Srivani Jade

President

Srivani Jade is a Hindustani Classical Vocalist of the Kirana Gharana. She has twice been a Visiting Artist with the Ethnomusicology Program in the School of Music at the University of Washington, and has received several grants from 4Culture as Master Artist. She has performed in India and abroad, and is Founder/Director of Gayaki Studio in Kirkland. She wishes to promote a culture of live classical music concerts in the Seattle area, and serves as President of Ragamala.

Suchitra Iyer

Secretary

Suchitra Iyer started her musical journey at a young age, learning Carnatic music from Smt. Muthumeenakshi in Chennai, India. After a break from music–including a move to the United States, a career in Human Resource Development, and raising a family–she resumed her practice in 2015, this time learning Hindustani music from Srivani Jade in Seattle. Suchitra brings her passion for music, her expertise in grants and promotion, and her calm ‘let’s get it done’ smile to the Ragamala Fundraising Team.

Ashish Vyas

Treasurer

Ashish Vyas developed an early love for music from his mother Smt. Durga Vyas, a Hindustani classical vocalist and teacher in New Delhi, India. Ashish enjoys playing the tabla, slide guitar or piano in informal baithaks. He has served the mission of promoting Indian classical music previously at Basant Bahar (San Francisco Bay Area) and brings a decade of that experience to Ragamala.

Deepashri Joglekar

Board Member

Deepashri Joglekar is an accomplished harmonium player and teacher in the Greater Seattle area. She has trained under Pt. Pramod Marathe and other teachers in India, and is currently affiliated with Kalangan (Mumbai) with mentor Smt. Varsha Bhave. She believes the best way to connect kids with Indian culture is through music ("Balswar” project). She has accompanied several visiting artists, and is deeply connected with the mission of Ragamala.

Dhananjay Mahajan

Board Member

Dhan Mahajan brings to the board an abiding interest in Indian classical music, and experience organizing events for various local non-profits. He has served both in technical and financial roles, and hopes to plug in as an 'all rounder' and scale up operations at Ragamala.

Manoj Deshpande

Board Member

Manoj Deshpande hails from Bagalkot (Karnataka), and grew up in a musically inclined family. He started learning Tabla from Shri R. H. More in his childhood years and won several prizes along the way. Since moving to Seattle, he studies with Shri Ravi Albright and has performed both solo and saath with visiting musicians. He brings audio engineering and other organizational experience to the Ragamala board.

Sampada Bhalerao

Board Member

Sampada Bhalerao comes from a musical family in Pune, India. She is the founding director of the Pacific School of Indian Music in Sammamish, where she has been teaching music for over a decade. She is a classically trained sitarist and vocalist, and has performed in the Pacific Northwest as well as in India. Currently, she is guided by Dr. Vikas Kashalkar (Vocal) and Dr. Ravindra Gadgil (Sitar). Sampada brings her experience as a teacher and community organizer in two countries, to the Ragamala Board.

Surya Pathak

Board Member

Surya Pathak is an upcoming santoor player with a strong background in tabla and vocal music. A professor in his daily life at the UW Bothell School of Business, he finds music to be his guiding beacon in life, and he is blessed to have knowledgeable and kind teachers such as Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya, Pt. Kalyan Mukherjee, Shri Kuntal Roy, Smt. Srivani Jade, Dr. Sankaran Mahadevan, and Shri Vishal Nagar. He combines his love of numbers, and promoting music among youth and families, in his role as Treasurer of Ragamala.

Yogesh Ratnaparkhi

Board Member

Yogesh Ratnaparkhi is a Hindustani vocalist, teacher, and computer engineer. He earned his Sangeet Visharad at the age of 16, and went on train with the likes of Pt. Yashwantbuwa Joshi and Pt. Ram Deshpande in Mumbai. He continues to study Khayal with Pt. Prasad Khaparde, and brings his versatility to bear across multiple genres of vocal music. He brings his experience with competitions and performances, to craft outreach activities geared towards encouraging Youth in Classical music.

Sheetal Patwardhan Bapat

Board Member

Sheetal Patwardhan Bapat has been in the Seattle area for 12 years. She is a Montessori teacher, a Hindustani classical and Marathi light vocal music teacher. She started learning Hindustani from her mother Smt. Shilpa Patwardhan and continued learning with Mr. Chandrasekhar Vaze. She continues her learning journey through training under Smt. Srivani Jade. She has performed in many Marathi, Bollywood, Tamil and Malayalam concerts. She believes the kind of support Ragamala provides to the local talent in Seattle is truly impactful. She is very excited to be on the board and believes it will be an enriching musical experience as well as a lot of fun working with the incredibly supportive and caring Ragamala community.

Ramesh Gangolli

Advisory Board Member

Ramesh Gangolli is a founding member of Ragamala (est.1981), and brings several years of experience as Past President to the Ragamala board. Apart from a career in Mathematical education and research at the University of Washington, he also maintains a serious interest in the classical music of North India and has taught in the Ethnomusicology Program in the School of Music. He trained as a vocalist under the guidance of several well-known vocalists of India, and has also been engaged in the study of the texts of the oral repertoire of the hereditary lineages of musicians of North India.

Shannon Dudley

Advisory Board Member

Shannon Dudley, professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington School of Music, holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. He teaches courses that include music of Latin America and the Caribbean, American popular music, Music and Community, Comparative Musicianship and Analysis, and graduate seminars in Ethnomusicology. He also directs the UW steelband.