KARTIK SESHADRI

NEWS

Raga Rasa Past/Present

Posted on January 26, 2013 by admin

A relatively new organization, in the past three years, Raga Rasa has been fulfilling its mission through exciting concerts, outreach work and intensive musical workshops.

This year Raga Rasa aims to continue and expand its work – please check here regularly for Concert updates, Outreach and Intensive Master Classes.

A selection of events and education programs already hosted by Raga Rasa:
Legend of the Sarode – Sufi Aashish Khan

GET UPDATES

ABOUT RAGA RASA

KARTIK SESHADRI

ABOUT THE BOARD

Kartik Seshadri: Founder, Artistic Director / Advisor to the Board, RAGA : RASA

~ Please click here for bio.

Jo Blackwell – Chair and Co-Founder – RAGA : RASA
brings a 23 year background and experience in education and training. As a senior southeast regional manager for the Princess Trust in the U.K., Jo initiated educational programs for young people, developed teacher-training programs, oversaw contract management as well as elicited effective fund raising. A resourceful, highly qualified and widely experienced trainer, teacher, manager and leader, she possesses proven skills and experience in working with young people that have earned her various accolades and awards including the “Exceptional Skills Award for 2008” from Prince Charles. Jo brings a wide range of interests to arts and culture and has traveled and lived in many parts of the world.

Sarah Hardwick

Sarah Hardwick is the founder and CEO of Zenzi. Her high energy and passion have fueled the company’s growth from its inception in 2002 into an award-winning communications firm. She combines proven strategies with new tactics from cause marketing to crowdsourcing. Under her leadership, Zenzi has successfully increased awareness and inspired business results for clients including Nestle, Chiquita, Hilton, Shea Homes, Keep a Breast Foundation, Torrey Pines Bank, TechCocktail, TEDx and more. Sarah has been quoted in industry publications such as PR Week and awarded Best Communications Campaign, Best Young Entrepreneur and one of the city’s Most Admired CEOs. You can follow her on Twitter@SarahZ or visit www.zenzi.com.

Ashvani Singh

Ashvani Singh from San Diego, California, is a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company, and holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in the field of Medicinal Chemistry. He has published several research papers and holds several US patents in the Drug Discovery field. He was part of the team that recently got FDA approval and successfully launched the first Cystic Fibrosis drug that treats the basic symptoms of the disease. He was born and brought up in the historical city of Lucknow, a North Indian city known for its Lucknow gharana of Kathak dance and North Indian classical music. He is an avid lover and listener of most of Indian classical, light Indian classical music as well as Western Rock and Blues music.

Kumaran Krishnasamy

is as an Electrical Engineer, and he holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Electrical and Signal Processing fields, respectively. Besides being a disciple of Kartik Seshadri, he has a passion for music, arts and education.

Penelope Custer

was educated at The Putney School, College Cevenol, Columbia University, Oxford University, LAMDA, The New School and NYU/SCPS. As long-time disciple of Kartik Seshadri, Penelope first discovered the bliss of “Nada Brahma” (Sound is God) at the maestro’s performance at Asia Society in 1997. The event changed her life forever. Traveling across the U.S. and Canada for his concerts, she has had the rare privilege of accompanying him on tanpura and in 2002 began the studying the sitar. Besides her interest in music, Penelope has also written a book of poetry, written and directed two short films, and has taught writing and art to children and teenagers. She has also studied piano, violin, flute, theory and harmony, sang in the Choral Society at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. RAGA : RASA is the vehicle through which Penelope hopes to fulfill her promise to Pablo Casals “to dedicate her life to music.”

Sailay Siddiqi

Sailay is a medical doctor and is currently working on a PhD in stem cell research. She was born in Afghanistan and grew up in South East Asia, Russia and Holland. Sailay has always had a great passion for Indian Classical Music. She believes Indian Classical Music is the only laminar factor in today’s turbulent world. Sailay has the privilege of being Kartik Seshadri’s disciple and, in her own words, is ‘his biggest fan’. As his disciple, she has had the pleasure of having lectures and dialogues about the role of music in the world and the importance of it in human development. These conversations have been (and are) eye opening and life changing. Being truly inspired, Sailay has decided to get involved and has chosen Raga Rasa as a tool for bringing cultures and people together through music.

