BUY TICKETS
Day 1
Saturday, September 9, 2023 – Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre
1. Scintillating Strings (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)
A Carnatic music concert on the Veena by the Karaikudi Quartet.
https://www.karaikudivoyage.us
(Sreevidhya Chandramouli, Chandramouli, Kapila, and Sushruta Chandramouli)
Mridangam by Jagadeeswaran Jayaprakash
Now located in Northwest US, the Chandramouli family is part of the 10th and 11th generations of the Karaikudi Veena Tradition. The quartet is comprised of Chandramouli, Sreevidhya Chandramouli, Kapila, and Sushruta Chandramouli.
Sreevidhya is a 10th generation Veena player and has performed with her mother and teacher Rajeswari Padmanabhan and as a soloist around the world. Sreevidhya represented the State of Oregon at the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage in 2009. She underwent vocal training under Varimangalam Lakshminarayan and learned watercolor painting from S. Rajam. In addition to composing Carnatic music, she depicts their scriptural and contemporary themes in watercolor. Sreevidhya has taught Indian music at both the University of Oregon and the University of Washington and has been an independent teacher of Veena and vocal music for over three decades.
Chandramouli, son and disciple of Veenai Lakshmi Amal, is a member of the 9th generation of the Karaikudi Veena Tradition. After a career as a software engineer, he teaches both Veena and vocal music alongside Sreevidhya and continues to compose Varnams and Kritis and sets Tamil literary works to tune.
Kapila and Sushruta, sons of Sreevidhya & Chandramouli, are 11th generation descendants in the Karaikudi Veena Tradition. Kapila is a mechanical engineer heading a startup focused on ultra-high efficiency jet propulsions and precision acoustic sensors. Sushruta is a biophysics graduate and is a building science analyst and builder focusing on high-performance passive house design and construction. Kapila & Sushruta received their training in Veena from their grandmother Rajeswari Padmanabhan as well as their parents. They perform Veena in duet and as a quartet along with their parents. Both of them partake in the family tradition of teaching Veena and Vocal to students in addition to workshops on instrument construction and maintenance.
Jagadeeswaran Jayaprakash
Jagadeeswaran Jayaprakash received mridangam training from highly esteemed maestros, Ghatam Vidushi Smt. Sukkanya Ramgopal, Shri B. Ganapathyraman, and the renowned Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. Trichy Sankaran. Through the years, he has collaborated with numerous distinguished musicians both in India and the USA. Since 2009, Jagadeeswaran has actively contributed to the Seattle music scene as a teacher. His students have been part of dance arangetrams (debuts), recitals, and concerts, both locally in Seattle and at prestigious venues throughout India and the USA.
In recognition of his dedicated contributions to the Seattle music scene, he was awarded the “Laya Shiromani” title by Samskriti Kala Kendra in 2023. Jagadeeswaran is a Software Engineer at Google.
2. Unpacking Shared Experiences in Salpuri and Bharathanatyam (7:40pm – 9:20pm)
A presentation by Dr. Hye-Won Hwang, and Dr. Jyothsna Sainath accompanied by Wachira Waigwa-Stone & Supraja Ranganathan.
Dr. Hye-Won Hwang is a dance artist & scholar and a faculty member at the Dance Program in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
As a dance artist, she performed repertoires of classical ballet, modern and contemporary dance, Korean traditional dance, musical theater dance, and experimental dance with music and interactive technology at recognizable venues in Korea, Europe, and the United States.
As a dance scholar, her research interests lie in the global circulation of dance and other bodily practices, linked to issues of body, gender, sexuality, class, political economy, institutions, and identity.
Jyothsna Sainath is a Bharatanatyam dance artist based in Salt Lake City, UT. She is known for probing thematic content from a variety of sources via the language of Bharatanatyam. Having trained in Bharatanatyam in Bengaluru, India, she has been a student of renowned Gurus, Padmini Ramachandran, Radha Sridhar and Narmada has also learned the Karanas from Guru Sundari Santhanam. Today, her performing and training schedule apart, Jyothsna also routinely offers guest lectures and lecture demonstrations in academic settings. In April 2022 she was an artist-in-residence at the School of Music, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In June 2022, Jyothsna was one of ten Utah artists who were awarded the prestigious Artist Career Empowerment Grant for the year by the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Wachira Waigwa-Stone is an accompanist, performer, composer, session player, and teacher. He holds a master’s degree in percussion performance from the University of Utah. He has toured the country and had his music performed internationally. He currently works as an accompanist for Tanner Dance and the School of Dance at the University of Utah.
Day 2
Sunday, September 10, 2023 – Jeane Wagner Theatre
3. Literature and Culture of Ancient Tamils, through the narrative history
of Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan (2pm – 2:45pm)
Indra Neelameggham
Indra Neelameggham is a literary scholar and historian based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Indra is the first person to have translated Kalki’s magnum opus “Ponniyin Selvan” into English, (1990) albeit only 50% of the whole novel was completed at that time. As early as 1997 the chapters were published on the internet, in sequel-novel (thodar-kadai) format.
As early as 1997 the chapters were published on the internet, in sequel-novel (thodar-kadai) format. Her translation is considered to be the appropriate method of translating the historical novel into English without losing the cadence of the original style of Tamil writing by Linguistic Professor S Rajendran.
Indra has a background in Mass Communication Journalism; in the last few decades, her jobs involved technical writing, accounting, and interpretation services. She is a well-sought-after public speaker on various topics including cultures of India, Hinduism, and Indian Mythology.
