On the 17th of July 2010 at 5:30 p.m. Dhruva Foundation presents a Carnatic concert at East London UK Vocal - Trichur V Ramachandran Violin Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth Mridangam - Neyveli Venkatesh Ghatam - RR Pratap Morsing - Sithamparanathan Venue - Trinity Centre, The Parish Church of St Luke, Great Ilford, Baxter Road Ilford Essex IG1 2HN

There is also a GNB music and manodharma sangeetham workshop by Charumathi Ramachandran at Chelmsford UK on 18th July

Contact Sharma2000@gmail.com or 07984 170 750 for more information and participation.

The Malaysia Bharathanatya Dance Association will be having its second annual festival of Barathanatyam from the 11th to 13th June 2010.

This is the event -

On 11th June
Dance recital by Urmila Sathynarayanan accompanied by live music at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre

On 12th June
9.00 am - opening ceremony by the Minister of Information, Communications and Culture of Malaysia
10.30am - Seminar on Bharathanatyam
2.00pm - Dance performances by various dance schools from all over Malaysia and Singapore
Venue: Kalamandapam, Kuala Lumpur

On 13th June
10.00am - Lecture cum demonstration by Urmila Sathyanarayanan
12.00pm - Annual General Meeting and closing ceremony

The hosts also welcome good speakers on Bharathanatyam and also performers who wish to take part in the academic sessions of this eevnt. They may contact through
email entarain@hotmail.com
or call 0126065570 /03-62574069

Sri Taallapaaka Annamacharya Jayanthi will be celebrated at the Sri Venkateshwara Temple, Helensburg, Sydney on May 9, 2010.

Celebrations will start at 11am and will conclude by 1 pm.

Vasundhra Rajagopal (senior vocalist) is presenting a concert for Rasikalay, UK on May 2, 5.30 pm.

Ramnath & Gopinath, the Iyer Brothers are hosting a veena concert in memory of the late guru Trivandrum R. Venkataraman who passed away in Chennai in January 2010. They say that they intend to make this a musical evening to remember, reminisce the achievements and contribution of the veena maestro to the Carnatic music world and in particular to the Melbourne music scene.

Date: 6:30 p.m., Sunday 25th April 2010.

Venue: Ashwood College, Vannam Drive, Ashwood, Vic - 3147. Australia. (Melway: 60J10)

Program: Prayer by Divya Subramaniam, follwed by Veena duet by Iyer Brothers wirth Sridhar Chari on mridangam

The event is organised by Laya Vidhya Centre, Melbourne, Australia.

The Bhavan Centre in London is a pioneer organization in UK, founded in Mumbai, India in 1938 and there are more than a 100 branches of the Bhavan in India. The UK Bhavan was the first independent overseas branch and it is also the largest institute for Indian art and culture outside India offering their services both in music education and performances.

Milapfest an organization founded in Liverpool, in 1985 with the idea of promoting cross-cultural programmes that would transcend the barriers of race, language and religion.

Milapfest also hosts many classical music concerts. The Bhavan and Milapfest come together to host a violin solo concert of Balu Raguraman in the company of Prof. Trichy Sankaran, a senior mridangam artiste. The concert will also feature Subathra Raguraman on the veena accompanied by M.Balachandar on the mridangam.

The concert is scheduled on 8th May and will be held at the prestigious Lord Mountbatten Auditorium at the Bhavan Centre in London.

Natyanjali Australia is presenting "Aadal Kaaneero" – a tribute to music legend Dr. M. L. Vasanthakumari produced by Chennai-based guru and choreographer Radhika Shurajit.

This event will take place at Bankstown Town Hall on Saturday May 1, 2010.

Radhika Shurajit is the producer of Jaya TV’s dance show Thaka Dimi Tha.

In "Aadal Kaaneero" she captures the unique musical mood of the great music legend M L V enfolding the dance within the melodic rhythm. This production features both MLV’s evergreen celluloid songs as well as those popularised by her at classical music concerts and is a tribute presented as a commemoration on the 80th anniversary.

