Sunday, September 2, 2012

Sri Vidyabhushana Concert


Carnatic music concert by Sri Vidyabhushana

            Accompanied by:

           Smt. Priya Hariharan on violin
            Sriram Srinivasan on mridangam

Date: Friday, September 14th, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM to 9 PM
Venue: Broomfield auditorium,
             3 community park road, Broomfield, CO 80020
         

Colorado Kannada Koota and Nada Colorado with support from CFAA is organizing a Carnatic Music Concert by popular vocalist Sri Vidyabhushana well known for his melodious devotional renderings especially the Haridasa compositions, on Friday 14th September 2012 starting at 6:30 pm.

Sri Vidyabhushana is a well known vocalist hailing from Karnataka, India and has hundreds of albums to his credit.  He has given many concerts all over the world including all over USA, performing for more than 20 years. He was honored with the title of Sangeetha Vidya Nidhi in 1994 and was honored with Doctorate by Hampi University.

Sri Vidyabhushana began to learn music from his father late Sri Govindacharya , and for several years was an ardent disciple of Sri B. V. Narayana Aithal of Udupi. In the later years he got training from the famous musician, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri R. K. Srikantan and then from the well-known vocalist, violinist & mridangam exponent, Padma Bhushana recipient Sri T. V. Gopalakrishnan of Madras.
He is the founding trustee of "Bhakti Bharathi Prathistana", a trust that brings in senior musicians, scholars and musicologists to participate in Haridasa Sammelanas, lecture demonstrations, workshops and concerts.

Ticket Prices:

Kids – Free, Singles - $15, Family - $25
Family Sponsorship - $50.00 (includes two free adult tickets)
Contact:vhunase@gmail.com.

If you would like to sponsor the event, please contact Vinayaka Hunasekoppa at 303-346-2281 or send an e-mail to vhunase@gmail.com.

Red Carpet Evening - Sneak Peek The Golden Hour



Colorado Fine Arts Association joins hands with Jon Tobey  Events to present “A Red Carpet Evening Featuring A Sneak Peek of  The Golden Hour Documentary.” Proceeds to benefit the Golden  Hour Documentary

Denver, Colorado, Sep 4, 2012 – Colorado Fine Arts Association will be presenting a vibrant and musical Bollywood evening for the Colorado community. Complementary cocktail hour and hors d'oeuvres will be followed by dinner, live entertainment and silent auctions at the Casselman’s venue. Food is being catered by Little India. Proceeds of the evening will go directly towards funding the feature length documentary The Golden Hour. The film is at a 90% edit stage. Funds raised will be instrumental in finishing this film.

The Golden Hour is a  documentary about the issue of roadside fatalities through the perspective of a 29 year old visionary. India tops the global list for fatalities due to road accidents, with 18 deaths every hour.  Denver crew and faculty members at CU, Denver,  followedDelhi based Piyush Tewari who  is the founder of  SaveLIFE Foundation, a non-profit that trains bystanders in emergency trauma care services. The Golden Hour captures Tewari’s personal journey of trying to change the cultural mindset of 1.2 billion people.
The film crew will be present in person to promote the film and attendees will get a sneak preview of the film.


Venue: Casselman’s Bar and Venue
Date:November 1st, Thursday
Time:6 pm to 10 pm


The film crew will be present in person to promote the film and attendees will get a sneak preview of the film.

Venue: Casselmans Bar and Venue
Date: November 1st, Thursday
Time: 6 pm to 10 pm


####

Contacts: Roma Sur, Director/Producer
roma@thegoldenhourmovie.com

Deana Macdonald, Producer/Business Manager
deana@thegoldenhourmovie.com


Ajay Menon, President, CFAA
president@coloradofinearts.org


Indira Duggirala, General Secretary, CFAA
gs@coloradofinearts.org



Denver, CO – Aug 27, 2012

###


Media Contacts:

Deana Macdonald
Producer/Business Manager, The Golden Hour LLC
Ph: 720 2732470
deana@thegoldenhourmovie.com

Roma Sur
Director/Producer, The Golden Hour documentary
Ph: 303 641 8429
roma@thegoldenhourmovie.com




Sponsors:
Colorado Fine Arts Association
Little India Restaurant
Casselman’s Bar and Venue
John Tobey Event Design
Oster Jewelers

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Ajit Namboothiri Lecture Demonstration



The following review was written by Shri VK Arunkumar, Board of Director, CFAA

Sri Ajit Namboothiri, a trained musician, researcher and musicologist, is a familiar presence on television as producer, anchor and creator of music-based shows such as Sruthilayam, Lasyam and Raga Ratnam on Amrita TV, visited Denver, CO, the week of May 28, 2012. Ajay Menon, President of the Colorado Fine Arts Association (CFAA) was instrumental in bringing this artiste to conduct teaching sessions/workshops for music students as well as to present a 2-hour concert/lec-dem on Maharaja Sri Swathi Tirunal, his life and contribution to music and also highlight on other composers from Kerala on Saturday June 2, 2012.

