The all-day symposium on Muttusvami Diksitar offers an avenue to bring scholars, musicians and community members together, to deepen our listening experience and to understand the historical and social milieu in which this extraordinary composer made his mark. While we think of music as timeless and the listening experience as one that transcends time, the three academic lectures (and indeed the performances too) invite us to consider how place, time and space, shape not only what we listen to, but how we listen.
Three prominent scholars--Davesh Soneji, Indira Peterson, and Anand Venkatrishnan--bring their deep historical learning and formidable linguistic skills to both broaden and deepen our understanding of Muttusvami Diksitar. Each speaker is paired with a young musician from the Bay Area, who will perform compositions that will complement the arguments presented in the academic lectures. We count among these young musicians: Geeta Shankar (veena), Manasa Suresh (south Indian vocal) and Radhika Bhalerao (Hindustani vocal), with Ajay Gopi and Akshay Prabhakaran on the mridangam and Vikas Yendluri on the tabla. You can more about our Speakers and Musicians here, while the Schedule can be found here.
We conclude the event with a curated concert of Diksitar's compositions by renowned polymath, Dr. S. Sowmya, who will be accompanied by Ranjani Ramakrishnan (violin) and Vignesh Venkataraman (mridangam). Tickets for the concert may be purchased here:*
We encourage local youth, musicians, community members, teachers and artists to participate in the symposium. Those who preregister (by Monday, April 2) and stay for the entire program will receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Department of Music, UC Davis, in a public ceremony at the conclusion of the symposium.
*The concert is free for Sacramento Aradhana Sponsors and Annual Pass Holders