Facebook Twitter Instagram
    India Art Review
    • Dance
    • Music
    • Art
    • Heritage
    • Theatre
    • Books
    • Films
    • Team
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    India Art Review
    Home»Music»San Diego’s IFAASD Festival Beats Pandemic Blues
    Music

    San Diego’s IFAASD Festival Beats Pandemic Blues

    Meenakshi GanesanBy Meenakshi GanesanApril 18, 2022
    Carnatic Music
    Share
    WhatsApp Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Telegram

    Carnatic music and dance festival hosted by the IFAASD in San Diego brings back the charm of live concerts.

    As an artist, performer and a music and dance aficianado, the one thing that I have missed the most was attending and feeling the vibration of live concerts these past two years.  Since the pandemic, attending in-person concerts have been eluding us — something we all took for granted. This satisfaction, energy and positivity was fulfilled with the amazing three-day festival organised by the IFAASD (Indian Fine Arts Association of San Diego). The organisation hosted its 15th Annual Music and Dance festival from April 8-10. Geographically, San Diego lies on the Pacific Coast in the state of California, US and is a popular destination for its beaches and sunny climate. One of the star attractions of cities on the West Coast for the Indian community is the weather enjoyed by the cities on the West Coast, especially in the state of California. And the beginning of the Spring season in April is indicative of several outdoor gathering and community festivities.

    Friday: Day One

    With highly sought after musicians in the programme and a great team of people working together, the festival perhaps is one of the first in the United States to go for a fully in person experience. The venue of this cultural fest was the David  and Dorothea Garfield Theater in San Diego. Traditionally the festival spans over a period of week. However, considering the pandemic, a three-day celebration seemed reasonable. Having said that, the line-up of concerts was extremely well curated and the organisers left no stones unturned in maintaing the high quality of the programmes.

    Carnatic musicians

    Friday evening started with a Lec-dem on the topic of Nadaswaram music titled ‘Significance and Influence’ by Mridangam Maestro Trichy Shankaran, C.M.Venkatachalam and Chitravina N. Ravikiran. This was followed by a premier concert ‘Vande Maataram’ by Aruna Sairam (Carnatic vocal) and Gaurav Majumdar (sitar) accompanied by Kalaimamani Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan on mridangam, Rajeev Mukundan on the violin and Amit Kavthekar on the tabla. ‘Vande Maataram: A journey through India in celebration of India’s 75th Independence Day’ combined with remembering Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravishankar on the eve of his 102nd birthday was a unique concert, which consisted of various compositions in 10 languages from India. The concert started with ‘Vaishnava Janato’, moved on to the beautiful ‘Amar Jonmo Bhumi’ and concluded with various renditions of ‘Vande Maataram’, covering Carnatic to Hindustani, to folk and devotional. The concert was graced by T.V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India at San Francisco as the Chief Guest.

    Saturday : Day two
    The morning started with a concert by vocalists Sai sisters with Patri Satish on the Mridangam and Kamalakiran Vinjamuri on the violin. Following the concert, there were performances by the students of local Gurus, in music and dance. Students of C.M. Venkatachalam performed beautifully in unison. The students of Revathi Subramaniam performed special compositions — a swarajathi, varnam of Pappu Venugopala Rao in praise of Pt. Ravi Shankar, tuned by Neyveli Santhanagopalan and a Bhajana Sampradaya Krithi composed by Chitravina N. Ravikiran in Ragam, Shankara  and concluded their presentation with ‘Shanthi Nilava Vendum’, a composition by Sethu Madhava Rao. Dance recitals by students of Aler Krishnan and local gurus followed.

    Sai Sisters

    The musical afternoon continued with a beautiful performance by Sriranjani Santhanagopalan (Carnatic vocal) with Patri Satish on the mridangam and Kamalakiran Vinjamuri on the violin. Sriranjani’s concert was greatly appreciated by the audience. A fantastic performance by flute virtuoso Shashank Subramanyam (Carnatic) with Patri Satish on the mridangam and Mysore Srikanth on the violin. The concert started with a composition in Sarasangi followed by a popular Thyagaraja Kirthi, Raga Sudharasa in Aandolika and then on to a beautiful Kumudakriya aalap and Ardhanareeshwaram and concluded with an RTP (ragam, talam and pallavi). Shashank enthralled the audiences with his music and kept the audience wanting more as we could hear some of them requesting him to continue longer.

