Feedback from CCC Parents

Ulagu Kumar

Organization

You are running it like a professional organization, not a volunteer based org. There is no slack. Dedicated and reliable, month-month.

Keeping it very matter of fact, communication, fair, efficient, and without sulks, sighs.

Benefits

Building the foundation for young children to perform with confidence.

Reaching out to all

Cons but with positivity

Raising the bar of expectation

Not asking for donations - sustainability risks

Excellent job Padma and volunteers - Cannot ask for more

Uma Sriram/Niyati Sriram

We have been part of CCC for the past year and a half. In that time, we have seen tremendous musical growth in many CCC kids and were it not for the platform provided by CCC, their potential may not have been realized so rapidly. It is very motivating for kids to see their peers and in some cases, their juniors, perform with such grace and confidence. The appreciative and knowledgeable audience add to the overall experience as well. We are unable to be part of the anniversary event due to travel plans, but wish the performers every success. Looking forward to many more years of discovering & enjoying emerging talent in the bay area.

Akila, Geeta & Shankar

Hearty Congratulation to our favorite carnatic music forum for marking it's fifth anniversary. First of all I would like to thank Padma, Mohan and Namdev for being there from the inception in 2009 and constantly looking for ways to improve this platform for our young carnatic students.

CCC has served as a launchpad for carnatic learning children aspiring to perform Concerts. Today there may be many forums for children learning carnatic music who are not yet ready for mini concerts however this was the first of its kind started by a few parents and dedicated volunteers. It is the fairness with which CCC functions to provide opportunity to children irrespective of their age, level and music school, in return for a very simple requirement of their presence to encourage other children, has become the largest forum attracting student performers from not only bay area but as far as Sacramento.This healthy competition has definitely kept teachers motivated to do their best to prepare the students perform for learned audience. It is encouraging to see it's popularity spread nationwide and worldwide.

We look forward to many more years of soulful music from younger generations. Long live CCC!

Geeta Balakrishnan (Karthik)

Great platform wherein one gets to listen to young artists from different schools perform - Balakrishnans

One event that draws audience equivalent to that of an established performing artist / vidhwan - Balakrishnans

An open place where the inexperienced can get experience of singing and playing with accompaniments on stage - Karthik

Meena/Sambamoorthy (Abirami's parents)

We have been associated with CCC for the past four years. We were reluctant starters, and were not regular to the session, and often wondered why Padma was insisting member families to attend every session. It took us some time to become CCC regulars, and that made a big difference both to our child and us in learning and progression. We started appreciating the nuances of Carnatic music and the progression of each CCC performer over the years.

CCC is a great forum that provides opportunity to the younger generation to gain interest in Carnatic music, and also provides a friendly and knowledgeable audience. It provides a nice opportunity for kids to watch their seniors and peers perform, and provides an intense motivation to perform their best in the concert, and also showcase their progression over the years.

We and our child relish the opportunity and privilege to perform in CCC, and it’s great to see our child’s progress every year.

We sincerely appreciate Padma, Mohan and all other CCC volunteers for their great vision, enthusiasm and effort in creating this forum for our kids. Some times we wonder whether our kids would get such an environment and opportunity even in Chennai, the mecca of Carnatic music.

Gomathy/Gopi (Ajay's parents)

CCC played a tremendous role in helping Ajay on his musical learning experience. I always use to joke with him that every slot we get with CCC is like a grade level stepping stone. Considering the 10 minute slot as grade 1 and RTP as high school.

Please keep up the good work and we are very happy that we are part of the same.

Usha Aravindan

We have been with CCC since the very beginning, and have been fortunate to have been able to see it grow so much. Both Shruthi and Akshay have gained so much from this event. They have grown more confident in themselves, both in music and beyond. CCC started as just a few families coming together, but has turned into such a grand event that we can all be proud of today.

I am proud to call myself and my family a CCC member, and hope to see many other children flourish as the years pass.

Meenakshi & Vishnu Iyer's mother

We consider ourselves very lucky to have found CCC. It is through the CCC community, that we found our Guru, Hema Sista for both my kids and myself. I can confidently say that CCC has changed the course and depth of my kids musical education. We look forward to every CCC performance. It motivates us to do better and connects us to a community of Carnatic music lovers in the bay area.

