$10.00
Saturday, October 30, 9:30 PM EDT | 6:30 PM PDT | 7 AM IST (on 31st)
Tanjavur Quartet Compositions and their current-day relevance, a panel discussion with Bharathi Ramasubban, Charu Chandrasekar, Christopher Gurusamy, Ganesh Vasudeva and Preethi Ramaprasad.
FREE for Annual Members
Bharathi Ramasubban is a nextgen musician. Bharathi’s music has been honed by the veteran musician Padma Bhushan awardee, Vidvan Sri P S Narayanaswamy. Her music resonates with the grandeur of the Semmangudi bani and is rooted in tradition. Bharathi also has the good fortune to learn from Vidvan Sri R K Shriramkumar. Her focus on highlighting the sahitya (lyric) through the sangita (music) reaffirms her conviction that they are not mutually exclusive. Endowed with a blend of a mellifluous voice, a sharp intellect, and focus on aesthetics, her performances are marked by erudition and emotion.
Bharathi is an A-grade artiste of the All India Radio (AIR), Chennai. She has performed at several venues all over India and abroad. She is the recipient of a number fo awards including the Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award for 2017,
Outstanding Vocalist Award from the Music Academy Madras for her performance during the December Music Season 2016.
Isai Arasi (2012) & MS Subbulakshmi Centenary Award (2015) from Trinity Arts Festival
Sri Yagnaraman Endowment Prize for the Best rendition of Muthuswami Dikshitar Kritis (2012)
Best Female Vocalist Award at the Music Academy, Madras’s Spirit of Youth festival (2007)
Central Government Scholarship from CCRT, New Delhi for Classical vocal music (1996-2004).
Bharathi was an active member of the Youth Association for Classical Music (YACM), an organisation started by like-minded young musicians to promote Carnatic classical music amongst the youth and to inspire and educate the audiences about the art form. She was the editor of Dhwani, the newsletter of the YACM. Bharathi is also passionate about Samskrta literature, heritage, temple history and travel. She has authored articles on Samskrta drama, its origins and ancient dramatists for Sruti, one of India’s premier magazines for the performing arts. Bharathi is a gold medallist in her Bachelors in Chemistry from Stella Maris College, Chennai. She holds a Masters degree in Biotechnological Law & Ethics from the School of Law, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Charu Chandrasekar, an upcoming Bharathanattiyam Artist, is the 9th direct descendent of the Tanjavur Quartet. She is the daughter and disciple of Thanjavur. K.P.K.Chandrasekaran. Charu completed her Arangetram at the age of 14 at the occasion of her Grandfather, Isai Perarignar Thanjavur.K.P.Kittappa Pillai’s Centenary Festival at Thanjavur. She has performed in several cities such as Bangalore, Goa, and Chennai. Charu is the regular performer at the Memorial Natya Vizha for her grandfather Supported by the Indian Ministry of Culture, Conducted by Guru Sri.K.P.K.Chandrasekaran. She completed her MBA from Thanjavur Sastra University and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Bharathanattiyam from Annamalai University. Charu has performed for the Kumbabishekam day of Thanjavur Periya Kovil/Brihadeeshwarar Temple along with her Guru. She has also presented a seminar on “Traditional Choreography” in 2019. Charu Received Kalai Ilamani Award from Govt of Tamilnadu in 2018 and Swami Vivekanandar Award in 2017 for her Academics and Dance.
Christopher Gurusamy is a Bharatanatyam dancer, regarded as one of the front liners of his generation having performed extensively within India and globally. He first trained with his Aunt Smt Jayalakshmi Raman in Perth Australia, which led him to the foremost conservatoire for Indian classical dance training, Kalakshetra Foundation, India. He has received widespread critical acclaim including Best Dance of 2017 (New York Times), HCL Best Performer (Madras Music Academy, 2015), and Kalavahini Fellowship for Choreography (2018), he worked with the Akram Khan Company (UK) in a professional development opportunity supported by the Australia Council (2019). Christopher was a lead dancer with the eminent Leela Samson’s Spanda Dance Company (2012-17). His dance draws from lived experiences in Australia and India as a mixed-race queer dancer. While adhering to the grammar of the form, his aesthetics and choreographic sensibility reflect perspectives that both revisit and deconstruct the traditional repertoire. He performs annually in Chennai’s prestigious December season as a soloist, including the Madras Music Academy & Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.
Ganesh Vasudeva, dancer, and choreographer, trained in Bharatanatyam for more than 30 years under Gurus such as Guru Bragha Bessel, Guru A Lakshman Swamy, Guru Shreelata Suresh. He was awarded ACTA (Alliance for California Traditional Arts) apprenticeship scholarship in 2011 to research and present rare dance compositions of the Tanjore Quartet. In the past ten years, Ganesh has choreographed and presented his own work to critical acclaim. His notable performances include Bharata, ‘Manasaa – A Man, A manifest’, ‘Navarathna – rare gems of Tanjore Quartet’, Shades of Love, ‘Life of Pi’ etc. Ganesh has also been researching male-oriented compositions that are suitable to present on stage and has choreographed & presented several works based on this research.
Preethi Ramaprasad is a multifaceted dancer and musician who has toured and taught in India, Europe, and the U.S. A disciple of Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy in Bharatanatyam, she is committed to the Indian classical arts around the world in scholarship and performance. She co-curates the Varnam Salon, and San Francisco’s first Indian choreography festival, When Eyes Speak, a “Critic’s Pick” in the SF Chronicle funded previously by the Zellerbach Foundation and by the San Francisco Arts Commission. Some of her accomplishments include American Conservatory Theater ArtShare Fellowship, San Francisco; All-Rounder Yuva Kala Bharati from Bharat Kalachar, Chennai, India; “Guru Sanjukta Panigrahi” Endowment from Krishna Gana Sabha; the United States YoungArts Scholarship. Preethi is currently a doctoral student and teacher in Critical Dance Studies at UC Riverside.
