from the age of 6 - initially from local music teachers - Mr Modak and Mr. Thakre. Later on, he took advanced music courses under the tutelage of Mr. Balasaheb Mate and Mr Govindrao Patwardhan - both accomplished harmonium players and versatile musicians. He has played with well-known artistes both in India and abroad. Some of the artistes he has accompanied are - Mr. Chota Gandharv, Mr. Sudhir Datar, Mrs. Shaila Datar, Mrs. Ashwini Bhide - Deshpande, Mrs. Shubha Mudgal, Mr. Sanjeev Abhyankar, just to name a few. Mohan has well-rounded knowledge of the Indian Classical, Semi Classical and Folk music traditions. He is highly skilled in creating melodic and harmonic compositions suited to create specific moods in specific environments.

	Sunny Matharu is a well known Tabla player in the Vancouver area who started playing at the age of 4. He has trained with Sri Satwant Singh, a top disciple of the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha, whose son is Ustad Zakir Hussain, the most famous Tabla player in the world. He has also received training from Pandit Sharda Sahai, a Tabla wizard from the Benares Gharana. Sunny has accompanied many artists from various genres of music, and is much sought after as a performer, teacher, and recording artiste.

	Lakshman has accompanied top names in the field of Carnatic music such as violin virtuoso Dr. L. Subramaniam, T.N. Krishnan and Doraiswamy Iyengar. He has played in several venues in the U.S., India, Canada and Europe. Lakshman took to the instrument at the age of 6 and since then has immersed himself in the world of percussion. Lakshman is an All India Radio graded artiste. His expression has been nurtured by the Palghat Mani Iyer School of mridangam playing, trained by the doyen's own son, Palghat T.R. Rajamani. He has presented lecture demonstrations to promote better understanding and appreciation of the Mridangam in several venues the U.S.