The concert/lec-dem commenced with a short video clip from Sri Ajit's 'Sangeetha Satsangam' program being held at the historical location of Thanjavur Amma Veedu. More details can be found from the article in The Hindu at http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article3404865.ece

The video clip was from their presentation of Nangayarkootthu, a dying art form in Kerala. Sri Ajit is very interested to preserve these traditions and document them for future generations.

The concert part commenced with Sri Ajit pointing out important aspects of the life of Sri Swathi Thirunal - how he was 'Garbha Sreemaan' (King even while in his Mother's womb), how he patronized all art forms, his fluency in many languages, contributions to the repertoire of Carnatic Music, composing bhajans in Hindustani ragas thereby introducting this compositional form to South India, etc. He also pointed out that many older compositions have probably lost their original tune and maybe even the raga to modern re-tuning efforts. He specifically mentioned the contributions of Harikesanallur Sri Muthiah Bhagavathar, 'RajyaSeva Nirathaha' 'Sangita Kalanidhi' Dr. Semmangudi Srinivasier, 'Sangita Kalanidhi' Sri G.N.Balasubramaniam in bringing these compositions to the concert platform. Special mention of re-tuning 'Bhavayaami Raghuraamam' by Sri Semmangudi was mentioned with the purpose that musicians do not cut out the many charanams since this portrays the full story of Srimad Ramayanam.

Ajit presented the kritis, Maamava Sada Janani (Kanada), Paripahi maam (Mohanam), excerpts from kritis like Devi Pavane (Saveri) while mentioning Navaratri Kritis, Visweseara Darshan Kara (Sindhu Bhairavi) while mentioning bhajans, and so on. He also presented a kriti in Poorva Kambhoji, a raga lost in time, in its existing form. He jovially mentioned not to ask for the lakshana of the raga - this is probably one of the few older tunes that is still in vogue today.

Ajit also pointed out that there were many other Kerala composers like Irayamman Thampi, who had contributed immensely to Carnatic Music. There were many Kathakali padams, employing various rare talams, etc. which are being documented by his and many others's efforts so that they dont get lost to the future generations. This is truly a culture to preserve and propogate with the help of music lovers and connoisseurs.

There were presentations by a group of kids from Highlands Ranch, CO, singing Vande Meenakshi, solo singing of Shyamale Meenakshi and also senior students singing Paripahi maam, Maa Ramanan and Mamava Sada Janani. All of them had learnt these compositions from Sri Ajit during his stay in the area.

By popular request, Sri Ajit concluded his demonstration with the famous Purandara dasar kriti 'Chandra chooda' in Darbari Kanada (a divine favorite of his Guru Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan) and the famous Sri Swathi Thirunal padam 'Poonthen Nermozhi' in Ananda Bhairavi.

Sri Ajit was accompanied by Smt. Priya Hariharan on the violin, Sri. Prashanth Kallur on the flute and Dr. Venkat Subramaniam on the mridangam.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Ajit Namboothiri in Denver

Sangeetha Chinthaamani Ajit Namboothiri will be visiting Denver from May 29th till June 2nd.
He will be conducting workshops from 29th - 1st and conclude his tour with a short lecture / demonstration / Concert on June 2nd.

