proudly presents a

1. Pallavi of the Capital District proudly presents a CARNATIC CLASSICAL VOCAL CONCERT Smt. Chandrika Pai MRIDANGAM Ganesh Sankaranarayanan VIOLIN Suhas Rao Saturday, Feb 5th 2011, 5:30 P.M at Albany Hindu Temple - Loudonville, NY Members & Students-free, Non-members - $10 For more information: Thiyagarajan Subramanian 518-831-9430 Lakshmi Ravichandran 518-373-9123 Sudharsana Srinivasan 518-372-1248 See overleaf for Bio-Data of artists and Directions.

2. About the Artists : Chandrika Pai started her formal musical training at the age of five under Sangeeta Vidhwan N. Gopalakrishna Iyer in Mangalore and received vocal lessons for 16 years. During this time, she also received intensive vocal training from her sister Sudha Suresh who is an accomplished Carnatic vocalist in her own right. She is also fortunate to have received vocal lessons from Sangeetha Kalacharya Sri Chengleput Ranganathan in Chennai. At the tender age of 11, she secured first rank in the state-wide Carnatic Vocal Junior exam obtaining a perfect score of 100%. Later, she passed her Senior and Vidhwat examinations with distinction honors. In 1997, she was placed second in the prestigious national level competition conducted by All India Radio (AIR). Since then, she has been a graded artiste of AIR, Mangalore.She has also received state and central government scholarships in India in recognition of her immense talent and creativity. She has given numerous concerts all over South India, traveling extensively in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and also in the US. Suhas Rao is an accomplished Carnatic musician and one of the top violinists of the younger generation in the US. He got introduced to Carnatic music when he came under the tutelage of Smt. Tara Anand, an award winning teacher in the New England area, at the age of six. While he was learning violin from Tara, he had his vocal training with Smt. Geetha Murali, a renowned Carnatic vocalist in the area. He underwent rigorous training under these gurus for more than 12 years and started performing at the age of 12. In addition, he has been receiving advanced training in Chennai from stalwarts like Sri Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Prof. T.R. Subramaniam, and Smt. A. Kanyakumari. He has won many awards and prizes in all major competitions in the U.S. like Cleveland Aradhana and CMANA of NJ, including the Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar award for creativity.  In 2007, he was awarded the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to further his training in Carnatic violin, and was featured in the Keepers of Tradition exhibit at the National Heritage Museum. Suhas has performed in concerts throughout the U.S. and in India as both a solo artist and an accompanist, performing with eminent artists like Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. R.K. Srikantan, Sri Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Prof. Trichy Sankaran, and the Carnatica Brothers. Lately, Suhas has been teaching both vocal and violin to many students. He is currently a junior at Harvard University. Ganesh Sankaranarayananstarted learning mridangam at the age of ten from the renowned guru Sangita Kala Acharya Sri Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer in Chennai, India. He has given many performances in Chennai and Chidamabaram before moving to US in 2000. Since then, he has accompanied several artists in US. He is currently undergoing advanced training under M. Lakshman a senior disciple of Palghat Sri T.R. Rajamani. Ganesh has also learned carnatic vocal music from his mother Smt. Saraswathy Sankaranarayanan. With his knowledge in vocal music, he seeks to provide a sensitive and sahityam-based accompaniment. Ganesh is a research scientist at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.