Dear Supporter

There is only a week left before we wrap up our 2015 fundraising campaign, and it has really taken wing now. We have now reached 85% of our goal for the year. We need only 15 donations to get us over the finish line. If you haven't already, please take a minute to donate online or drop a check in the mail.

Last weekend's violin kutcheri by Kamalakiran was extraordinary, the second high-quality concert by a high-schooler this year. After these young artistes perform, the parents are often asked about what they did to foster such talent and creativity. Who can answer this better than Shubha Narayan, a Carnatic music teacher in Los Angeles and a mother of three great young musicians. 

"My husband and I have been deeply involved in several musical activities," she says. "Arranging concerts, conducting aradhanas, hosting musicians, and as a teacher, I have been teaching several students at home as well. I think all this exposure to music automatically created the right ambience for my children. I urge all parents to try and create such a musical ambience. You will see how your children spontaneously develop an ear for good music, and eventually it becomes a part of their lives forever." Watch the full video here.

Hamsadhwani's mission is to help create just such an ambience for our community as a whole, and organize concerts that are accessible and convenient virtually in your own backyard. It is the last week of our campaign this year. Please donate today and help us reach our goal!

Thank You
HCMA Board of Directors
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Is listening to Carnatic music an integral part of learning?
Here is the answer from Smt.Shubha Narayan, a Carnatic Music teacher in Los Angeles for more than three decades and mother of three great young musicians. She has been involved in organizing Carnatic Music Events in greater Los Angeles area for more than  30 years and her service to this great art form is truly commendable.

Dear supporter

We have reached 42% of our fundraising goal, thanks to the donors who have contributed so far. At this point, we need only 58 more donations to reach our goal. Yes, you read that right. If you haven't already, please lend your support for a good cause.

A quick reminder about the concert coming up tomorrow. It is generating quite a buzz as it features Kamalakiran, the winner of the 2014 Spirit of Youth series at the Music Academy in Chennai, accompanied by Vignesh Venkataraman on the mridangam and Vivek Chellappa on the kanjira. Don't miss it! Stop by the Simi Valley Senior Center on Sunday between 3 and 6 pm.

Recently, one of the kids who is a regular at Hamsadhawani's concerts gave a speech at her school. "Music has a remarkable ability to affect and manipulate how we feel," said little Jeyani Ganesh, all of 7 years old, to her second grade elementary school class. "Simply listening to songs we like stimulates the brain’s reward system, creating feelings of pleasure and comfort. But music goes beyond our hearts to our minds, shaping how we think," she argued, making a rather persuasive case in her rather persuasive way. "My music teacher says music is the best gift that parents can give their child. The next time you have an opportunity to get a gift, ask your parents for musical training as the gift. In case you already have this gift, go home and thank them today!" Beautifully said, Jeyani! Read more on our blog.

Help us reach our goal, and perhaps inspire more kids. Make a donation today. And don't forget to join us tomorrow for an afternoon of soulful music!

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HCMA Board of Directors
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Hamsadhwani is very proud to present the second annual youth festival YUVA UTSAVAM 2015 at the Simi valley senior center on June 20 and June 21. Young talented musicians will present their tribute to the great composers of Carnatic music for 16 hours.

This is a guest post by Jeyani Ganesh, a student and fan of Carnatic music who is a regular at Hamsadhwani's concerts. This is an excerpt from a speech she made at her school.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything” said Plato.

Music has a remarkable ability to affect and manipulate how we feel. Simply listening to songs we like stimulates the brain’s reward system, creating feelings of pleasure and comfort. But music goes beyond our hearts to our minds, shaping how we think.

There is a growing body of evidence among biophysicists that arts instruction can significantly strengthen students’ academic performance by forcing mental ‘stretching’.

Take the ‘five finger exercise’ as an example. Five finger exercises are musical compositions designed primarily to exercise all the five fingers of the hand. Even few minutes of five finger exercises will make functional and physiological changes in the brain. And a year of good training will produce physical and anatomical changes in the brain. The important thing to remember is brain is plastic, adaptable and trainable and amenable to experience and music can help.

