Carnatic classical vocalist Vid. Vrinda Acharya joins us on August 17th for this month’s Colors of Raga, a deep-listening classical concert series. She will be presenting a riveting traditional concert that will feature various ragas and compositions with interesting elements of improvisations. She will be accompanied by a Arun Ramamurthy on the violin and Sriram Raman on the mridangam.

About the Artists:

‍Vid. Vrinda Acharya is a well-known Carnatic Vocalist from Bangalore, India. Being the prime disciple of the legendary Sangeeta Kalacharya Vid. Neela Ramgopal, she has carved a niche for herself through her traditional concerts, thematic programs, lecture demonstrations and music workshops. Emphasis on bhava and clarity of sahitya, adherence to classical authenticity, eye for intricate nuances, wide repertoire and enthusiastic rendering of kritis are her special attributes which, coupled with a rich mellifluous voice, have groomed her into a proficient performer representing a purely classical school of music. She is a graded artist of AIR, recipient of several awards including Ananya Yuva Puraskara and Aryabhata Award, has performed across India and abroad, given programs on many TV channels and released many albums.

Vrinda is an M.Com degree holder (Gold Medalist - first rank for Bangalore University), an MA in Sanskrit and a rank holder in Vidwat in Carnatic Music. A multi-faceted personality, she is also an academic scholar, researcher and writer in her own right. She has presented papers at several national and international conferences on music and Vedic heritage, and also recipient of research fellowships. She has given lectures on Indian music at many universities in the US. She is also well- versed in Sampradaya Bhajana Paddhati and an amateur Veena artist. She is the Vice-President of 'Anubhooti'- an organization co-founded by her for the promotion and propagation of Indian arts and culture.

Arun Ramamurthy is a multifaceted violinist, composer and educator based in Brooklyn, NY, and is a disciple of the celebrated Carnatic violinist brothers, Sri Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Mysore Manjunath and the esteemed violinist Sri Ananthakrishnan. He is a versatile artist, performing internationally in both traditional Carnatic and Hindustani settings as well as bridging genres with his own innovative projects like the acclaimed Arun Ramamurthy Trio. Arun is a recipient of Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works commission, and will premiere the original work end of 2022. Arun has shared stages with luminaries like Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, Sudha Ragunathan, Subhankar Banerjee, Reggie Workman, Kenny Werner, Jamey Haddad, Amir ElSaffar among others. Arun's music has brought him prestigious stages like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Celebrate Brooklyn and more. Arun is a co-founder of Brooklyn Raga Massive, a collective of forward thinking musicians rooted-in and inspired-by the classical music of India. He also created the popular concert series Carnatic Sundays at Cornelia Street Café, an iconic jazz venue in New York’s West Village. As an educator, Arun teaches students ranging from beginners to professional musicians in Indian music performance, technique and theory. He has taught workshops on Indian classical music at music schools, universities, conservatories and summer music programs.

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Sriram Raman is a mridangist and teacher based in New York and a disciple of the mridangam maestro, Neyveli R. Narayanan. Sriram started playing the mridangam at the age of 6. For the past 2 decades, Sriram has accompanied several popular artists in Carnatic concerts in the US and in Chennai, his hometown. Sriram is a regular performer in the annual December season of classical concerts held in Chennai. Sriram also plays drums for NY-based rock band, Sepoy. Professionally, Sriram is a Product Manager and has had the privilege of working at some of the best technology firms in the world.