Carnatic classical vocalist Sangeetha Swaminathan presents an evening of compositions highlighting the connections between ragas and rasa (emotions). The concert will feature a string of traditional pieces based on both Carnatic and Hindustani ragas as well as a Ragam Tanam Pallavi, the most elaborate improvised section of the performance where the musicians get to showcase the full extent of their virtuosity and depth of knowledge and skill. Sangeetha will be accompanied by Arun Ramamurthy on violin and Sriram Raman on mridangam.
About the Artists
Sangeetha Swaminathan has been performing since the age of 9. She first learned music from her father Sri Karur Krishnamoorthy and subsequently from Shrimati Sudha Raghunathan, the foremost female exponent of Carnatic music today. She is an ‘A’ grade artiste of the All India Radio Madras, an important recognition in Carnatic music and has emerged as the torchbearer of her style of singing among the next generation of musicians. Sangeetha is a regular performer at the annual Carnatic music festival in December in Chennai, India and has several awards and titles to her credit including from the Music Academy of Madras and the Carnatic Music Association of North America. She has recorded over a dozen music albums with Charsur Digital Workstation, the premier music label for Carnatic music. Since moving to the U.S. in 2002, Sangeetha has performed in cities across the US and in other locations worldwide such as London, Singapore, the UAE, Seoul, and in Israel, Syria, Cyprus, Italy and Romania under the sponsorship of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
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. Learn more at www.arunramamurthy.com.
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.
