The Rotary Club of Newton has conducted a community talent contest and fundraiser titled “Newton Has Talent” for the past four years, with each year’s event growing in popularity and the funds raised for charitable causes.

Newton Has Talent 2016 was another great event for the Rotary Club of Newton and took place at the auditorium of Leventhall-Sidman JCC on Saturday May 21st evening. It featured the Top 10 finalists – all musical acts chosen after 3 prior rounds of judging (two rounds by a team of judges and one round of public voting on YouTube). The variety of acts covered solo vocalists, pianists, mini-guitar, a rock band, and Indian Carnatic music.

Distinguished judges Barbara Brousal, Mark Churchill, Jim Petosa, and Laura Vecchione vetted the final live round of the contest and comedian Jimmy Tingle was the host for the evening. There was a large and enthusiastic audience that cheered each of the performances, and it was amazing to see the high level of talent among the participants.

Young Sriram Narayanan of Newton (student of Tatyana Dudochkin of Newton) charmed the audience with a presentation “Contrasting Moods” on the piano where he presented two shorts pieces in quick succession – one sad and one happy. The final act of the evening was a Carnatic music presentation by Hari Narayanan (vocal, student of Guru Tara Anand of Framingham) and Inesh Vytheswaran (mridangam, student of Rohan Krishnamurthy). The duo presented the evocative and lilting song “Jayati Jayati Bharata Mata” followed by a peppy Tillana in Raaga Brindavani. It was heartwarming to see the resounding response from the audience to their music.

After the acts were completed, audience members were asked to cast a vote for their favorite act while the judges deliberated on the award winners. Hari Narayanan and Inesh Vytheswaran were announced as first place winners and given a $1000 cash award, Claire McFarland won second place for her vocal solo, The Dominoes – a young rock band won third place, and Sriram Narayanan was the recipient of the Honorable Mention award. It was a happy night for Hari, Inesh, and Sriram and a wonderful occasion for them to share their music with their community.

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