Danseuse Ananda Shankar Jayant, along with her group has been selected by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Govt of India, to perform in major international festivals in Europe, this July and August.

Ananda begins her tour with performances at the Corfu festival in Greece. She then goes on to Syria, the Edinburgh Festival and the Festival of India in Russia.
Ananda and her ensemble will perform some of Ananda’s most well known and signature productions, Navarasa – Expressions of Life and Dancing Tales.. Panchatantra, besides Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Simhanandini.

-- The Nehru Centre, London is presenting two performances of South Indian Dances . On July 7, a Bharatanatyam performance by Shobhana Balachandra, the youngest of the Trio Sisters. As a tribute to M.S. Subbulakshmi, she will be presenting “Meera” featuring songs from the musical classic of 1945.

On 28 July is a performance of Kuchipudi by Arunima Kumar.

-- Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is presenting a concert titled “Vaggeya Vaibhavam” featuring a performance by the students of Balu Raguraman and Subathra Raguraman followed by a Vina recital by Subathra Raguraman and a Violin recital by Balu Raguraman on 18th July at the Bhavan Centre, London.

-- Kalapremi presents the “Sounds of India” – an evening of South Indian classical music by M.S. Sheela on 24th July at Durham.

-- MILAP presents a concert of “South Indian Melodies” as part of its Music for the Mind and Soul series. On the 25th it is featuring a flute - veena concert by P. Gnanavaradan and Malini Dhanabalasingham at Liverpool. They will be accompanied by Somasundara Desigar on the mridangam.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has organised a special concert at its centre in London on Saturday, 18th July, at 6.30pm. The concert "Vaggeya Vaibhavam" features artistes Balu Raguraman and his wife Subathra Raguraman.

Balu Raguraman is a violinist based in London and Subathra Raguraman is also a veena vidushi based in London. Both of them have established themselves as performers and teachers and have a number of students who will also be featured on the days programme.

This special concert will feature songs composed by well known vidwans and vidushis, like GNB, Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Ganesh & Kumaresh and many others. Balu Raguraman and Subathra Raguraman will be accompanied on the mridangam by senior vidwan Shenkottai Rajamani ( a disciple of the legendary Palghat Mani Iyer) from Chennai and Shivshankar Ray (a disciple of Gnan Shankar Ghosh) on the tabla.

Here are some of the events taking place in UK this June 2009.

- The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is presenting a Hindustani vocal recital of Ustad Rashid Khan on June 6.

- Milapfest is hosting a dance performance of Nirupama- Rajendra and the Abinav Dance Company on June 6 at the Shaw Theatre, London and on the 7 June at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, West Yorkshire.

- Renowned Tabla maestro, Zakir Hussain performs with his instrumental ensemble Niladri Kumar (sitar), Sabir Khan (sarangi), Abbos Kusimov (Doyra), Navin Sharma (dholak), Meitel Pung Cholom - performing troupe, and the dancing drummers of Manipur at the Barbican, London on June 19.

- The Asian Music Circuit is presenting a Hindustani vocal concert : Raga 2 Destiny by Swati Natekar on June 27 at the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall.

'Natyanjali Australia' is organising 'Aadal Kaaneero' featuring dance recitals by the various dance schools in Sydney on May 30th, 2009, 6.30 pm onwards at Redgum Centre, Lane Street, Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia.

Natyanjali Australia was recently incorporated in Sydney by Bharatanatyam artiste Gayatri Krishnamurthy and Carnatic Vocalist Aruna Parthiban, with the objective of promoting Indian Classical Dancing in Australia. They have plans to organise performances and workshops by renowned artistes as well as regularly showcase and nurture local talent by organising events.

‘Aadal Kaaneero’ presents 4 dance forms – Bharatanatyam, Kuchipidi, Odissi and Kathak and features artistes Aruna Subbiah, Aruna Iyengar, Apirami Arthieswaran, and the students of Ambika Sridhar, Dhamayanthy Balaraju, Gayatri Krishnamurthy, Manjula Vishwanath, Padma Balakumar and Ruchi Sanghi.

