The 2018 LearnQuest music conference was a week-long celebration of Indian classical music, dance, art and culture. The music festival held at Regis College on March 30, 31 and April 1 was preceded by a collaboration with WorldCrashArts for a Masters of Percussion event at Harvard University and five lecture demonstrations held at Academy of Creative Arts, Jawed Wahid’s Hall, Boston University, Berklee College of Music and YMCA, Boston.

On Friday evening, March 23, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain and Hindustani flautist Rakesh Chaurasia (nephew of the legendary flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia) regaled an international audience with a rich variety of sound textures, rhythms and melodies (ragas Jogkauns, Vachaspati and a folk Pahadi dhun).

On Sunday, March 25, guitarist Philip Kaplan, mouth organ player Jay Scheffler, drummer Grant Smith and this reporter explored the concept of “Music of the East meets the Music of the West” in a lecture-demonstration titled “Boogie Chalan-Crossroads and Confluences in Raga and Blues”. A spirited question and answer session between the performers and the audience ensued after each song was performed.

On Monday, March 26, a lecture demonstration on “Appreciating Carnatic Music” lecture-demonstration by vocalist Girijashankar Sundaresan accompanied by Pravin Sitaram on the Mridangam and Kiran Kumar on the violin provided insights about the basic components of Carnatic music along with an explanation of the ways in which one can appreciate and enjoy this form of music. 

On Tuesday, March 27, “A Comparison of Carnatic and Hindustani styles of Indian Classical Music through Violin” by violinist K.J Dileep, Amit Kavthekar on the tabla and Avinash Shukla on the Mridangam provided an exposure to the audience to the two styles of Indian Classical Music and showcased the similarities and differences between the Carnatic and Hindustani music.

On Wednesday, March 28, Kathak dancers Anjali Nath and Shefali Jain accompanied by vocalist Vaibhav Mankad, Jayanta Banerjee on the sitar and Satyaprakash Mishra on the tabla gave a colorful and interactive demonstration on Kathak dance titled “De-coding Dance”. 

On Thursday, March 29, this reporter gave a lecture demonstration on “The Contributions of Vidushi Girija Devi to the Poorab Ang Thumri Genre of Hindustani Music”. Dr. Brita Heimarck, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, Boston University engaged listeners in a discussion about Hindustani classical and semi-classical music. An excerpt of the sensitively made film by the vocalist-sitarist duo Debapriya Adhikary and Samanway Sarkar showcasing the life of the legendary vocalist Padmavibhushan Girija Devi was screened at the event. Debapriya Adhikary and Samanway Sarkar unfortunately could not make it in person to the music conference this year due to visa issues.

On Friday, March 29, after a lamp lighting ceremony by renowned vocalist Vidwaan TV Sankaranaryanan, Learnquest founder Dr. Pradeep Shukla, patron Prashanth Palakurthi and 2018 Learnquest Conference president, Ravi Arora, a short Dhrupad invocation featuring Hindustani vocalists of the Boston area was presented. Next, Vidwaan TV Sankaranarayanan, a Carnatic vocalist accompanied by K.J Dileep on the violin and V.S Raghavan on the Mridangam delighted the audience with his mellifluous presentation of classical and devotional compositions in ragas such as Kharaharpriya, Hindolam, Poorvi Kalyani, Shanmukhapriya among others. “Krishna Nee Begane Baaro”, a Purandara Dasa composition was rendered with tremendous bhaava. The evening concluded with a heart-touching Hindustani presentation by Smt. Mitali Bhawmik, who filled in vocalist Kaushiki Chakarborty’s sudden absence due to a family emergency. Smt. Mitali Bhawmik gave a masterful presentation of Khyal, Thumri and Bhajan in ragas Bihag, Jog, Pilu and Yaman Kalyan accompanied with sensitivity by Rohan Prabhudesai on the harmonium and Ojas Adhiya on the tabla.  

