The 3rd annual LearnQuest Music Conference featuring the best of Indian classical music, both in Hindustani and Carnatic styles, starts the Spring season this year for music lovers in Boston. This unique music festival, a five day event, begins on April 9th and is being co-sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and MITHAS (Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Heritage of the Arts of South Asia.)

The festival presents 20 music concerts by various artists performing vocal and a wide range of instrumental music such as the flute, sitar, veena, sarod and the violin with traditional accompaniments of tabla, mridangam and other percussions. Eminent performers Hariprasad Chaurasia (Flute), Aruna Sairam (Carnatic Vocal), Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla), Dr. Prabha Atre (Hindustani Vocal), O.S.Tyagarajan (Carnatic Vocal), Shujat Khan (Sitar), Jayanthi Kumaresh (Veena), Gundecha Brothers (Dhrupad), Shashank (Carnatic Flute), Debashish Bhattacharya (Slide Guitar) are among an array of about 40 artists participating in the conference. The event also includes a Hindustani Vocal Lecture Demonstration by Gangadhar Rao Telang, a lecture demonstration on Tabla and Mridangam, and a documentary film, Raga, on the life and music of the sitar legend Ravi Shankar.

Outlining the purpose and goals of this annual event the LearnQuest Conference website says: "While there has been no dearth of great masters visiting the Boston area, we intend to serve the community by taking the listening and appreciation of music to the next level. To this end, our goal is to present authentic Indian classical music the way it is practiced and enjoyed in India through multi-day classical music festivals (Sangeet Sammelans) and conferences. This is an attempt at creating an Indian Sangeet Sammelan-like environment that would cater to all music lovers, both the aficionado as well as the uninitiated. Our goal is to present the famous and established artists, as well as promising rising stars of Indian music."

The concerts of the festival will take place at multiple locations in Boston area. The opening concert on April 9th will be at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the second day, April 10th, at the Stata Center of MIT, Cambridge. The remaining events from April 11th to April 13th will be held at the McDevitt School in Waltham, MA.

"The music conference is not only a memorable event for music lovers but also an inspiring occasion for the young learners of music and dance of India," remarks Pradeep Shukla, a Professor of Mathematics by profession, who teaches vocal music at LearnQuest and is involved in running the institution with dedicated team of volunteers and teachers. "We need to do all we can to teach the arts and traditions of India to the next generation, so they could appreciate them and practice them as well. We seek the help and support of cultural and community organizations to make this endeavor successful."

Details of the music conference may be seen online at: www.learnquest.org/conference2008. You may call (781) 891 8535 or send email to Conference2008@learnquest.org to obtain conference information. A short video clip of the festival in 2007 is available for viewing on the conference website.

Besides full package and partial package tickets, the participants have an option to purchase daily tickets for the conference. Tickets are available online at  Lokvani (http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/cal.php?stage=1&event_id=5826) or by mailing a check to LearnQuest.