In October this year, Natyanjali Australia will present the well known dance couple Dhananjayans in a performance in Sydney.

'Mritunjaya', an exploration of myths and legends of Shiva, is a double-bill by dancers Sushmita Ghosh and Anusha Subramanyam who are performing at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London.
The show is on May 30 evening.

Anusha Subramanyam is an Artistic Director of Beeja.
She graduated from Kalakshetra, Chennai, and then trained for 7 years under Leela Samson in New Delhi, India. She is seen as a exciting exponent of Bharatanatyam working ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ of its tradition.

Her work is trans-cultural and intergenerational. Anusha has choreographed a wide range of performances and has collaborated with artistes from a variety of disciplines.

The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is hosting an 'Evening of Hindustani Classical Music' featuring the renowned flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia on 3rd May 2009 at the Bhavan’s Auditorium, London.

Kalapremi of Newcastle is presenting a Carnatic vocal concert of Sanjay Subramanyam on 8th May 2009. Manasamitra is also featuring a concert of Sanjay Subramanyam at Bately on 9th May 2009.

The Sath Sangam is featuring a concert by Nisha Rajagopal on 9th May at Wembley, London. There are also featuring a Lecture Series by Swami Omkarananda on the Bhagavad Geetha and Tirukkural from the 12th – 17th of May 2009.

A special concert based on the Sanskrit compositions of Adi Sankara is presented by Manorama Prasad at the Nehru Centre, London on 13th May 2009.

A Carnatic instrumental concert on the Vichitra Vina is performed by Vijay Venkat for Manasamitra on 17th May at Wakefield.

Dhwani@MK presents a concert of Nisha Rajagopal in Milton Keynes, UK on 15 May 2009. Jyotsna Srikanth is on the violin and Kirupakaran on mirdangam. More info at dhwani.mk@googlemail.com

With the coming of spring, UK is playing a host to several music events. The prominent among them being the Darbar Festival, which is being held for the first time in several cities across UK. This festival is an eclectic mixture of the classical music traditions from the Indian sub-continent - Carnatic as well as Hindustani.

The Festival this year features performances by the renowned Carnatic vocalist - Aruna Sairam. She was scheduled to perform on March 29 at the Speech Room, London and at the South Bank Centre, London on April 3. There will be a violin duet performances by the notable duo, Ganesh & Kumaresh. They will be performing in Gateshead, UK on April 1 .
Flautist S. Shashank is pairing up with sitarist Purbayan Chaterjee for Jugalbandi performances in the South Bank Centre on April 5 and at Curve Theatre, Leister on 12th April.

There will also be performances by Ashwini Bhide at the South Bank Centre, London on April 4th and at the Curve Theatre, Leister on 12th April and a concert of Dhrupad by Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar at the South Bank Centre, London on April 4th.

Mumbai-based Carnatic classical musician, Vasumathi Badrinathan, will feature in the renowned Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, Morocco this season.

Being the only Indian artiste to perform this year, Vasumathi has been invited to represent India and her culture, on this prestigious global platform. The Fes Festival, organised by the King of Morocco, will be celebrating 13 glorious years this season. The festival boasts of international legends such as Barbara Hendricks, Johhny Clegg and Bartabas, to name a few.

“It is indeed a great honour to present my music & represent India at this prestigious festival”, says Vasumathi Badrinathan. Vasumathi’s concert is scheduled for 8th June at the famous Batha Museum in Fes, where she will present the traditional Carnatic repertoire.

UK-based Usha Raghavan is presenting a new dance project. And it will go on stage in the USA, UK and finally in India. Titled ‘Her Story’, this is a Bharatanatyam duet by Srinidhi Raghavan and Sahasra Sambamoorthi.
The artistic direction is by Usha Raghavan, the music score is by Sudharshana Arunkumar.
And the lyrics sourced from 5th, 8th, 9th and 12th century poems from Tamil literature .