If music can so alter the brain, at least the musical parts of the brain, when people are young, one would wonder the role of music in education, and whether this enlargement and benefit can spread to other parts of the brain, whether it will facilitate reading, memory, concentration, focus, and there’s quite a lot of evidence that this is the case, and therefore strong arguments for including music in education. But I stress this is something beyond the so-called Mozart effect.

Mozart effect is basically “listening to music makes you smarter”. But we need to go beyond this and there needs to be real engagements with music and a lot of it.

Here is a real example of how music is put to use to close the academic gap. Several times a week, a group of at-risk youth in Los Angeles reports to makeshift music rooms at Alexandria Elementary School near Korea Town for lessons in violin or cello or bass. As the students study their instruments, researchers study the students’ brains. They are all participants in the award-winning non-profit Harmony Project, which provides free instruments and instruction to kids in underserved areas of the city if they promise to stay in school. The study has proven that whatever gifts a person has or doesn’t have, musical training seems to be very important, the more so if it’s early.

My music teacher says “music is the best gift that parents can give their child”.  The next time you have an opportunity to get a gift, ask your parents for musical training as the gift. In case you already have this gift, go home and thank them today!

Dear Supporter

Our fundraising campaign has stalled for some reason, stuck at 36% of the goal for this year. If you have contributed already, please take a moment to hint, nudge, cajole, beseech your friends pitch in. It takes a village to move a mountain, and its about time we had all hands on deck!

If you have been to one of our concerts before, you might have noticed the friendly interplay and camaraderie between the performing artistes. Most of the time, the main vocalist or instrumentalist is from out of town and meets the accompanying artistes right before the performance. It is intriguing to know that, typically, they meet each other for the first time, exchange notes for a few minutes, and sit down to give a performance that makes you feel like they have been performing together for ages. Look closer, and you will see an actual full-on conversation going on between the artistes - a little smile here, a little appreciation there, a subtle nod of agreement, a smile when thrown a challenge, the sly look of determination to meet the challenge, and the enjoyment when it all comes together to hit a nadir of perfection!

So here is an experiment. Our next concert features artistes with a rather unique combination of skills. Kamalakiran, who is actually slated to perform with his violin at the concert, is also a vocalist and a mrigangist. Vignesh, who has spun his magic for us with his mridangam before, is also a vocalist. So what if we make them switch roles, and step on each others' musical toes, literally? Bring your kids and join us for an interactive session on the day of the concert where they will do exactly that, in addition to sharing nuggets from their musical journey.

Mark your calendars for the concert on Sunday, Feb 22nd, and look forward to an evening of sublime music.

Help us reach our goal. Make a donation today.

Thank You
HCMA Board of Directors
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Here is a little treat for music lovers, especially kids!

Join us for an interactive session with Kamalakiran Vinjamuri and Vignesh Venkataraman, the artistes who are going to perform in our upcoming concert. Kamalakiran is a performing vocalist and mridangist. Vignesh, who we all know weaves his magic on the mridangam, also learns vocal music from Sri Sriramkumar. Wouldn't it be interesting to see the duo swap roles and step on each others musical toes, literally? Well, that is exactly what they are going to do.

The artistes will  share their learning experience, practice tips, importance of listening , their favorite artistes, school work and music schedule, India music season experiences, legendary gurus and many more. We are sure this session will be very interesting for the kids and it is a great motivation for them to practice and pursue music.