    The evening started with felicitations and awards to senior vidwans. The lifetime Achievement award and title of ‘Sangeetha Vidhya Nidhi’ was awarded to Ravikiran and Neyveli Santhanagopalan and the the award Natya Vidhya Nidhi was given to to Priyadarshini Govind for Bharatanatyam and Sujata Mohapatra for Odissi for their contribution and work in the field of Dance. The IFAASD team honored a few core members of their team for their tireless efforts.  Revathi Subramanian, one of the pillars of the event was honoured with the award ‘Kadha Samvadak Nidhi’ commemorating her efforts of keeping the virtual platform for the concerts active during the pandemic.  

    Sriranjini Santhanagopalan

    The evening concluded with an electrifying Carnatic-Hindustani Jugalbandhi premiere of Qeeravanai Quartet  by Ravikiran and Homayoun Sakhi (Rubab), Patri Sathish Kumar on mridangam, Nitin Mitta on tabla. A beautiful unison of the artists commencing with Varanamukha in Hamsadhwani, solo by Homayoun, a duet in Simhendramadhyamam and a light folk finale. This was appreciated by the audience and the unison of the Chitravina and Rubab was absolutely amazing.  The electrifying energy of Patri Satish, despite this being his fourth concert for the day was unrealistic and the duet between the mridangam and tabla was equally enthralling and matched the maestros on Chitravina and Rubab.

    Sunday: Day three

    The final day of the festival started with a nice breakfast served by the committee that worked hard to take care of not just the artists but also the attendees. A fantastic Veena concert by Vidushi Nirmala Rajasekar with Patri Satish on the Mridangam,  Mysore Srikanth on the Violin and Karthik Venkataraman on Khanjira. Following the veena recital, was a Sitar recital by Pt. Karthik Seshadri and Nitin Mitta on Tabla.

    Trichy Sankaran

    The afternoon line-up was as powerful as the one when the festival started. With a vocal concert by Neyveli Santhanagoplan, with Trichy Sankaran on mridangam,Vinjamuri on the violin and Karthik Venkataraman on khanjira. Kiranavali Vidyasankar and Akshara Samskriti took center stage for a vocal performance with Vinod Seetharaman on mridangam and Vinjamuri on the violin. The dance recitals by Sujata Mohapatra (Odissi) and by Chitra Ramaswamy and her disciples concluded this power packed festival of Indian classical arts.

    Bharatanatyam Carnatic music Dorothea Garfield Theater San Diego Trichy Shankaran
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Telegram WhatsApp
    Previous ArticleBatman: Contagion, How It Explained Our Pandemic Prejudices
    Next Article Mayurbhanja Chhau: Where Martial Arts Meet Dance
    Meenakshi IAR
    Meenakshi Ganesan

      Meenakshi Ganesan, is the Founder & Artistic Director of Kalaanjali Dance Company in Madison, WI & San Jose, CA. She was conferred the prestigious title of Nritya Mayuri by the Ministry of Education and has performed at several prestigious events such as the Cleveland Aradhana Festival, The World Music Festival.

      Related Posts

      Moa Subong: The Maestro Who Hums Heritage into Harmony

      June 16, 2025
      Aaru

      Aaru: Showcasing Tamil Nadu’s rivers in six minutes

      May 19, 2025
      Aditya Sutar

      “Bansuri Teaches Us The Art Of Living”: Aditya Sutar

      May 14, 2025

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      Author In Focus VK Karthika

      Pathaan

      Pathaan: A Triumph of Love Over Hate

      V K KarthikaMarch 31, 2023

      Pathaan breaks the typical stereotype of Islamic Terrorism.

      Avatar

      Eastern Ethos Lifts up Cameron’s Avatar Sequel

      V K KarthikaJanuary 31, 2023

      Eastern ethos and laws of the nature are set to get a new tech-driven meaning as Cameron is planning two more sequels.