Supraja Ranganathan
Supraja Ranganathan is a Carnatic vocalist, based in Salt Lake City. Supraja is a disciple of Smt. Nandini Sankar and Smt. Sumitra Vasudev. She has performed at various venues in India since her debut 3-hour concert at the age of 14 in Chennai, India. During her undergraduate days in India, Supraja was an integral part of her university’s Carnatic music club, Gaanavarshini, in bringing music lovers together to share the knowledge of Carnatic music.
Since joining the Nitya Nritya Foundation last year, Supraja has been a part of ensemble presentations at the Nitya Nritya Annual Festival and local community outreach events across the Salt Lake Valley.
4. Vibrant Hues of Hindustani (3:00 pm – 4:30 pm)
A Hindustani concert by:
Preeti Tamhankar (voice)
Manoj Tamhankar (Harmonium)
Tarun Gudipaty (Tabla)
Preeti Tamhankar is a young Hindustani vocalist, based in California. She had the opportunity to commence her early learning under the guidance of her parents Archana and Manoj Tamhankar, and later Vidushi Late Dr. Veena Sahasrabuddhe. She is currently under the tutelage of her guru Pt. Vijay Koparkar. She has won many competitions in classical and light music genres, in July 2017, Preeti was awarded
‘Swar-naad sanmaan’ by Haribhau Vishwanath Musicals, Mumbai. Preeti has performed classical music concerts in India and in the USA including the coveted Ali Akbar Khan College of Music at San Rafael. She has also recorded a music album ‘Krishnanjali’ featuring compositions by Pt. Hemant Pendse.
Preeti has been also learning Kathak from Smt. Anuradha Nag for the last 15+ years and it allows her to explore the nuances of rhythm in congruence with her vocal music training.
Manoj Tamhankar
Manoj Tamhankar learned to play the harmonium in the Hindustani genre from an
early age from Shri Hari Baba Khare at Guhagar in Konkan Maharashtra. He has had
opportunities to accompany many well-known musicians such as Pandita’s late Dr.
Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pandita Late Laxmi Shankar, Pandit Vijay Koparkar,
Pandita Shubhada Paradkar, Pandita Arati Ankalikar.
He also has an interest in composing music and has two music albums published, one
by Times Music India and the other by Jay Heramb Productions. With his wife Archana,
he continues to learn and teach Hindustani Classical Music in the San Francisco Bay
area.
Tarun Gudipaty
Tarun Gudipaty is a well-known Tabla artist and percussionist based in Salt Lake City, UT. He trained for several years studying in the Delhi Gharana under Ustad Salim Khan and currently continues his travels Sri Ajinkya Joshi, who is the disciple of Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Tarun has also undertaken intensive workshops from Ty Burhoe, who is a student of Ustad Zakir Hussain. Tarun has performed at a number of events both with Hindustani and Carnatic musicians, vocalists, Bharatanatyam and kathak dancers, both in India and across the United States.
He also performs with the Utah-based, Desibels music band. While a graduate student, Tarun was an integral member of the band Sruti where he created innovative music for classical Hindustani performances, and semi classical genres such as bhajans, ghazals, kirtans and qawwalis. He has also performed and lectured on the art of tabla at the Bountiful Davis Arts Center and more recently at TedX Salt Lake City. Tarun’s performances have been featured on websites such as loveDancemore, the Catalyst, and in the Salt Lake Tribune.
5. The Four Horsemen by Jiva Performing Arts (4:45pm – 6:15pm)
The Four Horsemen is an innovative Indian Classical dance production, exploring
symbolism from the story of the Apocalypse through Indian classical dance, music
and Sanskrit poetry. The work centers around four vignettes of life and death through
four female protagonists who represent the universal human experience. The stories – a
woman shackled to the life of a courtesan (conquest), a woman reminiscing the night
she spent with her lover who is at war (war), a mother searching for nourishment for
her child in the midst of a sandstorm (famine), and finally a woman at the end of her life
recalling memories that span youthful joy to hardship and loss (death) – are
touchingly timely. The work challenges the notion of Indian classical dance content
and technique and moves beyond the traditional to incorporate a cross-cultural
analysis of female experience.
The Four Horsemen highlights original choreography by Sonali Skandan and Maya
Kulkarni and the Company with music commissioned by the celebrated composer
Rajkumar Bharathi (Chennai, India) and Bala Skandan (NYC) with sound design by
Sai Sharavanam of Resound, India. The show features a cast of four dancers.
Jiva Dance is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning dance company based in
NYC under the Artistic Direction of Sonali Skandan. The company has created
compelling works that emphasize its belief that tradition is a continuum of
evolution.
Concept & Choreography: Sonali Skandan and Maya Kulkarni
Music: Rajkumar Bharathi with rhythmic inputs by Bala Skandan
Sound Design: Sai Shravanam, Resound India
Dancers: Amrita Doshi, Sonali Skandan, MAdhumanti Banerjee, Anugraha
Sridhar
Original Light Design: Betsy Chester
Script: Shiv Subramanian
Rehearsal Director and Stage Manager: Abinaya Vignesh
Music edits: Anurag Deeconda
Costume Design: Sonali Skandan
Premiered March 2019 at Dixon Place, NYC
Project Support: Dance/NYC, CUNY Dance Initiative, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs
TECHNICAL & CREATIVE CREDITS FOR FESTIVAL:
Poster & Media Design: Samathmika Balaji
Lighting: Glenn Linder
Sound: Blake Alonzo
Projectionist: Swetha Sankar
Videography: Sudipta Maity & Apratim Majumder
Photography: Kyphuong Luong