Contact Us: email: music@ragarasa.org

tel: +1 760 753 2860

ABOUT THE BOARD

INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Indian classical music known as Raga Sangeeth, is an improvised art form based on the concepts of Raga and Tala. The historical origins of this spiritual musical tradition date back to the sacred Hindu scriptures known as Veda(s), which were the early precursors to the system of music that developed gradually. Raga(s) are the tonal idiom for improvisation and these precise melodic forms while essentially modal in structure, acquire their distinct musical identities from a complex range of factors: the Indian tonal system of perceiving the octave as 22 microtonal divisions (Sruti); the subtle nuances, inflections, and ornamentations associated with each Raga; and the particular emphasis of certain notes (Vadi, Samavadi) within the specific ascending and descending (Arohana and Avarohana) movement of each Raga. While allRaga(s) are specific to the time of the day (morning, evening or night) some Raga(s) are performed only during certain seasons, festivals or special occasions. The melodic and rhythmic aspect of our tradition is completely consistent with our aesthetic and philosophical idea that each Raga expresses a single dominant mood (Rasa). The nine Rasa(s) associated with our music are: Shringara (sensuous or erotic), Hasya (humorous), Karuna (pathos), Rudra(anger), Veera ( heroic), Bhayanaka (fearful), Vibhatsa (disgust), Adbhuta (wonderment) andShanta (tranquility).

The second aspect of improvisation in Indian classical music pertains to the concept of rhythm known as Tala. A Tala is conceptualized in cycles of beats ranging anywhere from a three beat cycle to a 108 beat cycle. There are other complex cycles in fractional beats such as 41⁄2, 61⁄2, 111⁄2 to mention a few, that make for complicated improvisations. An accomplished musician of Indian classical music has to develop complete mastery and facility over both Raga and Talato acquire the total freedom of improvisation within the complex constraints that Raga andTala impose on the performer. Indian classical music is predominantly steeped in melody and rhythm as opposed to the ideas of contrast manifested in harmony, counterpoint and modulation which shape traditions such as European art music or Jazz. The challenge of our music lies in the musician’s ability to shape and develop an entire musical edifice of a Ragaand to express its fullest depth and excitement. This is acquired through many years of Talim(training) with a master musician (Guru).

A typical performance of instrumental Indian classical music begins with Alap, Jor and Jhalarendered on the solo instrument such as Sitar, Sarod, etc. While the Alap is a slow, spiritual, non- metric rendition of the Raga, the following sections Jor and Jhala are somewhat free and bound to a more defined pulse. The Gat (theme) follows the previous sections and it is in this section that the concept of Tala is introduced and the accompanying percussion instrument (such as Tabla or Pakhawaj) joins the main instrument.

Sitar: the Sitar is one of the most popular stringed instruments of northern and eastern India and has gained much attention in the West during the last few decades. The instrument usually consists of 20 strings of which seven strings constitute as the main playing strings. There are 13 sympathetic strings that respond in sympathy to the main strings. The instrument also has a track of twenty metal frets that are movable and can be tuned to the specific tonality of each raga. The main facet of the instrument is that the strings can be pulled or stretched over the metal frets to obtain gliding and melismatic effects much in keeping with the ideal of Indian music to emulate the human voice.

Tabla: The Tabla is a two piece drum referred to as Tabla for the right-handed drum and Bayanfor the left-handed drum. The Tabla (right-hand) is a pitch specific drum tuned to the main tonic note of the performer. The Bayan is a bass drum which can produce a variety of sounds by exerting presssure on the skin of the instrument. The instrument is tuned with a metal hammer.

Tambura: This background instrument also referred to as Tanpura is used to lend a drone or continuo effect for the performer and listener alike. The instrument usually consists of 4 to 5 strings and is tuned to the main notes of the Raga.

INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

LISTEN

DONATE

KARTIK SESHADRI

NEWS

Raga Rasa Past/Present

Kartik Seshadri - Raga Malgunji (Arup Chattopadhyay tabla)

Legend of Sarode~Sufi Aashish Khan & Pt. Arup Chatterjee on Tabla

Philip Glass & Pt Ravi Shankar with Sri Kartik Seshadri on sitar

Kartik Seshadri ~ Sitar Virtuoso ~ interview with Renee Lobo - Part 1 and 2