Details of this event are given below

As another step in our vision of promoting musical appreciation and education, we invite you and your family to kickoff Summer 2012 with an informal evening of enchanting classical music by Sangeetha Chinthaamani Ajit Namboothiri, who is visiting Denver. Our own Priya Hariharan will be playing Violin, Venkat Subramanian playing Mridangam and Prashanth Kallur will be on Flute ! A disciple of Sadguru Shri Neyveli R Santhanagopalan, Ajit is a musicologist, researcher, teacher and a noted TV personality.
Event Details
  • Date: Saturday, 06/02/2012
  • Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM
  • Location: Parkside Community Center (Rooms 1-3), Anthem Highlands Community Association, 3624, Parkside Center Dr, Broomfield, CO, 80023
  • Entry Fee: The event is Free, but donations will be appreciated. The voluntary suggested donation is $20-$30/family to cover the costs of the event (Primarily the Facility Fee , travel for the artist and potentially some level of honorarium for the artists)
  • Event Sponsorship: This event is blessed by CFAA, but not financially sponsored. It is paid for and arranged by some music lovers in Colorado
  • Contact Phone: (303) 408 3893

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Lavanya Ananth Bharatanatyam Program

Pictures from Lavanya Ananth's Bharatanatyam Program on May 13th, 2012 at the Broomfield Auditorium

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Pictures from Nithyashree Mahadevan Concert on Apr 15th, 2012

Pictures from Rocky Mountain Thyagaraja Aradhana 2012

Indian Dance Festival 2012


Kerala Association of Colorado proudly celebrates 13th Annual Indian Dance Festival on  April 28th Saturday 4.30 PM at Hinkley High school, 1250 Chambers Road, Aurora CO 80011.

This event showcases various Indian classical dances, contemporary dances, folk dances and Bollywood dances. The assortment of dancers in the exceptionally well organized dance festival reveals the essence of dance intelligence. All these dances provide not only entertainment, but also reflect a deeper cultural awareness and diversity. 

This year, organizers have assembled a great line up of artists and unique varieties of dance forms to match with the theme of  Indian Dance Festival, “A Cultural Tour of India”.

In addition to the  professional and amateur artists of the Great State of Colorado representing various dance schools and dance groups, KAOC is also proud to present 2012 Sangeeta Nataka Academy Winner Ms.Sunanda Nair to perform a Kathakali and Mohiniyattom at this event.  Considered to be one of the top 5 artists in the field of Mohiniyattam, the presence of Ms.Sunanda Nair promises an added attraction to dance enthusiasts this year.

KAOC invites you all with your family to come and be part of this cultural tour through various states of India starting from Kerala. Come enjoy this event and encourage the performers while you receive great insight into the rich traditions of India.

The event will start sharp at 4.30 PM MST.

Indian Food,   Indian Outfits,  and Ornaments are available for purchase at the venue.

Please visit www.colorkerala.org and our facebook page/group “Kerala Association of Colorado”

Natyasangham Dance Academy

NATYASANGAM DANCE ACADEMY

INVITES YOU TO AN EVENING OF ENCHANTMENT

Namaste and Greetings to all of you,

NatyaSangam Dance Academy will present its annual recital of classical dances of India on May 12, 2012. This year’s recital, “Legends” will be presented by the students of Natyasangam. We will be honored by your gracious presence on this occasion.

Date: Saturday, May 12th 2012
Time: 5:00 P.M to 7:00 PM
Venue: Lewis Palmer High School Auditorium
1300 Higby Rd. Monument 80132

Please view the attached flyer.


Thank you,

Bonmayuri Kalita
Director
Natyasangam Dance Academy
Email: natyasangamdanceacademy@gmail.com

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Lamont World Music Concert and Lecture Series

CFAA is the proud co-sponsor of the 
Lamont World Music Concert and Lecture Series
               University of Denver, Lamont School of Music, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. Denver, CO 80208

Inaugural Concert
An Evening of North Indian Classical Music and Dance

Who:  


Dr. George Ruckert, sarod; Charlotte Moraga, kathak; Nabin Shrestha, tabla

When:


February 18, 7:30pm


Where:

Hamilton Recital Hall at the Robert & Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts
, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. Denver, CO 80208


TICKETS: 

Adults $21; Seniors $19; Students from any school (w/ID) 
All Pioneer Card holders: Free.
CFAA Patrons: Limited FREE Tickets (First Come First Served Basis)
Free parking. A reception will follow the performance.


For more information, please visit www.du.edu/lamont/worldmusic
 
Biographies of the Artists

Dr. George Ruckert—performer, composer, arranger, author, and teacher—is a rare artist with an extensive background in the disciplines of both Western and Indian classical music.

One of the senior-most disciples of the late sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, he focused his attention on sarod and vocal music for nearly thirty years. During this period he also served for many years as teacher and Director of the Ali Akbar College of Music. During this tenure, he composed, arranged, conducted, and performed with and for the College’s innovative east-west ensemble, the New Maihar Band. He also composed music for several of the dance dramas of Kathak dance master Chitresh Das, notably Sita Haran and The Gold Rush. As a solo artist on the sarod, he has performed extensively in India, Europe, Canada and the United States. He also composed two new rāgas: Shenan Mand and Usha Kanra.

