Carnatic Concert with Abhinaya and Dance

A senior disciple of Professor Sudharani Raghupathy, Smitha Magal has been a student of Bharatanatyam for over four decades. She had her stage debut in 1978 and since then has taught Bharatanatyam, given several performances, conducted workshops and lecture demonstrations. Smitha Magal is an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Dance/Drama/Film in Kenyon College, Gambier, OH.

Having taught Bharatanatyam for several years in India, Smitha founded her dance school SILAMBAM in the United States in 1992. The goal of SILAMBAM is not only to make the young students good dancers, but also to mold them into cultured and artistic individuals who are confident youth, team players and better world citizens with high moral values.

Over the years, Smitha Magal and her students have been invited to perform at various venues across Ohio. Her performances include fundraiser programs to help the victims of the Tsunami of 2005, Asha Ray of Hope, Chinmaya Mission to name a few. Her students have also benefited from day long to week long, immersive Bharatanatyam camps, conducted by acclaimed visiting teachers & performers from India and other parts of the world. Smitha Magal has presented several students in their Rangapraveshams (Classical Dance Debuts)

A graduate in Nutrition & Dietetics from the University of Madras, India, Smitha Magal also learnt the piano and has passed several of the exams conducted by the Trinity College of Music, London with distinction. In 1995, Shree Bharatalaya awarded her with the title of “Bharatha Kala Bhushana” in recognition of her artistic prowess. The Ohio Arts Council awarded Smitha Magal the Individual Artists Fellowship in 2001 and the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Award in 2020.

Devulapally Sumamala comes from a family of skilled Carnatic classical music artists . She was Initiated into Carnatic music in both vocal and veena at a very young age by the masterful hand of her father, Sri Devulapally Jayanth Kumar, a maestro in flute, and a myriad of instruments . Later, she finessed her veena skills under the tutelage of Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh and continued advanced vocal lessons under the guidance of Dr. Mala Swamy. A testament to her versatility, Sumamala holds a Master’s in Classical Music and Computer Sciences. She has been running a music school in Columbus Ohio, lovingly nurturing aspiring talents across diverse age groups for over two decades. Sumamala is an experienced performer who has played on many stages as a main and supporting artist. Her music, filled with engaging melodies and expressive performance, helps audiences discover the beauty of it.

Ajay Ravichandran began studying the art of mridangam at a very young age in Minnesota, under the guidance of Sri V. Srinivasan – a disciple of the late Sangeetha Kala Acharya Kumbakonam Sri Rajappa Iyer. He continued his pursuit under the guidance of Guru, Dr. PK Swaminathan in Maryland, of the Padmavibhushan Sangita Kalanidhi Umayalpuram Sri K. Sivaraman School of Mridangam. Ajay has received advanced training from his Paramaguru’s school, and additionally received mentorship from vidwans Kumbakonam Sri KR Ganesh and Anoor Sri Ananthakrishna Sharma. After his arangetram in Washington, DC in 2008, Ajay has been privileged to accompany many prominent musicians and dancers across the US and in India. More recently, he has been receiving advanced training with Vidwan Dr. Patri Satish Kumar. Besides mridangam, Ajay also plays a variety of other percussion instruments across many genres. During his undergraduate studies at University of Maryland – Baltimore County, he studied Western percussion and jazz drum set under the tutelage of Tom Goldstein, as well as Tabla from Ustad Hamid Hossain. Outside of music, Ajay is a physician and currently practices in Ohio.