Usha says “Her Story" portrays the lives of four women in Indian mythology and literature —Kaikeyi, Devaki, Kannagi, and Andal. Recounting pivotal moments in the lives of these women, the dancers explore how these characters transformed the worlds they lived in through their ability to love unconditionally. History has judged these protagonists—condemning, glorifying, questioning, and revering these women for their actions; however, in "Her Story", the dancers reinterpret these conventional perceptions and portray these epic personalities as women willing to challenge the world for those they love. Here is the schedule -

Newark, NJ - March 21, 2009
Baltimore, MD - April 5, 2009
Boston, MA - April 11, 2009
Washington, D.C - May 30, 2009
London, UK - July 4, 2009
Manchester, UK - July 5, 2009
Chennai, India - July 18, 2009

Shivaratri (Feb 23) at the Mukti-Gupteshwar Mandir, a temple for Lord Shiva at Minto, near Sydney in Australia will also feature classical music and dance.

There is Bhakti Aalapana, devotional orchestra by “Aalapana” Group of Wollongong followed by Bharatanatyam by Kala Ilango and Family, Wollongong.

Singapore based SYAMA will present the world premiere of 'Daasaru' - a dance production on Purandaradasar compositions. This production is staged inassociation with Kannada Sangha (Singapore)

'Daasaru' is a fictious monodialogue theatre, interspread with colourful dances for Purandaradasar compositions, wherein Dasar recaptures and relishes Krishna, in the form of his various childhood pranks, his flirtings with Gopis, as well as his virtues as the responsible protector of this world, says a press release.

Artistic direction and vocal music by Bhagya Murthy, dance choreography by Sadhana Rajaram, Srilakshmi, Bharathi and Atira. mridangam by Delhi S. Raja Subramaniam, flute by C.N. Thyagarajan, veena by Ramkumar Vasudevan and violin by Vidhya Rajasubramaniam.

UK based arts organisation Kalasagara, run by dancer Usha Raghavan will celebrate its anniversary on Nov. 30, 2008.

At Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip.

An evening of Bharatanatyam performances will be held. This event will showcase the talent of about 60 students of the institution who are at different levels of learning.

The two-part programme will start at 5.00 pm and end at 8.30 pm. Venue: Winston Churchill Hall, Manor Farm Site, Pinn Way, Middlesex - HA4 7QL

Young vocalist Charulatha Mani has been conducting music presentations by the name 'Isai Payanam' drawing parallel between the classical Carnatic ragas and film music.
Now, Tamil Orphans Trust (UK-registered charity) is presenting the event on two days at the UK.

On Nov. 15 the event will be held at Hainault Forest High School Harbourer Road, Hainault, Ilford, Essex IG6 3TN at 6.45 pm.
On Nov. 16, at Winston Churchill Hall, Pinn Way (off Bury St), Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7QL at 5. 30.
Prior to the event, a meeting with the artistes took place on Oct. 2.

This is a ticketed programme.
For tickets contact 020 8908 1101, 020 8422 3943, 020 422 0012, 020 8904 7727, 07980 846 113.
Proceeds go to Tamil Orphans Trust - 'Twenty one years of service to vulnerable children'

Madhurya, a Paris based arts organisation celebrated Festival of Tyagaraja on Oct. 4 and 5, 2008.

As the festival is held for the seventh year, the theme was Sapta swara (seven notes of music).

Senior vidwan vocalist R. K. Srikantan, and veena vidwan Trivandrum Venkataraman and vidushi R. Vedavalli presented concerts at the festival.

Violinist R. K. Sriram Kumar, veena artiste Ramani Rangan and young vocalist Prasanna Venkataraman also performed at this festival.

Prior to the event, a meeting with the artistes took place on Oct. 2.
Madhurya can be contacted at 60 rue de Strasbourg 92400 Courbevoie.
Tél : 33 (0)1 43 34 88 12 Tel: 33 (0) 1 43 34 88 12

For the first time, Budapest is hosting a Carnatic music concert on Oct. 20, 2008

Vocalist S. Sowmya will present a concert on that day at International Business School Auditorium, also called as IBS Szinpad at 7 pm.

This event will begin with an address by the Hon'ble Ambassador of India to Hungary, Shri.Rajit Rae.