The opening performance on Saturday, March 30 was a jugalbandi between Hindustani Sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee and Carnatic flautist Shashank Subramanyam supported by P. Phalgun on the Mridangam and Anubrata Chatterjee on the tabla. They gave individual presentations of evocative ragas such as Bilaskhani Todi and Sarasangi and a joint, collaborative presentation of raga Hansadhwani with super-fast melodic passages that enthralled the listeners. It was interesting to see that Shri Purbayan Chatterjee’s sitar was a much shorter version than the traditional sitar instrument. Shri Samarth Nagarkar gave a powerful Hindustani vocal recital featuring ragas Gaud-Sarang and Multani. Rohan Prabhudesai on the harmonium and Amit Kavthekar on the tabla provided wonderful accompaniment to the main artist. Audience member, Jyoti Joshi was so inspired the music that she drew a beautiful ink sketch and wrote a Marathi poem while savoring the Multani rendition. Next, vocalist Pavitra Chari accompanied by Anindo Bose on the synthesizer and Amit Kavthekar on the tabla gave a fusion performance titled “Shadow and Light” and presented several of their own contemporary style compositions. Thereafter, a CD album titled “A Spiritual Journey”, featuring devotional songs written by Saint Poets Soordas, Tulsidas, Meera and Kabir, composed by Pandit Hemant Pendse and rendered by Radha Rao, Amita Naganand and this reporter was released by Pandit Satish Vyas in a short CD release ceremony.

As dusk enveloped the orange sunset sky, the audience reeled in bliss with the renowned vocalist Vidushi Bombay Jayashree’s Carnatic brilliant vocal performance. She was aided superbly by Patri Satishkumar on the Mridangam, B.N Purushottaman on the kanjira and H.N. Bhaskar on the violin. Saturday’s offerings wrapped up with the majestic sounds of the Sarod instrument played by virtuoso, Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar and acclaimed tabla maestro Shubhankar Banerjee. Alaap, Jod and Jhaala in Raga Jaijaivanti was followed by a composition set to a complex 8.5 beat rhythm cycle. A composition in Raga Basant Bahar set to sixteen beat cycle teentaal with delightful exchanges between the two artists in Sawaal-Jawaab session was the highlight of the presentation.

The third and final day of the music festival on April 1 featured impressive vocal performances by Carnatic artists Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath and Sikkil Gurucharan, Hindustani  artist Rachna Bodas, instrumentalists Padmashri Pandit Satish Vyas on the Santoor, Guitar Prasanna, Indrajit Banerjee (Sitar), Indradeep Ghosh (violin), Trivandrum Sampath (violin), V. Sanjeev (violin), Ramchandra Joshi (harmonium), R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam), Subrata Bhattacharya (tabla), Nitin Mitta (tabla), Ojas Adhiya (tabla), . The sitar-violin duo gave a great example of how a jugalbandi must be presented, Guitar Prasanna’s sublime presentation of Nagumomu Ganaleni composition in ragam Abheri, the famous Ilaya Raja hit-song Keervani and self-composed composition for Ekal Vidyalaya delighted connoisseurs and the lay-man alike, Rachna Bodas’s well-balanced and aesthetic presentation rendition of khyals in ragas Ambika, Gavati and a Kabir Bhajan, Sikkil Gurucharan’s pitch-perfect delivery of cleverly crafted compositions by stalwart composers and the grand finale presentation by Padmashri Pandit Satish Vyas transported listeners to a spiritual realm, enabling their souls to experience great joy.

As in the past, conference attendees were treated to a painting exhibition by Kalaruti artist team in the black box space where artists mingled freely with music lovers.  Hot and delicious round-the-clock meals by local caterers with the added attraction of a visit by a Middle Eastern cuisine truck, a tastefully designed magazine with articles about music, opportunities to purchase saris and jewelery at the Regis College premises added spice to the music festival.

To hear the traditional classical music of composers from 17^th -20th centuries such as Thyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Sastry, Papanasam Sivan, Sadaarang, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Kashinath Bodas and Ramashreya Jha delievered flawlessly by leading musicians in one auditorium over a span of two and half days was a unique experience. Meditative development of ragas, soaring notes in the upper octaves, cascading taans, musical dialogs between seasoned performers on stage allowed listeners to be swept away into the vistas of beautiful soundscapes.

For the past twelve years, the Learnquest conference has served an important purpose of preserving and propagating Indian classical music and dance in the United States. This year’s team - conference committee chaired by Shri Ravi Arora, the dedicated volunteers who managed ticketing, stage decoration, hot meals, the families who generously opened up their homes to host visiting artists – all came together to provide an unforgettable experience for local conference attendees as well as those who traveled from out of state. Shiwani Arora, a visitor from Gainesville, FL summed the common sentiment of all those who attended the LearnQuest 2018 music conference when she said “This music conference was a fabulous treat with soul uplifting music. I feel lucky and blessed to have enjoyed it.”

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