I began studying South Indian Karnatak classical music in 2000 at Sharada Kumar's group vocal lessons at the Chinmaya Mission in Ann Arbor. In the summer of 2001 I began formal training with Kalpana Venkat in Michigan and supplemented these vocal and instrumental studies with a month long intensive workshop given by Chitravina N. Ravikiran in the summer of 2006.
In the fall of 2006 I was given the opportunity to study Karnatak music with B. Balasubrahmaniyan and David Nelson in an ethnomusicology MA program at Wesleyan University. Recently, I was admitted into Wesleyan's ethnomusicology PhD program, providing time, space and resources to persevere in my studies. I have gained priceless experience performing with Balasubrahmaniyan and Nelson as vocal backup or accompanying, as a violinist usually does, with the Karnatak mandolin or electric guitar.
MY MA thesis, "U. Shrinivas' Mandolin Ecstasy," was a hands on study of Shrinivas' improvisations and explored his early career as a child prodigy, as a lens into late 20th and 21st century changes in Karnatak instrumental music.
November 14, 2008 @ Kampo Bahal gallery, NYVideo: October 27, 2008 @ Wesleyan University