Kalasagara UK is presenting a new production, 'Nivedanam' on September 7 in London

'Nivedanam' is a Bharatanatyam performance by Srinidhi Raghavan, Anupama Muthukrishnan, Vinita Venkatesh, Janany Harrichandiran (disciples of Usha Raghavan, Director, Kalasagara UK)

The dancers will explore the theme of unconditional devotion to god, through compositions by Indian composers who lived over several centuries. Presented in traditional margam, the pieces within the show extrapolate on various forms of Bhakti, taking the audience through the stories of several nayikas who profess their love and faith in different ways.
This is a ticketed show.

SYAMA Singapore celebrated 'Anjali' a performance in the memory of late Sri TMT June 27 2008 at Allaince Francais Theatre, Singapore. All the songs sung were popularly tuned by TMT.

The evening started with SYAMA students, who presented 'Malaimagalin magane gajamukane' in raga madhukauns. Later, the senior students presented another popular song 'Iraiva nee enai maravadhe' in raga Saramathi.

This was followed by 'Mayan kuzhalisai' in Hamsanadham by Sumithra Srinivasan, and 'Maname unakku' in Varamu. Mrs Gowri Gokul and Mrs Mangalam Shankar who were TMT's prime disciples then rendered the 'Ranjani Mala'.

Alapana, Singapore marks the Semmangudi centenary celebrations with the following events -
25 July, 2008 – 7 pm - An audio presentation of excerpts from Sri Semmangudi’s concert recordings. For alapana members only.

26 July, 2008 – 5 pm - Lecture-Demonstration on “Manodharma Sangeetham” by Dr (Mrs) Malini Hariharan, Dean, Faculty of Music, Kerala University. Dr (Mrs) Malini Hariharan was a disciple of Semmangudi R.Srinivasa Iyer.
The event will be held at the Veena Hall of Alapana. All are welcome.

Bharathi Kala Manram, Toronto, celebrated Canada Day on July 1.

There was a flag hoisting ceremony followed by Charulatha Mani's 'Isai Payanam' concert. Charulatha was accompanied by Jayasankar Balan - violiin, Dr.Sriram Suryanarayanan - mridangam, and Karthik Venkataraman - kanjira.

UK-based Manasamitra is presenting Sikkil Gurucharan;s vocal concert on Saturday 16th August at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, WF4 4LG.
Accompanying him are Jyotshna Srikanth and S. V. Balakrishna on the violin and mridangam.

Sri Annamacharya Jayanthi was celeberated on May 4 at Sri Venkateshwara Temple, Helensburg, Sydney. It was well organised by 'Annamayya Brundam'. This year, the theme was on 'Alumelu Mangatayyar vaibhavam'.

About 20 singers participated in singing the glory of 'mangatayaar' - all sourced from Annamayya compositions. The temple president Dr Bala started the function with crisp talk on greatness of Annamayya. This was followed by short speech on Annamayya, and a hari-katha format-based presentation of Annamayya Sankeertanams.
The entire function was conducted in classical Telugu.

Dance performances covered the beauty of Alumelumanga Thayaar. A bigger and much grander function is planned for next year - on May 10, 2009. Next year's function covers Balaji and Alumelumanga Kalyana utsavam, where the participants will sing Annamayya compositions that cover Kalyana utsavam.

SYAMA of Singapore is remembering Carnatic music maestro the late T. M. Thyagarajan ( who passed away in Chennai on 27 June 2007 ) with an event.
This guru was instrumental in teaching many students and among them is SYAMA's founder Gowri Gokul. As a tribute to him on his first anniversary, students of Gowri Gokul will perform a vocal concert through selected songs for which he had composed music.

Bharatanatyam dancer and theatre person Anitha Santhanam recently conducted a workshop on 'Gesture and Bharatanatyam', for the students of drama at the Hoschule of Musik and Theatre, Rostock, Germany.

The approach was to give the theatre students an entry into the language of gesture through movement sound and rhythm and the gestures themselves. The point of departure for these sessions was life and its textures both emotional and situational.

