June 2024 concertS

We have three concerts this Month. Please attend in large numbers, encourage the artists and enjoy the concerts.

DATE: Saturday, June 15th, 2024 

TIME: 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM

VENUE: SANATHANA DHARMA KENDRA, 3102 Landess Ave, San Jose, CA 95132

Rakshithaa Vazhkupai (Vocal)

Rakshithaa Jaiganesh is a rising freshman at San Jose State University. She has been learning Carnatic music for the past 13 years, and currently learns from Smt. Manasa Suresh at Shruthi Swara Laya. Some of her hobbies include playing the piano, reading, and listening to music.

Anirudh Natarajan (Violin)

Anirudh learns violin from Sri. Saravanapriyan Sriraman and vocal from Smt. Misha Rajaram. He is a rising senior at Washington High School, and his hobbies include drawing and listening to music.

Umesh Gopi (Mridangam)

Umesh has been learning mridangam from his father, Sri Gopi Lakshminarayanan, since the age of five. He regularly provides accompaniment for young musicians in organizations such as CCC, LOTUS, Hamsadhwani and SRFA, to name a few. He has won first prizes in mridangam competitions such as Cleveland Aradhana and Papanasam Sivan. Umesh has been performing in the Chennai December Music Season since 2022 and has played in many reputed sabhas in Chennai. He also learns Carnatic vocal music from Sri Kolkata Vijayaraghavan. Umesh is a senior at Irvington High School in Fremont. 

Dhwani Rajesh (Vocal) 

Dhwani has been under the tutelage of Smt. Kasthuri Shivakumar of IAIM for the past 6+ years. She is a regular participant at local music programs and competitions in the Bay Area and the Cleveland Aradhana. In addition to vocal music, she also learns the Veena from Sri. Hrishikesh Chary. Dhwani will be a 9th grader at Mission San Jose HS in the fall. 

Avanija Vangala (Violin)

Avanija is a 9th grader at Stratford Preparatory School. She has been learning Carnatic Violin from Kalaimamani Padma Shankar (Student of Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman) for 5 years. Avanija has been learning Carnatic Vocal from Padma Shankar for 9 years. She has been supporting bay area schools and students on violin since October of 2023.

Sanjay Chandrasekar (Mridangam) 

Sanjay Chandrasekar has been learning mridangam from Sri. Ravindrabharathy Sridharan of Nadhopasana Academy for the last 8 years. Sanjay has participated in many local music programmes and competitions.He is also learning vocal music from Sri. SIkkil Gurucharan.

Sanjay is currently a senior in Monta Vista High School, Cupertino.

Divya Vadlakonda (Veena)

Divya Vadlakonda is a rising Senior and is blessed with a passion for music, art, and community service. Divya is learning Veena under the auspices of Smt. Anuradha Sundar for the past 7 years. Starting with her early years of foundation in Carnatic music vocal from Sri Hari Devnath ( Sri Paduka academy) and Smt. Kasthuri Shivkumar( IAIM) and later from Smt. Kritika Rajagopalan.  Beyond music, Divya expresses herself through charcoal art and oil paintings with a recent recognition from the California Academy of Arts for her work. She routinely uses her charcoal art skills to raise money for the Second Harvest food bank. She also volunteers in teaching English and Art for underprivileged kids in India

Aditya Kota (Mridangam)

Aditya Kota is a rising junior in high school, and has been a mridangam student of Guru Srinath Bala since 2019. With his Guru’s encouragement Aditya has played mridangam accompaniment for a variety of musicians and music events across the Bay Area. In his music school Vaadhya Vidhyalam’s percussion ensemble performances, Aditya has also enjoyed playing the ghatam and kanjira