      Yazh

      Reviving Yazh, the Indian Harp

      V K KarthikaNovember 28, 2022

      Without Tharun, Yazh, an ancient instrument would not have taken birth in modern times

      Tholppavakoothu

      Girl Power up in Puppetry

      V K KarthikaSeptember 30, 2022

      Rajitha Ramachandra Pulavar and her team gave a new meaning to Tholppavakkooth and the body politics went in for a change in 2021

      Nanjiyamma tribal singer of Attappady

      Why the National Award for Tribal Singer Nanjiyamma Matters

      V K KarthikaAugust 27, 2022

      India witnessed a debate on the ‘purity of music’ when tribal singer Nanjiyamma won the National Award.

      EVENTS

      Nangiyarkoothu

      Celebrating 60 Years of Dance Excellence

      India Art ReviewMay 23, 2025

      Swara-dhi: A Soulful Summer Camp for Music Connoisseurs

      India Art ReviewMay 23, 2025
      Sooryakanthi festival

      Sooryakanthi Dance Festival From Nov 28- Dec 1

      India Art ReviewNovember 25, 2024

      Memorial Awards and Dance Performances in Chennai

      India Art ReviewNovember 25, 2024

      Have You Read These?

      Youth

      The Fountain of Youth

      Vineeth AbrahamMay 16, 2023

      What will happen when a bookworm set out to clean his library? One of the…

      The Elephant Whisperers

      Poetics of Fostering the Animal: The Elephant Whisperers

      Babu Rajan P PMay 1, 2023

      With the decline of natural habitats, human-elephant conflict has seen a surge, often leaving the majestic creatures as unwitting participants. “The Elephant Whisperers” documentary pays homage to the conservation endeavors aimed at preserving these habitats and raising awareness among communities about the perils of anthropocentrism.

      1899 and the Virtual Studio: Futuristic Filmmaking

      IAR DeskMarch 12, 2023

      1899, the new web series from the creators of German masterpiece Dark, will be filmed entirely in a virtual studio. Here’s all you wanted to know about ‘Volume’ and why it matters to futuristic filmmaking.

      Yazh

      Reviving Yazh, the Indian Harp

      V K KarthikaNovember 28, 2022

      Without Tharun, Yazh, an ancient instrument would not have taken birth in modern times

      A ‘Lyrical Dance’ Tribute to Edassery’s Poem

      G S PaulNovember 8, 2022

      Choreographic ingenuity of Vinitha Nedungadi created alluring visuals of the sublime poetic imagination of Edassery in Anthithiri.

      vijayakumar menon

      Vijayakumar Menon Taught Kerala How to Appreciate Art

      Renu RamanathNovember 3, 2022

      The only wealth Menon amassed during his solitary journey was that of art. When Vijayakumar…

      About
      About

      India Art Review is a dedicated digital journal of art and culture, based in Chennai and with representatives in Kerala, Delhi, the UAE, Canada and the US.

      We're social, connect with us:

      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Telegram
      People in Art
      Gazaljeet: Remembering the Ghazal Journey of Jagjit Singh

      Gazaljeet: Remembering the Ghazal Journey of Jagjit Singh

      February 8, 2021
      K P Narayana Pisharody: A Colossus of His Times

      K P Narayana Pisharody: A Colossus of His Times

      March 25, 2021
      Kalamandalam Kavitha Krishnakumar: Dancer & Dedicated Teacher

      Kalamandalam Kavitha Krishnakumar: Dancer & Dedicated Teacher

      February 11, 2021
      Kishori Amonkar: A Class Apart

      Kishori Amonkar: A Class Apart

      April 3, 2021
      Must Reads
      Mangad Natesan

      Remembering Carnatic Musician Mangad Natesan

      May 3, 2024
      P K G Nambiar

      PKG Nambiar(1930-2023): The Man who Redefined the Role of Vidooshaka

      May 10, 2023
      Kanak Rele

      Dr. Kanak Rele (1937-2023): A Revolutionary in Dance 

      February 22, 2023
      Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

      Adieu, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

      May 10, 2022
      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube RSS
      • Home
      • About
      Copyright © 2022. India Art Review

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.