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![]() The 13th Annual Aradhana A musical tribute to the great composers of Carnatic (South Indian) Classical Music by Twin Cities’ vocalists and instrumentalists. Saturday, November 15,
2008, 2:00 PM Venue: The Hindu Temple of
MN Community Center - Auditorium, Maple Grove Admission: The event is free!About the program: The
Twin-Cities Aradhana has been a fixture of the Communities' calendar
since 1995. Modeled after the tradition of Thyagaraja Aradhana,
performed annually in Thiruvayyar, India, Aradhana-2008's main purpose
is to celebrate the works of and pay tributes to, Purandaradasa
(considered the father of Carnatic music), the trinity of Carnatic
music (Saint Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri) and
other great composers by rendering their select compositions. This
is one of the rare opportunities to see and hear Carnatic music as a
chorus presentation. (Carnatic music is almost always performed solo.).
Lead Vocalists: Nirmala
Rajasekar, Leela Ramanathan Nirmala
Rajasekar began her performing career as a solo veena player and
vocalist at
age 13 in Nirmala’s
achievements and long track record is highlighted with many honors and
laurels.
The gradations board in India of Indian Radio and Television has
awarded the
prestigious ‘A Grade ranking artist’ grade to Nirmala in 1990. Several
organizations have felicitated Nirmala for her invaluable contributions
to the
world of music and have bestowed upon her many awards and honors
including the
titles of ‘Nada
Kala Vipanchee’ [holder
of the pure tone] and ‘Veenai
Sudaroli‘[the beacon
light of veena]. Her creativity
and musicianship is showcased in many recordings - including the BBC,
England‘s
‘Library of world artists’ Album. Most recently, Nirmala Rajasekar
collaborated
with some of the fine practitioners in Carnatic music, to come up with
an
exquisite CD, ‘Song of the Veena’ released worldwide in Nov 2007 by
Innova
records. She has
received many grants, commissions and scholarships – from the American
Composer’s
Forum, Minnesota State Arts Board, Jerome Foundation, Meet the
Composer. Nirmala
is the first Indian classical musician to have been chosen as an
Artistic
Fellow by the Bush Foundation (2006 –2007). As a very
innovative composer and performer, Nirmala has merged the world of
Carnatic
Indian music with many art forms of the world. She has created music
with the
celebrated American poet Robert Bly. She has written the soundscapes in
many
collaborative works with other musical disciplines - Jazz and Western
Classical
music to name some. She has worked in over a dozen projects with dance
and
theater. She has performed with string quartets and orchestras and has
featured
Carnatic music with the music of 11nth century German saint Hildegaard
Von
Bingen. Her ‘veena suite’ for Symphony Orchestra a co-creation (the
first one
ever) with composer Jan Gilbert was presented in May 2007 at the Nirmala is also
a dedicated teacher who has been recognized in several National and
State
rosters of educators of caliber. Leela
Ramanathan is a highly accomplished
vocalist. She helped launch the Aradhana in the Twin Cities and has
been one of
its lead vocalists since inception. Leela started learning Carnatic
music at
the age of seven and has been performing on stage for the last three
decades.
Leela received initial training from Mrs. Subbalakshmi, disciple of Sri
Kalakkadu Ramanarayana Iyer and from Mrs. P.K. Rajalakshmi. She then
received
advanced training from acclaimed musicologist, Dr. C.S. Balakrishnan
for over a
decade. She has given numerous concerts in Directions:
IMSOM’s Fall
2008
Concert Series has been supported in part by funds
provided by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s
(MRAC) Arts Activities Support and
Capital Grants, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature,
the Honeywell
“Dollars
for Doers” Grant, and IMSOM members. This concert is
co-sponsored by KFAI “Fresh Air” Radio (90.3 FM
Minneapolis/106.7 FM St. Paul). © Copyright 2008 Indian Music Society of Minnesota |