By CLAIRE DIETZ
Meghna Ameen fell in love with Carnatic music at 6 years old. Now, decades later, she says it is still her second love, only behind her family.
Her pursuit is to bring people to the beauty she sees in Carnatic music, and now, thanks to the Iowa Arts Council, she will bring a group of Rising Stars Carnatic music students to Iowa City. Carnatic Rising Stars will be in Iowa City for a performance at 5 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Englert, 221 E. Washington St.
Because of her passion for Carnatic music, Ameen has founded two music centers, one in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and one in Iowa City.
According to the organization’s website, “Sarva Sree Foundation seeks to spread the knowledge and experience of Carnatic (South Indian) classical music. Its mission and purpose is to propagate, promote, and preserve the songs of the great musician M. Balamuralikrishna and other the great composers of South India all over the world, especially in USA and Bangladesh.”
The organization conducts workshops, lecture/demonstrations, vocal and instrumental classes, and concerts in Iowa and other states in the U.S., in addition to its preservation work.
One of Ameen’s projects is to expose the people of Iowa City to Carnatic music. Most recently, this is being accomplished by bringing Carnatic Rising Stars to the Englert, which features young, school-age musicians from the IndianRaga Fellowship.
Carnatic Rising Stars is a part of the larger IndianRaga group, founded by Sriram Emani. It has quickly grown into the one of “the largest network of talented musicians and dancers in North America.”
The performers on Oct. 23 will consist of Sumhith Veda Aradhyula, Sashank Sridhar, Sanjana Chandran, Geeta Shankar, Santhosh Ravindrabharathy, and Sahana Prasanna.
Aradhyula said he enjoys these sorts of events because they allow him to continually expand his artistic horizons.
“I love perf
orming for IndianRaga events,” he said. “It gives me a chance to reconnect with other fellows and old friends from past collaborations, while also meeting and learning from new artists that are constantly being introduced to this growing musical network. In a sense, every performance gives me a chance to ‘Journey Home’ down memory lane and ‘Ragatone’ up new collaborative roads at the same time.”
Shankar said this allows her to collaborate and grow with other musicians.
“[These opportunities] allow me to use my Carnatic-music expertise and apply it in other forms of music,” she said. “I have had a lot of fun collaborating with world musicians, and it’s very fulfilling and educational to learn about styles across the globe.”
Sridhar said it gives him insight into the fast-paced world of the music industry.
“As an avid fan and performer of Western music, jazz and classical, [the event] offers an exciting avenue to complement this knowledge with my experience with Carnatic music,” he said. “What distinguishes IndianRaga is the opportunity to learn and incorporate other styles while retaining the sounds of India that so characterize every piece.”