IndianRaga was invited by Sarva Sree Foundation, with the support of Iowa Arts Council, to bring prodigious young Carnatic music Fellows to Iowa and present a series of lec-dems and a full-fledged concert. Fellows Geeta Shankar, Sumhith Veda Aradhyula, Sahana Prasanna, Sashank Sridhar, Sanjana Chandran and Santhosh Ravindrabharathy, presented 4 well-received and widely lauded lec-dems at 2 elementary schools, one high school and the Music Department of the University of Iowa, co-hosted by IndianRaga Founder and CEO Sriram Emani. These sessions culminated in a stellar full-length concert at The Englert Theater, attended by a diverse audience including faculty of University of Iowa, and music lovers of Indian and international genres of music. The song list was a unique amalgam of traditional gems of Carnatic music, compositions of M Balamuralikrishna, and a special Nazrul Geeti. The concert was followed by a 30-minute Q&A session moderated by Sriram Emani, attended by all the audience members who were eager to learn about the prodigious talent that they had just witnessed.

Sarva Sree Foundation applied for and received a $10,000 grant for this project, and IndianRaga Fellowship productions were submitted for the grant. We are grateful for the support of Meghna Ameen, Nandita Srayoshi, Amrita Sharoshi, Enayet Mawla, Padmanabha Putighe and his family for their relentless support and encouragement to our team.

Please view the photo gallery to see special moments from the concert.