Music
A note from the artistic director and producer, Malathi Iyengar
I come from a family of artists and musicians. My parents Sharada and Venkata Chalan were actively involved in not only pursuing their own training in vocal music and the violin, but also engaged in organizing music concerts, spiritual discourses called Harikathas and Gamaka Rupakas for Rama Navami Festival and other community events in a small village called Soladevanahalli (near Hesaraghatta) in Bengaluru, India. They conceived and conducted two week-long concerts and festivals with the help of community organizations and a few members who had similar passion for classical art forms. My father was also the Secretary of the hosting organization for several years and was responsible for all aspects of planning the events. They continued the tradition for almost 20 years between 1955 – 1975. As children, my brother Sudarshan and I immersed ourselves in these festivities. Thus, the seeds were sown for nurturing our art and rich cultural heritage.
For the past four decades, I have spent considerable amount of time learning, performing, recording, and working with some of the best musicians in the industry both in India and in Los Angeles. I cherish the numerous hours spent in the recording studios and on stage with the artists.
I am happy to share some of these songs with you.
Aarohi – Avarohi
Introducing Rangoli’s Music Concert Series
As part of our community outreach activities, the Rangoli Foundation has occasionally featured artists and scholars from various fields ranging from music, dance, visual arts, literature and Yoga in intimate settings. Aarohi – Avarohi is one such initiative of Rangoli Foundation that took its roots in 1985 in Los Angeles and has continued to share the rich traditions of Indian classical music. Aarohi – Avarohi music concerts happen at the Rangoli Space and other venues. This is often followed by a post performance discussion with the artists.
Aarohi – Avarohi refers to the ascending and descending order of notes in a Raga. In Indian classical music Raga refers to a musical scale formed by the permutation and combination of the Swaras or the basic notes (Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa).
Concerts & Artists
1985 – 1991
Venkat Chalan, Shaarada Chalan, & Sudarshan Chalan – University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Geetha Bennett, California
Jayashree Varadarajan, California
Srikanth Chari, California
1992
Rajkumar Bharathi (Chennai, India) Album Release – November 3, 2017
Anuradha Sridhar, Poovalur Srinivasan
Bristol Civic Auditorium, Bellflower, California
1996
Violin Concert by T. Rukmini
Mridangam - Poovalur Srinivasan
December 6, 1996
(Rangoli Foundation Co Sponsored the event)
Aarohi-Avarohi Series, James Armstrong Theatre, Torrance, California
Direction by Santosh Rao
Introductions by Anuradha K Ganpati
Southern California Musicians:
Ananthakrishnan, Meera Balachandra, Shanthi Balaji, Sudarshan Chalan, Sunanda Chandramouli, Narayan Kadekodi, Yamuna Kadekodi, Sumita Kundu, Padma Kutty, P T Narasimhan, Santhosh Rao, Sheela Sudhakar, Sudhakar Subrahmanyam, & Ron Wagner
2000
Nagamani Srinath & Artists (Bangalore, India)
Sherman Oaks, California
2000
Mysore N. Srinath, (Mysore, India)
Krishna Kumar, Janardhan Rao (Bangalore, India)
Indian Arts Council, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California
2001
Mysore Chandan Kumar (Mysore, India)
Mysore N. Srinath (Mysore, India), Gurumurthy G. (Bangalore, India)
Chalan School of Music, Karnataka Cultural Association, Los Angeles
Mysore N. Srinath (Mysore, India), Mysore Chandan Kumar (Mysore, India), Gurumurthy G. (Bangalore, India
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
2002
Aarohi-Avarohi Series, Valley Performin Arts Ceter, California State University, Northridge, California
Second Generation Indian-American Musicians
2002
Srimathi Lalgudi Brahmanandam (Chennai, India)
Anuradha Sridhar, & Gurumurthy G. (India)
Madrid Theatre, Canoga park, California
2005
Aarohi-Avarohi Series, Sherman Oaks, California
Veeraraghavan S.R. (Chennai, India), Sarvothama A. P. (Bangalore, India)
Sankara Subramanian, & Gurumurthy G. (Bangalore, India)
2005
Aarohi-Avarohi Series, Sherman Oaks, California
Balinese Music by Gamelan Silih Ganti
Molly White, Justine Kragen, Steve McDonald, & Geoffrey Dent
2017
Appalachian Music Ensemble, Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, Hollywood, California
Rebecca Stout, Molly White, & Steve Werner