Dr. Ruckert holds an MA degree in music theory and composition and a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of California at Berkeley. His doctoral dissertation focuses on the music of Ali Akbar Khan. He is a Senior Lecturer at MIT, and a co-founder of MITHAS, which has presented some 150 programs of Indian classical music and dance since it was established in 1993. Dr. Ruckert is also the author of five books on Indian classical music including the popular Music in North India: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture published by Oxford University Press (2003) and with Ali Akbar Khan, The Classical Music of North India: The Music of the Baba Allauddin Gharana as Taught by Ali Akbar Khan (1991, 2004).

 
Charlotte Moraga is a Kathak artist, educator and choreographer. She began her training with master Kathak artist and guru Pandit Chitresh Das at San Francisco State University in 1992 and continues to study deeply in the guru-shisya parampara (a tradition of one-to-one intensive training) to the present. She was formerly a professional jazz dancer, trained in ballet and jazz dance from the age of nine.

Ms. Moraga has toured India eight times to date. As a solo artist, she has performed to critical acclaim in Mumbai, Calcutta, Pune, Agra, Madurai, Pondicherry, and Coimbature. She has performed at prestigious festivals such as the American Dance Festival, Denpasar Bali Arts Festival, The International Kathak Festival in Chicago, Ali Akbar Khan’s 80th Birthday Gala, and World Arts West’s Ethnic Dance Festival. For her work as a Kathak dancer she has received awards including a San Francisco Foundation Shenson Performing Arts Fellowship, a CA$H grant, and a residency for the Performing Diaspora Project at CounterPulse.

Ms. Moraga is the Principal Dance Company member of the Chitresh Das Dance Company (CDDC). She is a senior instructor at the affiliated Chhandam School of Kathak Dance and is director of the Chhandam Youth Dance Company. She is largely responsible for developing the CDDC’s arts education program and has written several articles about Kathak for dance publications such as Dance Spirit, Dance Magazine, and In Dance.


For Nabin Shrestha, music has been an essential part of his life since early childhood in Nepal. Nabin began learning tabla at nine years old with the guidance of his Guru Shree Rabin Lal Shrestha and was inspired by his brother Rajendra Shrestha. To this day, he still views himself as a continuing student in an ever-expanding exploration of the dynamic sounds and musical interpretations possible with the tabla.

Nabin received a scholarship from the Indian Council for Cultural Relationship to pursue music at Aakhil Bharatiya Gandharva Music University of Delhi. There, he worked to develop his musical career with tabla masters including Ustad Shri Faiyaaz Khan and Shri Tansen Shrivastav. Upon completion of a master’s degree, Nabin received the exceptional opportunity to further his musical studies under the guidance of the great tabla maestro “Taalmani” Pandit Sureshji Talwalkar. Upon returning to Nepal, Nabin kept busy with various recordings, performances and music lessons at the University in Nepal. At present he is based in Colorado, where he continues to record, compose music and offer private tabla lessons. A favorite tabla player in the region, he has performed with artists including Ustad Roshan Jamal Bharatiya, Pandit Joginder Virdi, Sarah Morelli and many others.


Sincere Appreciation to the following donors and supporters of this event:
Donors to Ethnomusicology at DU
The DU Phipps Performing Arts Fund
DU Honors Program
The Colorado Fine Arts Association  www.coloradofinearts.org


TICKETS On Sale NOW: Adults $21; Seniors $19; Students from any school (w/ID) & all Pioneer Card holders: Free. Groups of 8 people or more have a 20% discount, and for orders on the phone a flat service charge of $5. Online: (24/7) www.newmantix.com a $2 service charge is applied per ticket purchased online. Phone: (business hours only) Newman Center Box Office 303-871-7720 a $4 service charge is applied per ticket purchased by phone. In Person: (business hours only) Newman Center Box Office. There is no service charge for tickets purchased in person. 20 minute free parking is available in the loading zone at the entrance on Iliff Ave. Newman Center Box Office Hours: Mon-Fri 10am – 4pm; Saturdays from September – May: 12pm – 4pm; 1 hr prior to concert time.

For more information, please visit www.du.edu/lamont/worldmusic