The three-day workshop concluded with a small workshop presentation of the material worked on through the course of the workshop. The workshop was commissioned by Professor Marion Kuester, the head of the department of drama and education.

Anitha Santhanam is currently pursuing a course in physical theatre at LISPA, London under the Charles Wallace scholarship. She is based in Bangalore, India.

Kshetra Academy of Malaysia, run by dance guru Apsara Ram Gopal, will be conducting its annual NRITHYOTSAV dance concert – its 16th anniversary edition- on Saturday, May 24th, 2008, at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Auditorium, Malaysian Tourism Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
2008 is the birth centenary of the legendary Guru Gopinath, one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century. Guru-ji, along with Guru Uday Shankar, Guru Ram Gopal and Guru Rukmini Devi Arundale, played a vital role in reviving classical dance.
This year’s NRITHYOTSAV is entitled ‘Guru Vandana – A Homage to the Gurus Who Sparked the Renaissance of Indian Dance’.
Original works by the 4 gurus will be showcased at this concert.
As has been the tradition at NRITHYOTSAV concerts, Kshetra Academy will honour T. Kandasamy.
Though not an artiste in the conventional sense, Kandasamy has provided superb audio, lighting and other technical support for artistes for over 40 years.
He has greatly contributed to enhance the concert experience both for the artistes and for the audience in a way few, if any, can match.
He has made the science an art, and hence, he is an artiste. Admission is by invitation.

The city of Oaxaca typically reflects its rich cultural past in the present through its music, markets, cuisine, theater and other traditions. During such celebrations, various communities within the State come together to partake in the festivities.

'Humánitas, Fiestas de Mayo' is one of the most popular festivals in Mexico where the main objective is to introduce different cultures, races, and folklore in an effort to promote human relationships in a diverse environment that characterizes the region, state, and guest country chosen.
This year, the festival features music, dance, poetry, art and drama from the Coastal Region, the State of Tabasco and, the chosen country, India.

As an Indian representative in this festival, Usha Raghavan gives a Bharatanatyam performance with a focus on the theme of 'Sringara', where she will delve deep into the varying emotions of love depending on the protagonist's perspective.

Contrasting between the different sentiments of the nayika, Usha's performance will underline the universal element of love - be it that of a faithful devotee, jealous wife, or caring mother. Through these depictions, Usha furthers the goal of the festival which is to celebrate diversity while, at the same time, unifying people across cultures.

Alapana Centre for Music and Dance based in Singapore will celebrate a day devoted to Syama Sastri, one of the Carnatic music trinity composers on April 26, 2008. From 11 am onwards.

This year's Syama sastri day will feature three of the Syama Sastri's Kritis, 'Durusuka' in Saveri' rendered by R. Banumathy, daughter and disciple of veteran vocalist of the past, Dr. S. Ramanathan and 'Devi Brova' in Chintamani by Harini will mark the beginning of Syama Sastri Day.
The event will conclude with the rendition of 'Kamakshi' - Bhairavi Swarajathi by R. Banumathi and her student Vijayalakshmi Sriram.

"Though the founder- teachers of alapana used to observe Syama Sastri day as a private function in the past, this year onwards Syama Sastri Day will be observed as a regular alapana event," say the organisers.

The event is open to all.

Dancers Nirmala Seshadri and Neewin Hershall of Singapore have choreographed a new work blending of their artistic thoughts and energies.

Crossroads - Journeys and transformations through life and dance, a new work they present on behalf of Bhaskars Arts Academy, Singapore, will be an experiment in which the traditional dance repertoire is viewed through a different contextual lens; where the parts of the repertoire connect into a larger conceptual framework, allowing for other forms such as film and visual art to enter, the artistes say.
Also as the work is on mature themes , it not be suitable for children under 16, the organisers advise.

Nirmala Seshadri is a recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award and Neewin Hershall is a graduate from Kalakshetra, Chennai.

The event will be on April 19, 2008 at 8 pm
At NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre 151 Bencoolen Street, Singapore.
The programme is presented with the support of National Arts Council Singapore.