An Online Performing Arts Festival

Ties That Bind: the pandemic, technology and the arts

We, in Columbus, Ohio, have been in the isolating grip of a viral pandemic for three months now. Social interactions have been impacted in ways one could never have imagined before its onset. Our diverse humanity has been united via this singular…
In class with Sri. Ramachandra Sastry at Kalakshetra

Why Carnatic music matters more than ever by Ludwig Pesch

For this musicologist and author, there are good reasons to believe that Carnatic music matters, perhaps more than ever and almost anywhere in the world.  So why not perform and teach it in the service of better education for all,…

The problem with Carnatic in the Bay

What would you like to do this Friday?” my husband asks. As I peruse the listings for concerts, I am amazed to see how many youngsters are performing Indian classical music. This is true not just in India but also in the US. From Boston to San Diego, classical music and dance schools are flourishing. And this isn’t a phenomenon limited just to big cities.

Setlur Ramaswami Iyer in San Diego

The Indian Fine Arts Society of San Diego is having a concert by Vidhushi Trivandrum Seethalakshmi. The concert is in memory of of S.A. Ramaswami Iyer (1855 -1936) the principal disciple of Walajapet Krishnaswamy Bhagavatar who was the son and disciple of Walajapet Venkataramana Bhagavatar .

70 Years Young; an interview with C.V. Chandrasekhar

The eminent Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, composer and teacher Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar shared his memories as we were seated at the Kalakshetra auditorium with his dancer wife Jaya, waiting to watch the program of the evening. “You know I am 70 years old, don’t you,” he says with a wide smile and a chuckle.