Congratulations to all of our students and parents for a successful 2017 annual recital! This year’s theme was the Trinity, and each of the items presented was composed by Thyagaraja, Dikshitar, or Syama Sastri. It took place on March 12…
Continue ReadingSankranti / Pongal Celebration
On January 14, 2017 the Sree Venkateswara temple celebrated the colorful harvest festival Sankranti, also known as Pongal. Makar Sankranti is celebrated in almost all parts of India and Nepal in a variety of ways. In addition to celebrating the…
Continue ReadingHere’s to a musical 2017!
Happy New Year, and welcome to 2017! To ring in the new year, I wanted to share a couple of articles I came across about why everybody should sing. All of us who sing know these things from experience, but…
Continue ReadingMixing Biology and Music
I came across a very interesting article about how scientists are taking protein sequences and using them to create musical sequences. The idea is that if scientists or doctors can learn what “good” proteins sound like, they can listen to…
Continue ReadingComposers Day 2016
We have videos today, so you can hear us and our students! The Venkateswara Temple held its annual Composers Day on October 16, 2016. Our school was assigned two shining stars among composers – Swati Tirunal and Arunachala Kavi this…
Continue ReadingVijayadasami Celebrations
Last year I posted about my feelings toward all my gurus over the years. Every word is still true today. I remember one teacher or another every single day, especially my music teachers. I am blessed to have had so many…
Continue ReadingStart of School, New Beginnings
As we gear up for a new school year, we’d like to reflect back on the past year a little bit. We had a great annual program last year, and we recognized our two graduating seniors, Raksha and Rohin. This…
Continue ReadingMusic Lessons Make Us Better People
I recently ran across this article extolling the benefits of a musical education: http://mic.com/articles/108022/science-just-discovered-something-amazing-about-what-childhood-piano-lessons-did-to-you . Music teachers always talk about how music helps kids get smarter. And without necessarily the science to back it up, there are some specific things…
Continue ReadingVijayadasami – Thank you to my teachers
On Vijayadasami, we honor the guru-shishya relationship. While the students are asked to honor their gurus, the guru also has an important role to play, in blessing the students and teaching them something new. It symbolizes the importance that both…
Continue ReadingIndiaFest 2015
We are happy that our junior group had an opportunity to sing the Indian National Anthem at India Fest in Independence Middle School on September 12th, 2015. They were dressed in colors of the Indian flag and they gave a…
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