Here is the second video of our concert in France. The composition Turbulence, Transcendence was commissioned by the De Young Museum in San Francisco last fall. I composed this song based on a piece of art there.
It was great to be able to play this in France. We hope you enjoy it!Lost Tales – VidyA live in France
As you probably already know, we had a great time playing in France. The organizers of the festival were extremely warm and the audience was great as well. I will post in more detail about this later.
For now, check out this video of Lost Tales from the concert there. There will be a few more videos of this trip as well coming soon. We hope you enjoy it.At the hotel in Brittany: VidyA on tour in France
David, Sameer and Prasant before the May 2010 concert in Brittany, France. VidyA!
Carnatic saxophone concert at Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco, 4/23/10. Song List.
Prasant Radhakrishnan on saxophone, Anantha R. Krishnan on mridangam.
Ethavunara – Kalyani – Adi – Thyagaraja
Hiranmayeem Lakshmi – Lalita – Rupakam – Dikshitar
Adamodi – Charukesi – Adi – Thyagaraja
intermission
Ellara Krishna – Kambodhi – Rupakam – Thyagaraja
RTP – Lathangi – Misrachapu
Thillana – Shankarabaranam – Tisra Adi – Ponnia Pillai
Bhagyadhe Lakshmi – Madhyamavati – Adi – Purandaradasa
Carnatic saxophone lecture and concert in San Francisco 4/22 and 4/23
Please join me at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco for an interactive lecture demonstration and concert this week! This is the second performance as part of my artist residency there. The first was VidyA on March 5th. We will have more performances and other events there, so stay tuned.
On Thursday, April 22, there will be a brief interactive lecture about Carnatic music and the saxophone. Here is the description:
Indian classical saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan presents an interactive lecture-demonstration on Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, with special focus on the tradition’s use of the saxophone.
Audience members will learn about the cultural context of Carnatic music and, to enhance their listening experience, some of its technical aspects. Prasant will demonstrate many of the concepts on the saxophone, as well as perform entire pieces. As a very special bonus, attendees will receive a complimentary copy of one of Prasant's Carnatic saxophone CDs!$15 admission. Interactive lecture 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm.
On Friday, April 23, we will present a Carnatic classical concert on saxophone and mridangam. I will be accompanied by Anantha R. Krishnan on mridangam. He is a fantastic musician and definitely worth watching. Those of you who are Carnatic music fans can look forward to hearing one or two compositions you may not have heard on saxophone yet. Here is the description from the Red Poppy website.
Prasant Radhakrishnan, founder of the critically acclaimed Carnatic jazz group VidyA, has been traveling the world playing saxophone in the traditional South Indian Carnatic classical and jazz styles since 1998. Prasant began developing his music over the course of nearly a decade of intensive musical training in India, as the foremost disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath. He soon, however, began to make his own innovations to this unique style.
Prasant has performed in several prestigious Carnatic music venues with the most discerning and senior-level accompanying artists in the field. He is blessed with a rich, vocalized tone which allows the saxophone to imitate the human singing voice. Prasant’s music has been regularly highlighted in world-class publications such as The Hindu, the SF Chronicle and India Today magazine.
Prasant is a 2010 resident artist at the Red Poppy Art House and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, as well as a recipient of a Zellerbach Foundation grant to further develop original compositions combining Carnatic music and jazz. Prasant’s continued exposure to the Carnatic and jazz traditions led him to create VidyA, an ensemble that seamlessly combines both genres. VidyA has been featured at venues such as SFJazz, San Jose Jazz, Yoshi’s and the Asian American Film Festival, and has received enthusiastic critical acclaim.
“[A] sweet melody all the way.” —The Hindu
$15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.
I hope to see you there. As usual, please feel free to spread the word.
Here is a picture of us tuning up at a concert we did two years ago at the Sangati Center in SF.
VidyA at SADHANA conference, Julia Morgan Hall and more
Please join us for a wonderful day of activities Thursday, April 1 courtesy of the SADHANA foundation. Please buy tickets to support this full day of events. I will be participating in a panel discussion in the afternoon and VidyA will be performing in the evening after Srinivas Reddy and New Directions.
