Nattuvangam
Smt. Anandini Chandra Sekhar has trained in Carnatic music initially with her mother Sudha Chandrasekhar and Smt. Bhanumathi Chari, and later studied with Nivedita Shivraj and Deepti Navaratna. She has been singing and performing professionally with Bollywood bands since the age of 12 and currently is part of the popular Boston area band Din Check. Her voice was recently featured in the award-winning independent short film "Rising Lotus" by Gurinder J. Singh. Anandini works as a Senior Account Manager for a digital marketing agency.
Nattuvangam
Guru Smt. Sudha Chandra Sekhar’s introduction to Carnatic music was from her mother Smt. Jaya Doraiswamy. Her subsequent training was from M.S. Narayanaswamy, and later under Bhaskara Bhagavathar in Bombay. Her advanced training was under Swaminatha Bhagavathar of Tiruchi brothers. She learned nattuvangam and dance music from Guru Govindaraja Pillai, Guru Mahalingam Pillai and Guru Kuppiah Pillai. She learnt Hindustani music from Prof. Ghinde of Vallabh Sangeet Vidyalaya. She has composed several songs in praise of Hindu deities and orchestrated several full-length dance dramas.
Mridangam
Mahalingam (Mali) Santhanakrishnan is a disciple of Vidwan Late Sri P. Srinivasa Iyer of Madras. Mali hails from the prestigious Mridangam school of Padmabhushan Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer. He has taken advanced lessons from Padmashri Palghat R. Raghu. He is currently under the guidance of eminent Vidwan Trichur Shri C. Narendran. Mali has collaborated with several leading dance teachers in the New England area as part of arangetrams and other dance productions. On the concert stage, Mali has also performed in world music concerts, notably with Sri Phil Scarff, Sri Sandip Burman and Shri R. Prasanna. An award winning teacher, Mali is also the founding member and current president of Karnatic Hindustani Music Circle, a grassroots Indian classical music organization in Greater Boston, dedicated to bringing concert opportunities to talented local students and performing musicians.
Violin
Krishnan Parameswaran had initial training under Shri B.H. Narayanan in Secunderabad, India and Smt. Mohana Iyer in Ottawa, Canada. His subsequent training has been in the Parur style with Smt. Meena Kothandaraman in Ottawa, Canada and Shri M.S. Anantharaman in Chennai, India. He has performed in concerts as both a soloist and accompaniment in both Canada and the United States. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, he now lives north of Boston.
Vocal
Krithika Rajkumar was initiated into Carnatic music by Smt. Bhanumathi Chari at the age of seven. She later continued her vocal training under Smt. Kalpana Venkat and is currently training under Smt. Tara Bangalore. Krithika has been providing vocal support for various recitals and arangetrams for several years. In college, she was a member of Case Western Reserve University’s South Asian fusion a cappella group “Dhamakapella”. Krithika has won numerous awards for her singing. In addition, she released a studio album "Gam Gam Ganapathe" with Chinmaya Mission's Yuva Kendra group and has toured nationally with the Yuva Rhythms group.
Krithika is an accomplished Bharata Natyam dancer. Shecompleted her Arangetram in 2004 with Guru Sudha Chandra Sekhar. Kritikha has continued to perform with several dance companies and has won numerous awards.
Krithika is currently a trial attorney practicing complex commercial litigation for one of the largest law firms in the country. She also teaches Bharatanatyam in Boston. Kritikha aspires to create awareness about the richness of Indian arts and culture across the United States and hopes to carry on her teacher’s dance legacy to the next generation.
Flute
Sachit Kurup is a sophomore at Nashua High School North. He is 15 years old and has been performing in the New England area with bands such as Aaroh and Boston Aalaap. He plays the trumpet as part of his Jazz ensemble and marching band at school. Sachit has also been learning violin for the past 7 years. Last year, he was part of the University of New Hampshire Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has been learning vocal music for the past 9 years and he has won several awards. Sachit has been learning Carnatic flute from Guru Karthik Krishna for the past 5 years.