When: Feb 22 2015 Sunday 10 am -11 am
Where:Residence of Nagarajan jayaraman 
3842 Jake Ct Newbury Park Ca 91320

Kamalakiran Vinjamuri is a 12th grader in West Springfield High School in Springfield, VA, USA.  His initial guru was his grand-father, Sri. Parthasarathy Iyengar. Then he had some training from Smt. Malladi Vijayalakshmi.  His father Sri.Subhash Vinjamuri, a violinist himself started teaching him violin at the age of 7.  When he is in the U.S., he gets his training from his father and when visiting India, he is under the tutelage of Kalaimamani A. Kanyakumari.  
He won several PRIZES in different music competitions, both in India as well as in the US.  Kamalakiran has won prizes in all the categories in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana.  In December 2010 and 2013 music seasons, Kamalakiran got the Best Performer Award from Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai.  Kamalakiran has been performing in all major sabhas in India since 2009.  In 2014 Spirit of Youth series, Kamalakiran was selected as the best violinist in Music Academy.
Kamalakiran has accompanied many senior artists including Sri M. Balamuralikrishna, Sri TN Seshagopalan, and Smt. Suguna Varadachari.  Kamalakiran has been giving many solo performances both in the US, and in India.
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Vignesh Venkataraman, a senior at Stanford University, is a mridangam artist hailing from Umayalpuram Sri. K. Sivaraman’s school of music.  Vignesh was initiated into playing mridangam by Sri. Anand Iyer, also from the same school. For the past 5 years, Vignesh has been traveling to India every summer undergoing advanced training under the tutelage of Umayalpuram Sri. K. Sivaraman.  Vignesh has accompanied various artists, including some senior musicians in concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area and in India.  He has participated in competitions at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and has won several prizes there.  He won the Best Mridangist award at the Spirit of Youth festival held by the Madras Music Academy in 2013. Vignesh is also learning vocal carnatic music from Smt. Meena Kothandaraman, a disciple of Sri. M.S. Anantharaman, and more recently from violinist Sri. R.K. Shriramkumar.
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Vivek Chellappa began learning mridangam at the age of six from Sri R. Kannan, who hails from the style of Sri Palani Subramania Pillai.  He has also taken lessons from Sri. Anoor Dattatreya Sharama of Bangalore, Sri Srinath Bala of Jayamangala and Kalaimamani Guruvayur Sri Dorai.    
He has won prizes in the percussion competition at the Cleveland Aradhana, including first place in the Senior mridangam category in 2005. Since his arrengetram in 2004 with Smt M.S. Sheela , Vivek has been regularly performing in mridangam and kanjira, including concerts for five years at the Cleveland Aradhana.
Vivek have been fortunate to perform with leading musicians including Dr. Balamuralikrishna   Smt. M.S. Sheela, Mysore Brothers, D. Seshachari,  Dr. Panthula Rama Dr. T. S. Sathyavathi, and US-based artists, including Sri Madurai Sundar, Sri. B. Balasubramiam, Sri Salem Sriram,  Sri. V.K. Raman, Sri. D.B. Ashwin and Smt. Kiranavali Vidhyashankar. Vivek  is a graduate of Brown University,  completed medical school at Georgetown University, and is now an anesthesiology resident  at UCLA.

Dear supporter

The 2015 fundraising campaign has been sluggish compared to last year's campaign. We have barely reached about 32% of the goal at this point. If you've been thinking about contributing but have been putting it off, please take a few minutes to step in and show your support!

Research indicates the brain of a musician, even a young one, works differently than that of a non-musician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more of your brain,” says Dr. Eric Rasmussen, chair of the Early Childhood Music Department at The Johns Hopkins University. A 2005 report by the Rand Corporation argues that the intrinsic pleasures and stimulation of the art experience do more than sweeten an individual's life. According to the report, they "can connect people more deeply to the world and open them to new ways of seeing," creating the foundation to forge social bonds and community cohesion.

Study after study has shown that listening and participating in live concerts is an integral part of music education. "Kids who attend our live concerts are able to differentiate good music, get motivated to practice regularly, and develop an idea of the kind of perfection that they should strive for," says Indhu Nagarajan (watch the video). During Hamsadhwani's first concert of 2015, about 2 weeks ago, it was wonderful to see parents, who themselves couldn't attend the concert, still make the effort to bring their children and drop them off. The importance of such exposure cannot be emphasized enough.

Of course, this is only made possible by contributions from you. Please consider making a donation today if you haven't already.

Thank You
HCMA Board of Directors
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