By A STAFF REPORTER
LA JOLLA, CA – For San Diegans, to hear and see innumerable Indian musicians and dancers illuminate their city for over a week, is not something new. But no one seems to take it for granted either. From April 2-9, they arrived at the David and Dorthea Garfield Theater with unmatched eagerness to hear the best and brightest from...
LA JOLLA, CA – For San Diegans, to hear and see innumerable Indian musicians and dancers illuminate their city for over a week, is not something new. But no one seems to take it for granted either. From April 2-9, they arrived at the David and Dorthea Garfield Theater with unmatched eagerness to hear the best and brightest from...
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India: there was Aruna Sairam and the husband-wife duo of violin maestro L.Subramaniam and singer Kavita Krishnamurthy delighting with their dexterity in both, the Hindustani and Carnatic genres; a dance lec-dem session with Briju Maharaj, CV Chandrasekhar, Sujata Mohapatra and Kishore Mosalikanti discussing the idioms of kathak, bharatanatyam, odissi and kuchipudi; jugalbandis of instruments by Ravikiran and Lalgudi GJR Krishnan on the chitravina and violin and in vocal music by Gayathri Venkataraghavan and Arati Ankalikar.
Apart from the approach to inclusivity, there was also the factor of performers who ran the gamut of generations – from the violinist M. Chandrasekaran who has amazed all by overcoming his blindness with his melody, vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan who can dazzle with his sheer virtuosity and sitarist Anoushka Shankar, who lived her formative musical years in the area.
This one of a kind festival in California and probably the entire west coast, is organized annually by the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego. This year marked its 10th consecutive year of striving to reach its stated goal of disseminating Indian culture in the mainstream community through music, dance and the arts, as well as fostering talent and interest in the Indian-American youth. By all accounts, IFAASD has been marching toward this with credible success.
The brainchild of Shekar Viswanathan, an area resident since 1977, the growth trajectory of IFAASD can be understood in a few simple numbers: the first fest it hosted featured a modest 20 artists spread over 3 days. This year, 117 artists performed over 8 days. While the sheer scale of it has made the arts-oriented public sit up and take notice, it is has also meant several hours of voluntary work by Viswanathan and his dedicated team. He is quick to credit them: the organization’s board members, V.V. Sundaram of Cleveland who helps him get the bulk of the artistes, T.S.R Krishnan who’s advice has been timely, C.M. Venkatachalam, Revathi Subramanian, Rekha Nandakumar and Kasturi Srinivasan. Viswanathan laughingly says the passion for IFAASD related work is so high that after a break of two months, the work for 2018 will begin. Having honed his skills in dealing with myriad temperaments as a professor of engineering at National University, he brings – at least in public – a genial approach to administering the organization. Among the challenges of hosting an event of this magnitude, with top notch artistes, scheduling, bringing in vendors, arranging a varied food service through the entire day for the attending public, ticketing, etc., Viswanathan says the top two is the hosting of the artistes at various homes and finance. The city and donors keep the wheels of the organization moving, he says.
At a felicitation ceremony on April 8, Dr. Joel Day, Executive Director, San Diego made clear that IFAASD has the support of the city and that the organization and the festival was part of the fabric of the community. On the same day, as part of its outreach to the mainstream, at least 40 school children were present at the concerts. The other guest of honor was Consul General Ashok Venkatesan who in his usual succinct manner lauded the festival and its organizers.
Recognized at the event were M. Chandrasekaran, L. Subramaniam, President of the influential Music Academy in Chennai N. Murali, V.V.Sundaram from OH who pioneered the idea of music festivals and has been the conduit for artists coming to San Diego and, T.S.R Krishnan, well known especially in SoCal music circles for his singing, encouraging young artistes and composing of music. Invited to speak, Krishnan eruditely expressed gratitude to the Paramacharya of Kanchi Mutt, his father for shaping him through spirituality and music and delightfully, his wife Radha, a musicologist in her own right.
While the community is already content with the wealth of offerings by IFAASD - not just during the festivals but through the year – Viswanathan, on its 10th anniversary, continues to look forward and dreams of having an auditorium, becoming the music and dance fulcrum for the west coast and having a strong, youth contingent of artistes.
Apart from the approach to inclusivity, there was also the factor of performers who ran the gamut of generations – from the violinist M. Chandrasekaran who has amazed all by overcoming his blindness with his melody, vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan who can dazzle with his sheer virtuosity and sitarist Anoushka Shankar, who lived her formative musical years in the area.
This one of a kind festival in California and probably the entire west coast, is organized annually by the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego. This year marked its 10th consecutive year of striving to reach its stated goal of disseminating Indian culture in the mainstream community through music, dance and the arts, as well as fostering talent and interest in the Indian-American youth. By all accounts, IFAASD has been marching toward this with credible success.
The brainchild of Shekar Viswanathan, an area resident since 1977, the growth trajectory of IFAASD can be understood in a few simple numbers: the first fest it hosted featured a modest 20 artists spread over 3 days. This year, 117 artists performed over 8 days. While the sheer scale of it has made the arts-oriented public sit up and take notice, it is has also meant several hours of voluntary work by Viswanathan and his dedicated team. He is quick to credit them: the organization’s board members, V.V. Sundaram of Cleveland who helps him get the bulk of the artistes, T.S.R Krishnan who’s advice has been timely, C.M. Venkatachalam, Revathi Subramanian, Rekha Nandakumar and Kasturi Srinivasan. Viswanathan laughingly says the passion for IFAASD related work is so high that after a break of two months, the work for 2018 will begin. Having honed his skills in dealing with myriad temperaments as a professor of engineering at National University, he brings – at least in public – a genial approach to administering the organization. Among the challenges of hosting an event of this magnitude, with top notch artistes, scheduling, bringing in vendors, arranging a varied food service through the entire day for the attending public, ticketing, etc., Viswanathan says the top two is the hosting of the artistes at various homes and finance. The city and donors keep the wheels of the organization moving, he says.
At a felicitation ceremony on April 8, Dr. Joel Day, Executive Director, San Diego made clear that IFAASD has the support of the city and that the organization and the festival was part of the fabric of the community. On the same day, as part of its outreach to the mainstream, at least 40 school children were present at the concerts. The other guest of honor was Consul General Ashok Venkatesan who in his usual succinct manner lauded the festival and its organizers.
Recognized at the event were M. Chandrasekaran, L. Subramaniam, President of the influential Music Academy in Chennai N. Murali, V.V.Sundaram from OH who pioneered the idea of music festivals and has been the conduit for artists coming to San Diego and, T.S.R Krishnan, well known especially in SoCal music circles for his singing, encouraging young artistes and composing of music. Invited to speak, Krishnan eruditely expressed gratitude to the Paramacharya of Kanchi Mutt, his father for shaping him through spirituality and music and delightfully, his wife Radha, a musicologist in her own right.
While the community is already content with the wealth of offerings by IFAASD - not just during the festivals but through the year – Viswanathan, on its 10th anniversary, continues to look forward and dreams of having an auditorium, becoming the music and dance fulcrum for the west coast and having a strong, youth contingent of artistes.
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