Thanks for being a part of 100% for Haiti Relief at prasantmusic.com

Well, now that February 1st midnight has come and gone, the first charity push on the new prasantmusic.com is now over. In case you don't know what I am referring to, check this post. I gave myself a day to reflect before posting.

I want to thank all of those that took part in purchasing any kind of music at http://music.prasantmusic.com during this period. All of that money will be donated to Red Cross, which will of course go to Haiti relief efforts. I also want to thank those of you who helped publicize it by doing things like "retweeting" or posting or "liking" on facebook and e-mailing links to friends. You may not realize it, but little things like this can make a big difference. 

In the end it was a small group of people who came through and participated, and the amount raised wasn't much, but big things are always started by small groups of people. Every little bit counts. Thus, I remain optimistic.

There are many other causes and charities that will need our help in the future, so this is just the first of many other similar events I am planning. 

If you have any feedback about this or would like to help out, feel free to let me know. 

Weekend concerts recapped…and pictured.

Hello everyone, I hope this post finds you well in this first week of February. Hopefully everyone has got the iPad frenzy out of their system by now.

 

Just a quick recap of this weekend’s two concerts here in the Bay Area. Thanks to Nishanth Chandran (violin) and Nirmal Narayan (mridangam) for coming up for these concerts. I had played with Nishanth and Nirmal on separate occasions and they had played together, but never all 3 of us. It was great playing together finally. They are both incredibly talented artists, if you have not heard them, I would suggest you check them out.

 

Both concerts were in intimate settings — one was a chamber concert in Cupertino on Saturday January 30, courtesy of Sekhar Sarukkai and family. A big thanks to them for their generosity in hosting live music. There was a very warm audience and we enjoyed playing. We also enjoyed some delicious home-made food. The same goes for the second concert held on Sunday at the Sangati Center in San Francisco. Gautam Ganesan who heads up the Sangati Center is also now a vocalist, so check him out too. Here are a few pics, mostly of the Sangati Center date.

 

Thanks for listening and sharing….and reading this.

Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Gati Neevani in Thodi — no words to describe

I have been enjoying this gem from the 1967 Krishnaghana Sabha concert where they have rendered Thyagaraja’s Lalgudi Pancharatnams in addition to an RTP. The whole concert is amazing.

So expressive… its hard to describe.
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100% of prasantmusic.com sales go to Haiti until February 1st

Dear Friends,

As relief efforts in Haiti get underway, it is a crucial time to keep the donations going. Most of us have already donated to some of the major organizations.

To add another avenue to this, 100% of all digital sales proceeds from http://music.prasantmusic.com will be donated to Haiti via Red Cross. Not a percentage of, but 100% — all proceeds. You can name your price so feel free to donate more.

To provide another option, you can add a note at checkout if you want your donation to go to Doctors Without Borders. 

This is only valid for about 5 days, so you have until February 1st midnight PST. This is all to keep things simple and straightforward.

So: any album or track, 100% to Haiti, until February 1st midnight. Please share.

House Concert Pics from December 18, upcoming chamber concerts Jan 30 and 31.

Here are a few pics from a chamber concert at the Chandreshekar residence from last month in Fremont, CA. With Susheel Narasimhan and Karthik Gopalratnam. It was a nice concert series and I hope they continue to host such concerts.

I will be playing another such chamber concert at the Sarukkai residence in the South Bay along with Los Angeles based artists Nishanth Chandran on violin and Nirmal Narayan on mridangam. January 30th, Saturday 6pm. If you would like to attend, please e-mail RSVP to sekhar at gmail. The following day will be a relaxing afternoon concert at the Sangati Center in SF at 1pm with the same artists, January 31. Info at www.sangaticenter.org.

So:

Saturday 6pm Jan 30 at Sarukkai Residence in the South Bay. Contact sekhar at gmail for rsvp and inquiries.
Sunday 1pm Jan 31 at Sangati Center in San Francisco.

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See the full gallery on Posterous

Reminder to donate to relief efforts in Haiti

I know everyone has heard and probably most of you have already donated. But in case you haven't yet, here is a friendly reminder.

Please donate now!

http://www.redcross.org/
https://www.planusa.org/content1188763

I know there are many others, but I don't want you to be slowed down by too many choices!
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

A review of our SMU concert

Photo of Prasant performing a Carnatic concert

Prasant performing with Patri Satish Kumar and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan in 2009. Photo courtesy SMU.

via smu.edu

Just got this link in my e-mail. Thanks to this student at SMU who wrote a brief article about our performance at SMU back in September featuring Patri Satish Kumar and Thiripunithura N. Radhakrishnan. It’s nice to see a perspective of how the music made her feel rather than a song list and technical breakdown of ragas/talas etc. I was moved. A little excerpt:

The first song starts with Radhakrishnan on the saxophone, and it draws me in. I can feel all tension in the air start to melt away, leaving a sense of raw, unadulterated discovery hanging overhead. The man to the left of me closes his eyes, hums softly, and becomes enveloped in the music. As the percussionists enter the song, Radhakrishnan plays as if in a trance. He and his instrument are one and we as the audience witness a conversation between man and music. It is just extraordinary! There is really no way with words to describe the kind of communication between Radhakrishnan and the notes he is playing around him, or the way that it makes me feel.

The whole thing is at http://www.smu.edu/Meadows/NewsAndEvents/2009/090930-WorldMusic.aspx#