Suggestions:

If we could have some time devoted to team based programs, ( maybe quizzes/ small team competitions) I think it will help form real relationships amongst the members thereby strengthening the CCC community further. We have been members for almost a year, but not really made any friends with any kids /parents.

Kavitha Moorthy

Vedika started with the 10 mins slot in the very first CCC when it began. She had her 1st experience of singing solo with the mridangam accompaniment. Since then every time she has performed it has been one step more than the last one. We have seen her grow along with CCC. This is one platform where the child has an opportunity to perform solo on stage with accompaniments in front of a very encouraging audience. The experience definitely makes the child want to do better each time and also boosts the child's confidence.

Thank you Padma for coming up with the concept of CCC and putting all the efforts to make it happen. Kudos to you and your team!:)

Kasturi Sundaramurthy & family

Our family has been a part of CCC right from the first house concert that was held on Jan 1st, 2009. Now after five yrs, it has grown into a big banyan tree, spreading its roots far and wide making a big cultural impact here. Everyone knows how much CCC means to these culturally blessed Fremont kids and their families.

I sincerely congratulate, appreciate and thank Padma for taking this task on herself, hosting programs month after month and always having something positive to say about all the kids, all with a beautiful smile on her face.

Prathima & Ravi

CCC has provided a wonderful learning and performing platform for Gopal. Although the performance time is limited , the performer has to bring out ill hit talents within the short duration which is not easy for a child. CCC monthly event has become more like a family event. It has given the opportunity for Gopal to interact and make friends with other folks.

CCC fosters the bringing together of a like-minded community, and enhances the lifestyles of everyone involved. Kids get to meet other kids of their own background and culture and also sharing a common interest in Indian classical music. Parents of these kids get an opportunity to mingle and socialize with other parents. This is all the more important here in the bay area where we are all living so far away from our mother country.

Every generation has the responsibility of continuing the traditions and values followed by their previous generation, as well as passing on those values and traditions to future generations. CCC is an amazing medium that promotes this very much. We as parents, and our kids Preeti and Gopal are proud to be part of their culturally enriching experience thru' CCC.

We wish CCC a great 5th anniversary event and a great future.

Ramya Raman

Many of our CCC kids will be singing at top sabhas in Chennai few years down the road and will be tomorrow's Sandeep Narayans and Roopa Mahadevans. The ease and confidence levels with which they perform would come from nowhere other than performing every few months locally with an incremental dose of preparation and presentation.

To say that Padma is the CEO of CCC would be an understatement. No CEO takes care of every employee so lovingly as Padma has done with every child. She has challenged every child to bring out the best. Her comments after every child's performance is genuine. But the best part of Padma and her baby organization is that every music student has been given an equal opportunity to perform.

Wish CCC and its superstars great success in the years to come.

Meera Ramchandran

Just to think that Adarsh did his first ever manodharmam in Sep 2011 and here he is preparing for his RTP for his Dec 2013 performance. He is doing this only because he wanted to (his guru and parents would have been quite ok with waiting another year speaks volumes for what CCC has done for kids' confidence and motivation.

CCC has played a significant part (second only to his excellent gurus) in his growth as a musician and the audio, audience, ambiance and performers at CCC is second to none!

Anitha Satyadeep (Adithya's mom)

Its been our privilege to listen to wonderful carnatic music by our own local bay area kids month after month. CCC has been a great source of inspiration for my son in pursuing his carnatic music journey as he watches the exceptional performances of kids he can relate to.

Hearty Congratulations to CCC on the occasion of its 5th Anniversary! We look forward to being part of this amazing group in coming years as well!

Pramila, Rajan & Ani

Hearty congratulations to Padma & CCC for achieving an important milestone. We have been with CCC since its inception 5 years ago and I can say with pride that CCC has now become a recognized and most sought after organization and platform where kids of all ages and all levels of competency perform to shed their inhibitions and stage fear.

It is so heartwarming to see so many kids perform at CCC with so much passion. The number has been increasing year after year and the support from local music teachers is phenomenal. It is a non judgmental platform which encourages kids to learn more, practice more and give a quality performance. We can vouch that from Prasanna’s performances at CCC. It has not only helped him to practice more to strive to reach the next level but also helped him to enjoy and appreciate music when performing with friends. We have made new friends thru CCC.

