Music lovers were treated to five days of Indian Classical musical performances organized by LearnQuest Academy of Music in co-sponsorship with MITHAS (MIT Heritage of Arts of South Asia) and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from April 9th to April 13th.  The conference titled “Cascades of Melody and Rhythm” was the third annual conference that showcased Indian Classical instrumental and vocal music, contemporary fusion music, and two lecture demonstrations – one on the genres in North Indian vocal Music and the other on similarity and difference between Tabla and Pakhawaj playing. A film on the life and music of the sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was also screened during the conference.

Several legendary musicians from India such as world renowned flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, famed Carnatic vocalists Vidwan O.S. Thiagarajan, Vidushi Aruna Sairam, the eminent author, composer, musicologist and Hindustani classical vocalist Dr. Prabha Atre, the tabla maestro from Kolkata Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, and the popular Dhrupad duo Gundecha Brothers participated in the event. The conference also featured many New England artists such as the fusion group Natraj, Carnatic vocalist Geeta Murali, Hindustani vocalists Kumkum Sanyal, Warren Senders, tabla faculty Dr. Nishikant Sonwalkar and Mridangam artist Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan. Almost fifty top notch performers came together to perform in the five day conference.

The conference was very well attended with the last day of the conference being a sold out event. It was held at three different locations, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Al Stata Centre at MIT and McDevitt School in Waltham, MA. The Mayor of Waltham, Hon. Jeanette McCarthy, attended the recitals by Vidushi Aruna Sairam and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia on the concluding day of the conference which was dedicated to late Dr. Vinod Chungi, an arts enthusiast and a supportive member of the LearnQuest Board who passed away unexpectedly in October 2007.

A sibling trio from Kolkata, India led by Debashish Bhattacharya regaled the audience with a Slide guitar-Hindustani vocal-Tabla performance sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts on the opening day, Wednesday, April 9th, 2008. On Thursday, April 10th, a fusion music concert, Music Triveni,  combining North Indian, South Indian and Western music traditions titled “Confluent Winds” as well as a film show on the legendary sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar were presented at Al Stata Center at MIT. The location of the remainder of the music conference was McDevitt School in Waltham, MA.  Flute solos and “Jugalbandi” concert featuring Carnatic and Hindustani flute performances by S. Shashankh and Ronu Majumdar as well as a North Indian Classical vocal music recital by Pandit Prabhakar Karekar was the fare for Friday, April 11th. Recitals on the weekend of April 12th and April 13th featured several master musicians from India as well as local artists from Boston area, presenting Indian Classical music from 10 A.M to 11 P.M. Freshly prepared hot Indian food was available for purchase on-site throughout the day.  

In addition to the above mentioned artists, the other prominent artists who performed in the conference were: Pandit Partha Chatterjee, Ustad Shujat Khan, Purbayan Chatterjee – sitar, Jayanthi Kumaresh – veena, Pandit Madhav Gudi, Sutapa Bhattacharya, Vikas Telang – Hindustani vocal, Abhishek Raghuram – Carnatic vocal, and Anirban Dasgupta – sarod, Phil Scarff - Saxophone. The able accompaniment was provided by: Ramdas Palsule, Samir Chatterjee, Vishal Nagar, Subhasis Bhattacharya, Jerry Leake, Anubrat Chatterjee, Akshaya Navaladi on the tabla; Akhilesh Gundecha on the pakhawaj; Manoj Siva, P. Phalgun, Muruga Bhupathy on the mridangam; Bertram Lehmann on the western drums, Kedar Naphade, Dr. Stan Scott, Madhu Vora, Milind Joshi on the harmonium; Raghavendra Rao, H. N. Bhaskar, Mysore Srikanth, Rasika Murali on the violin, and Michael Revard on the bass.

Dhrupad, Khyal, Dadra, Thumri, Taraana and Bhajan were the genres presented as part of the North Indian Classical repertoire where as Carnatic performers presented Kritis, Keertanas and Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi. Lecture demonstrations on genres in North Indian Music as well as on percussion instruments pakhawaj and tabla presented were informative and enjoyable.

A common interest, namely the love for Indian music bound the listeners and the performers for five days. Music connoisseurs, enthusiasts, beginners as well as advanced students were treated to a truly great musical experience – they were able to get exposure to great music, to live, listen, and breathe the finest of Indian Classical music right in Boston, without having to fly to India. Many artists appreciated the quality of attention they received from the audience. LearnQuest Conference 2008 provided a win-win situation for artists and music lovers alike. The planning and implementation took long hours of dedicated effort by the conference committee members and volunteers. “It was as usual, a fantastic event and I made it a point to attend the conference even though I have moved from the East Coast to the West Coast” said C. Narendra, an Indian music lover who now resides in Los Angeles, CA.

|