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India's dynamic Carnatic vocal duo join in a rare collaboration with a Twin Cities' Veena virtuoso!
FREE Lecture/Demonstration by these world-renowned artists on June 2nd!


N. Shashikiran and P. Ganesh (Carnatic Vocal) 
 and  
Nirmala Rajasekar (Veena)
with
Nagai Sriram (Violin)  
&
Tanjavur Murugaboopathi (Mridangam)


         Sashikiran, Ganesh Kumar, Nirmala Rajasekar,Tanjore Murugaboopathy, and Nagai Sriram
Friday, June 3, 2005, 7:30 PM

This concert is co-sponsored by KFAI "Fresh Air" Radio (90.3 FM in Minneapolis and 106.7FM in Saint Paul).

Concert Venue:

The Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Center (LHSC)
4401 Upton Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN 55410

Click on the link above or scroll down this page to see a map and parking information. Please do not call the number listed for the LHSC on the day of the concert to ask for directions. Instead please call one of the IMSOM folks whose numbers are listed below.

Tickets:

Purchase advance tickets online (you save $2/ticket by purchasing in advance)
  Students and Seniors (65+) General Admission
Advance $10.00 $15.00
Gate $12.00 $17.00
Save further on IMSOM tickets by becoming a member for 2005. You'll save $18 - $50 over multiple concerts.


FREE Lecture/Demonstration:
Mystifying Beauty of Carnatic Music
with emphasis on the vocal repertoire

Thursday, June 2,  2005, 7:30 pm


Lecture/Demonstration Venue:

Pangea World Theater Studio
Calhoun Arts Building
711 West Lake St., Suite 101
Minneapolis, MN 55408

The Pangea World Theater Studio is located in the Calhoun Arts Building in Uptown Minneapolis, on the Southwest corner of Lake St and Lyndale Ave. There is limited street parking available on Lake and Lyndale - if not, try one or more of the streets parallel to Lake and/or Lyndale. For directions, please click here.


About the artists:

Carnatica brothers - N. Shashikiran and P. Ganesh: The Carnatica brothers started as raga-identifying child prodigies before they were three and have since emerged as front-ranking musicians in the Carnatic circuit. They have performed over 2000 concerts in India and abroad, having garnered both critical acclaim and public popularity. Some of their recent awards include Best Concert and Best Ragam Tanam Pallavi awards at the Music Academy festival (2003-04), Yuva Kala Bharati (2002), and the Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer award for the most talented young artistes (Nov 2004). K. N. Shashikiran, the founder of Carnatica, is the only musician who has also been awarded the Bharat Nirman Excellence Award by the Global Economic Council and the Outstanding Young Indian for the Millenium by Jaycees  International. Ganesh recently created a world record for a 33-hours non-stop marathon performance on the  Chitravina.

Nirmala Rajasekar debuted as a soloist at age 13. As a vocalist, Veena player and composer, she has received many awards and laurels for her work. Empanelled by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, she has performed in Festivals of India around the world to great acclaim in many cities including London, Berne, Zurich, Bombay, New Delhi, Madras, New York, Cleveland and Minneapolis-St.Paul. In Minnesota, Nirmala has composed and performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Walker Art Center, Schubert Club, Cedar Cultural Center, Minnesota Public Radio, PANGEA World Theatre, IMSOM, Women in Motion, and Katha Dance Theater, and several Ragamala Music and Dance Theater productions. Nirmala Rajasekar was primarily responsible for conceiving, planning and executing the very first Aradhana concert in 1995. Since then she has coordinated the planning and execution of all subsequent Aradhana community music festivals for IMSOM over the years. Nirmala is the winner of a Best Concert Award from KFAI Radio in Minneapolis and has won grants for composing and performing from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Playwrights' Center. She has just received a Cultural Collaboration Grant for the year 2004-2005 from the Minnesota State Arts board to explore Carnatic music and its relationship with Jazz with bassist Anthony Cox. The prestigious 'A Grade ranking artist' honor was awarded to Nirmala by Indian Radio and Television in 1991.
Her astounding creativity has been showcased in many recordings of her work by the BBC, England (Library of world artists album)', Audio Lit. Inc- California, USA (Poems of Mirabai), Shruthilaya Records Chennai, India (Melodic Expressions), Speak Easy Records- Minnesota, USA (Words will heal the wound). The music of the documentary film 'The Story of Vishnu - the Temple Elephant' released in January 2003 on DVD has been co-composed by Nirmala. Her next recorded work 'Veena Dhwani - Sounds of the Veena' has been recorded in Minnesota and is awaiting release. Her collaborative work 'Bhakti' (March 2003)- based on the spirituality of 8th Century Indian Saint Andal and 11th Century German Saint Hildegaard Von Bingen  (with composer Ruth Mackenzie and Dancer Aparna Ramaswamy) had a grand 8-show opening. Most recently, Nirmala composed and led the musical ensemble for the Walker Art Center commissioned production of 'Sethu', produced and performed by Ragamala Music and Dance Theater and staged in a spectacular outdoor setting at the Minneapolis sculpture garden in September 2004. She has been invited to perform in the world- renowned International Winter Music Festival in 2004 in Chennai, India.

Nagai Sriram was born into a family of musicians.  He started learning violin from his grandmother Smt. R. Komalavalli and underwent advanced training from his uncle Sri Nagai Muralidharan.  He has accompanied several top musicians from South India and has traveled abroad many times.  He has won many prizes and awards, namely "Yuva Kala Bharathy" during the year 2003.  He is a B-high artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan Television in Chennai.

Tanjavur Murugaboopathi is one of the senior and most sought after percussionists in the Carnatic music field today. He is the leading disciple of the great mridangist Tanjavur Upendran. Sri Murugaboopathi is the first choice mridangist for leading artistes such as Mandolin Wizard Sri U.Srinivas, Sri T.N.Seshagopalan, Smt. Aruna Sairam among others. He has been regularly accompanying the Carnatica Bros. Sri Murugaboopathi has traveled all over the world and has won several awards.


Directions and parking:

Map of the LHSC location
Outside view of the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community CenterThe Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Center (LHSC) is located at the Southeast corner of 44th Street and Upton Avenue in beautiful Linden Hills neighborhood in South Minneapolis, just west of Lake Harriet. The map on the right shows the major routes to the LHSC from elsewhere in the Twin Cities area. The LHSC has its own parking lot to the South and East of the building itself, and you can usually find some on-street parking. Another option on the weekends is a school parking lot a block Northwest of the LHSC.







For further information contact:


Shivanthi Sathanandan (651) 698-0774 shivanthi@imsom.org
Ameeta Kelekar (651) 787-0497 ameeta@imsom.org
Kari Askeland (612) 879-9695 kari@imsom.org

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IMSOM, established in 1980, is a registered non-profit (501(c)(3)) organization serving Minneapolis-St.Paul and the greater Twin Cities Metro Area.

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