Our heartfelt thanks to Padma for her commendable work and selfless service in putting up the concerts month after month. It is not an easy a job to handle the logistics of an event month after month. Kudos to her and the CCC team.

Our best wishes to Padma & CCC on the 5th anniversary of CCC and many more to come.

Prasanna Rajan

I am very thankful for CCC & Padma aunty for providing all the youth musicians and me a stage to perform on. It has been a big part of my musical development and all the support I have received from CCC has inspired me to work harder and become a better musician.

Performing alongside all these great youth musicians has pushed me to be the best I can be, and I would like to thank CCC for all that it has done for me.

Deepa Gopal (Arjun Subramaniam;'s mom)

CCC is doing a wonderful service to the Carnatic music community by providing a platform where children showcase their talents. Most importantly, Padma and team have created an encouraging atmosphere for children to interact with their peers, and learn from each other. For children learning remotely as in the case of our son, being part of a music community here was important to us to motivate and inspire him to stretch his boundaries.

Kudos to CCC on reaching their 5th anniversary, and wishing the very best as it continues to grow in strength year after year.

Anonymous (CCC member for about 3 years)

Month to Month, our family eagerly waits for the day we can enjoy couple of hours of young talents demonstrate what they learnt and experiment in front of the lovely and all encouraging CCC parents. We get a sense of pride in looking up to all these CCC kids who amongst all their odds living in this country, take passion in learning this complex art form and do justice in performing them to the best of their abilities.

It is CCC that makes them performers, otherwise they would have largely remained avid music learners all the time. Thank You Padma and all the volunteers for their selfless contributions month over month and making a big difference in lives of these kids. We are amazed at the way we have steady stream of kids taking roles (viz., Mridangam, Veena, Violin) when their seniors graduate... we are confident that CCC will be there to serve generations to preserve our art forms. Thanks to the teachers in the bay area in their cause of imparting the art and culture compromising their personal and official times.

Radha & Krishna (Sanjay's parents)

CCC is a blessing for the students in the bay area, who are learning carnatic music in a foreign land, miles away from their roots. CCC is giving the students not just a beautiful platform to display their talent but also encourages and inspires them to learn more and excel. My son's confidence has grown after the CCC performances. He also admires the support given by the fellow artistes that develops a comradeship among them. Our kids also love the fact that they get to see kids of their age, pursuing similar passion like them come together every month. As a proud member of the CCC family, we enjoy the monthly events, watching the budding talents showcasing their skill, gaining confidence and eventually growing in to beautiful performers.

We appreciate and thank the sincere and selfless efforts the CCC Organizers are doing to inspire, nurture and enable the younger generation to learn this divine art form. We wish CCC a very happy 5th Anniversary and many many more to come!

Hari

First, I will just say that I am so happy that we are part of CCC. We come from a background that has nothing to do with any kind of music. Through Kavya's music classes and such we were put into a situation that demanded understanding music in general and specifically carnatic music. And through god's grace we were accidentally put into a community like CCC that surrounded us with just the kind of environment we needed.

I will give you an example of how big of an impact the kids on stage in CCC makes on Kavya and how she (and I would say most kids in general) connect with other kids on stage more than others. The song Bagayanayya (Chandrajyothi) has been played in our house hundreds of times for it is one of my favorites. For years, it never went into Kavya's head. But after Divya's Chandrajyothi RTP, whenever Bagayanayya played in our iPod, Kavya would ask if it is the same ragam as "Chandrashekharane..".

So...Thank you. And here's to many more years of CCC programs.

Bharati & Sundar (parents of Akshi & Arvind Sundararajan)

Heartiest congratulations to you and the entire CCC family on the five-year anniversary of CCC! I saw most of today's celebration on u-stream and enjoyed it very much! Your love and passion for Carnatic music and our children is infectious, your dedication palpable, your vision expansive. Your organizational and people skills will be a new yardstick for community endeavors.

You have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for our family for learning, interacting, exploring and growing in our musical personality and beyond. Thank you!

Best wishes for the continued success of CCC for a long time, and to you and your family for fulfillment of all your goals and aspirations!

Saumya & Anand

Great forum for nurturing and growing young and emerging talent. The CCC is the "VC investor" of the music community in the Bay Area.... we look forward to great talent emerging from the portals of this great effort by Padma and team. Thanks.