Here is the program below and link here http://www.sadhanafoundation.org/conference.html:
First Annual SADHANA Conference 2010
Tradition as Innovation – South Asian Classical Music in the Next Decade
UC Berkeley and The Julia Morgan – Berkeley, CA, April 1, 2010
LECTURE & DISCUSSION – Townsend Center, Gabelle Room – 1pm-3:30pm
Welcome – Alexander von Rospatt, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies
Opening Remarks – Srinivas Reddy, UC Berkeley/SADHANA Foundation
CHATUR PANDIT MEMORIAL LECTURE – Pandit Partha Chatterjee
"South Asian Classical Music in the 20th Century – A Practitioner's Perspective"
Panel Discussion – moderated by Partha Chatterjee and Srinivas Reddy
Gautam Tejas Ganeshan (Sangati Center)
Prasant Radhakrishnan (Vidya)
Sameer Gupta (Namaskar)
FILM SCREENING – The Julia Morgan, 5pm-7:30pm
"That Which Colors the Mind" – Pt. Nikhil Banerjee documentary
A Conversation with filmmaker Steven Baigel
PERFORMANCE – The Julia Morgan, 8pm-10:30pm
Introduction – "Listening to South Asian Classical Music"
Sitar and Tabla – Srinivas Reddy and Michael Lewis
New Directions – Gautam Tejas Ganeshan and Anantha R. Krishnan
VidyA – Prasant Radhakrishnan, Sameer Gupta and David Ewell
Tradition as Innovation – South Asian Classical Music in the Next Decade
UC Berkeley and The Julia Morgan – Berkeley, CA, April 1, 2010
LECTURE & DISCUSSION – Townsend Center, Gabelle Room – 1pm-3:30pm
Welcome – Alexander von Rospatt, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies
Opening Remarks – Srinivas Reddy, UC Berkeley/SADHANA Foundation
CHATUR PANDIT MEMORIAL LECTURE – Pandit Partha Chatterjee
"South Asian Classical Music in the 20th Century – A Practitioner's Perspective"
Panel Discussion – moderated by Partha Chatterjee and Srinivas Reddy
Gautam Tejas Ganeshan (Sangati Center)
Prasant Radhakrishnan (Vidya)
Sameer Gupta (Namaskar)
FILM SCREENING – The Julia Morgan, 5pm-7:30pm
"That Which Colors the Mind" – Pt. Nikhil Banerjee documentary
A Conversation with filmmaker Steven Baigel
PERFORMANCE – The Julia Morgan, 8pm-10:30pm
Introduction – "Listening to South Asian Classical Music"
Sitar and Tabla – Srinivas Reddy and Michael Lewis
New Directions – Gautam Tejas Ganeshan and Anantha R. Krishnan
VidyA – Prasant Radhakrishnan, Sameer Gupta and David Ewell
NYC east coast visit
I had a short but fun visit to nyc on Tuesday. I had a concert at the Hudson Guild with Sameer Gupta's new group Namaskar. It featured Sameer, Marc Cary, Arun Ramamurthy, Neil Murghai, Rashaan Carter(?) and myself. It was a nice evening of music and a great chance to hear everyone. The group has a really interesting vibe with the dense instrumentation. Overall the visit kind of tempted me to spend more time in nyc in the future — what do you think?
Earlier in the day I headed over to Roberto's Winds near times square on Howard's recommendation. Great place, Roberto and Tony were great. I tried out some horns/mouthpieces etc. and got some minor repairs — I ended up trying out Roberto's special ligature and picked up a couple. The surprising part was running into jazz saxophone master James Carter. He was rehearsing on the other floor and came in for a peek. What a warm human being he was. I played a little bhairavi ragam for him since I already had my instrument out. It was fun. I also got to spend some quality time with my sister, brother in-law and my 8 month old niece in Boston. Now its back to the bay area for a VidyA performance April 1 at the SADHANA conference in Berkeley and April 3 solo at the red poppy mapp show. I will send out more details. See you soon!
Kamalambike – bliss.
Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. Here is Muthuswamy Dikshitar's magical "Kamalambike" in Todi ragam. If you are interested in the meaning, there are many websites that have it.
D.K. Jayaraman with disciples brings this to life for us everyday folks. Don't be surprised if you are swept up in akhandaika rasa. Will hopefully post more regularly soon. Hope you are all well.
Lyrics:
pallavi
kamalAmbikE AshritakalpalatikE caNDikE
kamanIyAruNAMshukE karavidhRta shukE mAmava
anupallavi
kamalAsanAdi pUjita kamalapatE bahuvaradE
kamalAlaya tIrthavaibhavE shivE karuNArNavE
caraNaM
sakala lOkanAyikE saHNgItarasikE
sukavitva pradAyikE sundari gatamAyikE
vikaLEbaramuktidAnanipuNE aghaharaNE
viyadAdi bhUtakiraNE vinOdacaraNE aruNE
sakaLEguruguhakaraNE sadAshivAntahkaraNE
akacaTatapAdivarNE akhaNDaikarasa pUrNE
On KALX 90.7 Feb 14 at 12pm
Just a heads up, I will be doing an interview and also sharing a playlist on KALX Berkeley 90.7 tomorrow (February 14) from 12 to 1pm. So tune into 90.7 and listen in! Details at http://kalx.berkeley.edu/
Prasant Radhakrishnan 