The LearnQuest academy of music based in Waltham, MA, led Indian Classical music lovers on an unforgettable journey through a mosaic of myriad soundscapes over the Easter holiday weekend – April 10, 11 and 12. More than 50 practitioners of North Indian Hindustani Classical, South Indian Carnatic Classical and fusion styles presented vocal, instrumental, fusion music, lecture demonstrations and ensemble performances during the LearnQuest 2009 conference, the fourth in the series of consecutive annual conferences to be presented in the Boston area.  

The 2009 conference began with a presentation of a documentary film “Raga Unveiled” produced and directed by Connecticut based film-maker Gita Desai on the subject of North Indian Classical Music. The presentation was a joint collaboration with MITHAS (MIT Heritage of the Arts of South Asia) and it was screened at MIT on Sunday, April 5 at 4 PM. The film was a comprehensive and in-depth documentary showcasing North Indian Music that included among other subjects, a brief history of Hindustani Music, explanations of raga, taala, vaadya elements, engaging interviews with leading experts on classical and semi-classical forms of North Indian music.

After a gap of 4 days, the main music conference began at the Regis College Fine Arts Center in Weston, MA on Friday evening April 10th. Datta Dandekar of Maryland, a well-recognized music aficionado and former Massachusetts resident who started an interest group in Indian Classical Music in Boston area almost 30 years ago, inaugurated the conference which began with a brilliant Carnatic fusion performance by the Vidya ensemble featuring Prashant Radhakrishnan on Saxophone, David Ewell on Bass and Sameer Gupta on Western drums. Watching a non-Indian player David Ewell on the bass collaborate with sophisticated Carnatic raga elements and an Indian tabla player Sameer Gupta who worked magic on Western drums proved that music wields the power to help people connect with each other across geographic and cultural boundaries.  

The well recognized Hindustani singer Arati-Ankalikar-Tikekar rounded off Friday evening's performance with a sensitive rendering of ragas “Jog-Kauns” and “Hemant” followed by a seasonal Chaiti and a Marathi Abhang. Milind Kulkarni on harmonium and Harshad Kanetkar on tabla provided competent support to the vocalist who sang with great imagination and emotion.

Saturday, April 11 started with a lecture-demonstration on Semi-Classical forms of North Indian Music such as Thumri, Dadra, Hori, Ghazal, Chaiti, Kajri, Jhoola and Bhajan in a group singing format by LearnQuest and RASA institute students led by Shuchita Rao and accompanied by Chris Pereji on harmonium, Akshay Navaladi on tabla and Vijay Mohan on dholak. The fragrance of the earth reflected in many of the folk tune based songs of the season.

 Jai Gandhi, young disciple of world-renowned maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia presented a soulful rendition of the ragas Mian-ki-Malhar and Maanj-khamaj on the bansuri and was accompanied by Shankachur Lahiri on tabla.

A lecture-demonstration by Carnatica Brothers, Shashikiran and Ganesh, on the subject of Music and Math introduced how simple fractions, lowest common multiple, highest common factor, algebra and geometric progressions work within the framework of raga, taala and laya concepts in music. Carnatica Brothers also sang a few very interesting compositions that illustrated the intricate use of mathematical concepts. K.V.S. Vinay on violin and Tanjore Murugabhoopati on mridangam provided subtle and supportive accompaniment.

The afternoon segment featured a Hindustani vocal recital by Pritam Bhattacharya accompanied by his brother Prithviraj Bhattacharya on tabla and Ramchandra Joshi on harmonium. The 27 year-old Pritam floored the audience with his presentation of a self-composed raagmalika incorporating 18 ragas within one composition.

The next performer, 14 year old K. Sathyanarayanan presenting Carnatic classical instrumental music on keyboard was the youngest performer at the conference. He did a magnificent job in delighting listeners with his dexterity on the keyboard that had been modified to play musical ornaments suitable to Indian Classical music such as “glides” and “slides”. The rendition of “Krishna Nee Begane Baaro” and “Bhagyadaa Lakshmi Baramma” were particularly energetic and full of life.  His performance was enhanced by his uncle Shri Embar S. Kannan on violin and Poongulam Subramaniam on Mridangam – both accompanists also accompanied the next performer – the acclaimed Carnatic vocalist T.M Krishna. Shri T.M Krishna sang several Carnatic ragas with bhaava and demonstrated a clever transposition of scales in one of the raga compositions that he presented at the conference. His imaginative “Saveri” raga alaapana and inspiring taanam rendition in ragam-tanam-pallavi in raga “Begada” drew repeated applause from the audience.

Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath completed the day-long festivities with melodious rendition of ragas Gorakh-Kalyan, Basant and a Chaiti. She was ably accompanied on tabla by Prithviraaj Bhattacharya.

The musical fare on Sunday, April 12 began with a recital by Anand Bhate, a disciple of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who presented a scholarly Hindustani vocal rendition of Raag Todi and Jaunpuri followed by an abhang and a Marathi natyageet. He was accompanied by Rajeev Paranjpe on harmonium and Sanjay Karandikar on tabla.

 Ikhlaq Hussain Khan, a New York based sitarist presented ragas Madhuvanti and Megh on Sitar accompanied by Utpal Datta on tabla. It was interesting to note that the two artists met for the first time on stage that afternoon but played together as if they had thoroughly pre-rehearsed the presentation.

Puncha-Vadya-Kutcheri featuring Lalgudi Vijaylakshmi on violin, Mala Chandrashekhar on Venu (Flute), Jaishree Jairaj on Veena, Bhagyalakshmi on Morching and 18 year old Rajna Swaminathan on Mridangam gave a harmonious and sweet performance of ragas Gowla and Valaji followed by a ragam-taanam-pallavi in Abheri/Bhimpalaas. Smt. Vijayalakshmi's brief but highly appealing vocal rendition of the composition “Bhaja Ray Sadaa Maanasa” and her seamless transition to several different ragas added beauty to the presentation.

Ali Ahmad Hussain on Shehnai, a North Indian Oboe style instrument was a treat to listen to. Accompanied by his two sons on Shehnai and Subhen Chatterjee on tabla, Ali Ahmad presented raga Anandi Kalyan and the famous Narsi Das bhajan “Vaishnav Jana Tho”. The fluid rendition of a Hindu bhajan by a Muslim artist once again made it clear that music transcends barriers of religion and language and is truly global in its outreach.

The crowning moment of the conference was the evening presentation of compositions in both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions in the Parur style on the violin by Sangeeta Kalanidhi M S Goplakrishnan accompanied by his daughter Dr. Narmada and his son Suresh Kumar on violins and a veteran artist Shri Guruvayur Dorai on Mridangam. The 78 year old maestro sat up on a chair in the center of the stage with his leg propped up on a stool and played the violin with amazing intellectual acumen and a sweetness and lucidity that touched every listener's soul. The artists were first felicitated by Shri K.G Narayana of Sri Lakshmi temple and Shri M S Gopalakrishnan also released educational music DVD and CD by Carnatic flautist Shri V.K. Raman and Hindustani vocalist Dattatreya Velankar prior to their unique presentation that featured Carnatic classical and Hindustani classical offerings one after another. Tabla maestro Subhen Chatterjee accompanied on tabla in the Hindustani segment. On the spot improvisations traded back and forth between MSG, his daughter Narmada and Pandit Chatterjee . It is worthwhile to note that this was the first time ever in his life that Sri M.S. Gopalakrishnan has ever presented both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions in a single concert format. Music lovers were fascinated by the feat.

The coup de grace of the 2009 conference was a Hindustani Vocal performance by Smt. Padma Talwalkar accompanied by Suyog Kundalkar on Harmonium and Utpal Datta on tabla. A masterful rendition of raag Kedar was followed by a Mishra kaafi thumri, a Tilak Kamod taraana and a Marathi abhang in Bhairavi. The presentation marked the end of the two and a half day long conference which was instrumental in bringing the highest quality of Indian Classical music to music lovers and in elevating their consciousness to give them an experience of the sublime supreme. A magazine featuring interesting articles by musicians such as Padmabhushan Dr. Prabha Atre, Haribabu, Ujjwal Parikh, Stan Scott and Dr. B. P. Purnaprajna, all day long availability of sumptuous meals ranging from breakfast to dinner, a couple of music shops offering a variety of audio CDs and DVDs for sale  were the other highlights of the conference. Amrit Chopra, a conference attendee and participant said “The entire weekend was full of some great music. Without being overly dramatic, I must say that some of the performances brought tears to my eyes!”

Dr. Pradeep Shukla, co-founder of LearnQuest Academy proposed a vote of thanks to conclude the 2009 conference. He acknowledged the support of sponsors, dedication of volunteers and conference committee members who were instrumental in making the conference a success. Conference chairman Jawed Wahid complimented conference committee members for their hard work in planning and executing the event and said “Let us pat ourselves on the back and roll our sleeves up for next year's conference.” Over 300 New England residents including visitors from New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and California attended the 2009 LearnQuest Conference.

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