Rajeswari Satish - Carnatic vocal
Kumar Kanthan - Mridangam
Arun Ramamurthy - violin
Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for an evening of Carnatic Vocal Music performed by Rajeswari Satish.
Rajeswari Satish
Rajeswari Satish (also known as Rajeswari Ranganathan) is a South Indian Carnatic vocalist. Rajeswari’s career spans over twenty-five years of teaching and thirty-five years of performance.
Introduced to music by her mother Smt. Vijayam Ranganathan, Rajeswari began her formal training with Sri M.A. Venugopal at the age of seven. She received the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship from the Government of India to continue her training with Sangeeta Kala Acharya Sri C.S. Krishna Iyer for the next ten years. Rajeswari then studied with Padma Bhushan Sri P.S. Narayanaswamy, acquiring nearly twenty years of rigorous training. Rajeswari has had the opportunity to learn further from other illustrious gurus such as Padma Bhushan Lalgudi Sri G. Jayaraman, Sangeetakalanidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli, Sangeeta Kala Acharya Smt. Suguna Varadachari and Sangeeta Kala AcharyaSeetha Narayanan on various occasions.
Rajeswari’s performance career includes concerts at All India Radio, multiple organizations in Chennai during the December season festivals, at numerous venues in the USA (such as the Cleveland Aradhana and CMANA, New Jersey) and in the UK (such as Nehru Center, Milapfest). A prominent teacher in the NJ area, Rajeswari has trained several students all the way from foundational stages into full-fledged concert artists. Many of her students have won prestigious prizes in national level competitions. For two consecutive years, the state of New Jersey recognized Rajeswari as a master teacher by awarding the Folk Arts Apprenticeship scholarship to her student to pursue advanced training with her. Rajeswari has co-organized local music events for the community youth music organization Yuva Sangeetha Lahari. She is currently a doctoral candidate at The Graduate Center, CUNY, pursuing her research on the nāgasvaram ensemble tradition.
Rajeswari Satish (also known as Rajeswari Ranganathan) is a South Indian Carnatic vocalist. Rajeswari’s career spans over twenty-five years of teaching and thirty-five years of performance.
Introduced to music by her mother Smt. Vijayam Ranganathan, Rajeswari began her formal training with Sri M.A. Venugopal at the age of seven. She received the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship from the Government of India to continue her training with Sangeeta Kala Acharya Sri C.S. Krishna Iyer for the next ten years. Rajeswari then studied with Padma Bhushan Sri P.S. Narayanaswamy, acquiring nearly twenty years of rigorous training. Rajeswari has had the opportunity to learn further from other illustrious gurus such as Padma Bhushan Lalgudi Sri G. Jayaraman, Sangeetakalanidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli, Sangeeta Kala Acharya Smt. Suguna Varadachari and Sangeeta Kala AcharyaSeetha Narayanan on various occasions.
Rajeswari’s performance career includes concerts at All India Radio, multiple organizations in Chennai during the December season festivals, at numerous venues in the USA (such as the Cleveland Aradhana and CMANA, New Jersey) and in the UK (such as Nehru Center, Milapfest). A prominent teacher in the NJ area, Rajeswari has trained several students all the way from foundational stages into full-fledged concert artists. Many of her students have won prestigious prizes in national level competitions. For two consecutive years, the state of New Jersey recognized Rajeswari as a master teacher by awarding the Folk Arts Apprenticeship scholarship to her student to pursue advanced training with her. Rajeswari has co-organized local music events for the community youth music organization Yuva Sangeetha Lahari. She is currently a doctoral candidate at The Graduate Center, CUNY, pursuing her research on the nāgasvaram ensemble tradition.
Kumar Kanthan
Kumar Kanthan began learning mridangam at the age of 8 from Sri Nagarajan of Delhi. He later continued his tutelage under Sri Ravichandra of London and Australia. For nearly four decades he had the privilege of receiving advanced training from the legendary mridangam maestro, Guru Kaaraikudi Mani, and he is currently under the guidance of Guru Mani’s senior-most disciple, Sri R. Ramesh. Kumar has performed in concerts in the USA, Europe and India and has accompanied many senior artists including “Sangita Kalanidhis” such as B. RajamIyer, R K Srikantan, T.K. Govinda Rao, and Trichur Ramachandran. Kumar, a Yale graduate, resides in New Jersey and works in the field of finance. He runs the Sruthi Laya Kendra USA institution in New Jersey where he teaches the sought-after Kaaraikudi Mani style of play to select and dedicated mridangam students. Kumar has been teaching mridangam for over 30 years and has taught students to the arangetram level and beyond and his students have won first prizes in prestigious competitions such as the Cleveland Aradhana.
Arun Ramamurthy
Arun Ramamurthy is a multifaceted violinist, composer and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Rooted in South Indian classical Carnatic music, Arun is a versatile musician, performing internationally in both traditional Carnatic and Hindustani settings, as well as blurring genres with his own innovative projects like the acclaimed Arun Ramamurthy Trio. Arun studied under the celebrated violinist brothers, Sri Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Mysore Manjunath, the distinguished violinist Sri. Ananthakrishnan as well as many early years with western classical violinist Jim Mate.
He leads the Arun Ramamurthy Trio, an ensemble that brings a fresh approach to Carnatic classical repertoire and features Arun's original composition work. Praised by All About Jazz as “a beautiful, exotic, ear-opening listening experience" ART recently recorded their 2nd studio album in January 2023, featuring newly commissioned music. He also co-leads a violin duo project with wife and violinist Trina Basu, reimagining string chamber music through the lens of Indian classical raga. The duo plans to release their debut studio album “Nakshatra” on January 20, 2023. Other notable projects Arun is involved with include Raga Maqam (ensemble with Amir ElSaffar bridging the worlds of Raga and Maqam) and Ragmala Go: Organic Orchestra & BRM (large ensemble led by percussionist / composer Adam Rudolph).
He has shared the stage with luminaries like Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Sudha Ragunathan, Flute Shashank, Subhankar Banerjee, Mashkoor Ali Khan
Reggie Workman, Kenny Werner, Jamey Haddad, Amir ElSaffar, Hamid Drake, Adam Rudolph, Hamid Al-Saadi, Martha Redbone, Awa Sangho amongst others. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of musical genres including Jazz, Arabic Maqam, Afro-Cuban, Malian, American folk, Western classical, and other creative and improvisational styles. Arun's music has brought him prestigious stages like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Celebrate Brooklyn and many more.
As a composer, Arun has created new works for his Trio (ART), scores for theatrical productions such as Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink, composition for Indian classical dance, and for the pioneering musician's collective Brooklyn Raga Massive. Arun was recently commissioned by Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works grant to create music for his ensemble, Arun Ramamurthy Trio. Arun was also commissioned through New Music USA to compose original work for Malini Srinivasan's 'Appeasing Radhika', an ambitious project investigating Devadasi lives in Indian Classical performing arts.
Arun is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Brooklyn Raga Massive, a progressive genre-bending collective of musicians rooted-in and inspired-by the classical music of India. He created and produced the innovative series Carnatic Sundays at the iconic West Village haunt, Cornelia Street Cafe. Throughout his career, Arun has curated and performed in hundreds of concerts bringing together music from all over the world.
Arun also is a dedicated educator, teaching Carnatic music privately to children and adult students, professional string players and instrumentalists from various genres. He conducts workshops and has held teaching-artist residencies working with student ensembles at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College’s Jazz & Big Band program, NYU, Yale University, Sarah Lawrence University, and many others.