Dr. Purnaprajna Bangere
Purnaprajna comes from the Parur school of violin players in India. He has had rigorous training in Carnatic music under the well known south Indian violinist and Guru Sri. HKN Murthy, who is himself a student of the legendary violinist Sri. M. S. Gopalakrishnan. Purnaprajna, is a quintessential representative of the Parur style, which is characterized by its emphasis on technical virtuosity and musicianship. Purnaprajna is a well known presence in many reputed musical venues, he has been invited to give solo recitals in prestigious music festivals such as the Learnquest music festival in Boston, the Cleveland Music festival and the Toronto Music festival. Purnaprajna is a professor of Mathematics and Music at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He draws on his expertise in mathematics to use Algebraic Geometric structures to compose music. This effort has led to the birth of the Purna Lokha quartet, a collaboration with Grammy awardee David Balakrishnan, Jeff Harshbarger, and Amit Kavthekar. Most recently, Purna Lokha was featured in a concert at the Asian Museum of Art at San Francisco and the Lied Center of Kansas. Purna’s musical website is: www.purnaviolin.com
Amit Kavthekar
Amit Kavthekar, has been a student of the Tabla under the guidance of great maestro Ustad Allarakha from an early age of 6. Since 1991, he was fortunate to be taught tabla intricacies by the world famous tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain. He has accompanied some of India’s greatest musicians such as Pt. Jasraj, Ustad Shahid Parvez Ustad Ashish Khan, Pt. Buddhadev Dasgupta and Pt. Kushal Das. Presently Amit is teaching in New England School of Music which is based in Boston MA area.
Dr. Karaikudi S. Subramanian
Dr. Subramanian is a 9th generation Vina player who trained under his grand uncle and adoptive father, the legendary Karaikudi Vinai Sambasiva Iyer.
Dr. Subramanian has had an illustrious career as a Vina player, composer, educator and researcher. An alumnus of Wesleyan University, where he received his doctorate in Ethnomusicology, he returned to India to assume Professorship of Music at the prestigious Department of Music, University of Madras. He retired in 2002 to focus on his own institution, Brhaddhvani Reasearch and Training Center for Musics of the World.
Dr. Subramanian is currently on a Summer Residency with Nitya Nritya Foundation. See here for more information about the residency.
Hamsa Raghuvir
Hamsa Raghuvir is a prodigious and versatile vocalist well groomed by the legendary violinist Padma Bhushan Sri. Lalgudi G. Jayaraman.
As the daughter of Dr. Karaikudi S. Subramanian (founder of Brhaddhvani – brhaddhvani.org), she has imbibed a structured approach to music education.
Hamsa has performed Carnatic concerts widely and winner of music competitions in top TV channels. She has also had myriad opportunities to learn and interact with Western composers and Jazz musicians.
Dr. David Nelson
David Nelson, has been performing and teaching South Indian drumming since 1975. From his principal teacher, the renowned T. Ranganathan, he learned to accompany a wide range of styles, including Bharata Natyam, South India’s classical dance. He has a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, where he is Adjunct Assistant Professor in South Indian drumming. He has accompanied well-known artists throughout the United States, Europe, India, and China. He has also written extensively on South Indian drumming, including a major article in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. His latest book, Solkattu Manual: an Introduction to the Rhythmic Language of South Indian Music, was published by Wesleyan University Press in 2008. In 2013 he was awarded the title Kala Seva Mani at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival.
Jyothsna Sainath
Jyothsna Sainath is a student of renowned Gurus, late Guru Padmini Ramachandran, Guru Radha Sridhar and the late Guru Narmada. She has also learnt the Karanas from late Guru Sundari Santhanam.
Jyothsna has been a recipient of Government of India scholarships throughout the course of her dancing education.
She has an MA in Performing Arts from Bangalore University, India; and is an auditioned ‘A’ Grade solo artiste for Doordarshan National Network, the television channel of the Government of India.
On moving to the US, Jyothsna has performed widely within the US and has conducted Bharatanatyam workshops and Master classes in various academic and non-academic environments.
Jyothsna is the artistic director of the Nitya Nritya Dance Company, a dance performing and training company based in Salt Lake City, and the President of the Nitya Nritya Foundation.