Pittsburgh_Patrika_July_2015

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The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 20, No. 4, July, 2015Pittsburgh’s Indian Music Groups Raises$17,000 for Helping VeteransBy Kollengode S VenkataramanSahana 1 is a 100% Pittsburgh-based music group with versatile traditionalpercussionists, guitarists, keyboardists, and also talented vocalists.A few of them are teenagers and one or two in their 40s, and others, inall ages in between, both men and women. Most of the adults are fromIndia, with the teenagers born and raised here.With full-time jobs in other fields, these people practice musicin their free time for four to five months for their annual 2- to3-hour long programs, usually in spring. The most interesting part ofSahana’s program is that even with 100% of the artistes being “local,” theirprogram is NOT free, as is the case with most programs in this town. Theyraise thousands of dollars selling tickets and seeking donations, and giveaway their net collections to a charity of their choice. This year, they hada talented teenager from India, Sai Vignesh Ramakrishnan, a Top-10 vocalfinalist in the Super Singer Indian TV talent show, adding more luster.This year’s 6th fundraiser, held on May 31, Sunday at the FranklinRegional Middle School auditorium, exceeded their target of collecting$15,000 that Sahana gave to the Friends of the Pittsburgh Fisher House(FOPFH), an organization. FOPFH helps war veterans’ families with theirboarding and lodging needs when they are in Pittsburghfor medical treatment. Mr. John Corder, a boardmember of the organization (see picture) addressed thegathering giving the stats on war veterans, their needs,and how FOPFH helps the veterans. Over the years,Sahana has donated over $60,000 to charities.The highlights of this year’s 2-1/2-hour program:1 Sahana (pronounced sa-haa-naa), a common raga both in the Karnatic andHindustani traditions, is the janya raga from the parent 22nd Melakarta ragaKaraharapriya (Karnatic); and the progeny of the 10th Thaat Kafi (Hindustani).The Sahana music group has members coming from all over India.30
The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 20, No. 4, July, 2015PITTSBURGH MONROEVILLECONVENTION CENTER101 Mall Boulevard, Monroeville, PA 15146412-373-7300 www.DoubleTreeMonroeville.comAt the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh - Monroeville Convention Center,personalization offers you an authentic celebratory weekend with friends and family.Let us wow you and your guests from start to finish.For additional information or to discuss how we may assist you in planning,please contact Kimmie Fitzhugh-Kelly, Director of Catering,at 412-843-4416 or via e-mail at kfitzhughkelly@doubletreemonroeville.com.Here at the DoubleTree by Hilton, the little things mean everything.• Over 20 musical pieces in Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi,and Gujarati; some of them very old (16th and 17th centuries).• The songs chosen covered Tamil and Hindi/Urdu film classicsmade over five decades, and were interspersed and sequenced well.• The emcees came well-prepared, delivered their tightly and tastefullywritten brief introductions for each piece, and quickly left the stagefor the artistes. Refreshingly, nobody hogged the mike.• The tuning of instruments in-between pieces — a bane in Indianpop music events — was kept to the barest minimum.Overall, an enjoyable program.Indian film songs describe different moods — joy, pathos, irreverence,sarcasm, humor, irony, paradoxes, and the dilemmas of life— often conveying great insights into life’s complexities. Some of the reallygood ones are as good as paid sessions with psychologists. So, lyricsare the heart, soul, spirit, and the very life of film songs, especially thegood ones. (There are, of course, many bad ones, really tasteless and evenobscene ones, I concede.) In this context, here are two observations fromsomeone who bought the ticket and sat through the whole program.1. Leaving out the names of the lyricists who penned the masterpiecesin printouts and announcements while mentioning the names of the films,music directors, and the singers who simply lend their voices (however31
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