Prerana Concert Series - Episode 2

Nitya Kashyap is a disciple of Smt. Jayanthi Umesh. She has been learning Carnatic vocal from Smt. Umesh for the past 7 years. Prior to that she was a student of Smt. Priya Prasad.

Nitya is a junior at Homestead High School, Cupertino. She regularly participates in Bay Area competitions, and, with the blessing of Smt. Jayanthi Umesh she has started performing in Bay Area sabhas.

Nila Rajesh has been learning the intricacies of Carnatic vocal music for the past 7 years from Smt. Anu Suresh and Smt. Manasa Suresh at Shruthi Swara Laya, an Indian fine arts institution in the Bay Area. Over these years, Nila has performed extensively and achieved numerous awards and accolades at several vocal competitions.

Nila has also been repeatedly invited to perform at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana for the past five years in a variety of programs including but not limited to Papanasam Sivan Programs, Thamizhum Isaiyum, Madhura Rakthi and the Sustaining Sampradaya program. She recently won the ACTA Apprenticeship Grant and has been learning Vedanayam Pillai's work as part of this grant.

Nikhila, a sophomore, is currently learning Carnatic music from Smt. Geetha Swamy(disciple of Sri O.S.Thygarajan) for the past three years. She has rendered solo concerts arranged through Lotus, SR Fine Arts, Maha Kaleswar and Raja Rajeswari temple spanning from 45 to 90 mins. A finalist in a global online Carnatic Vocal competition organized by Spring Nectar, Foundation, & awarded fourth place amongst 800 participants. Apart from Carnatic music she is a part of school Choir and a competitive tennis player. Her hobbies include doing art work and calligraphy.

Saketh Raman - Mridangam

Saaketh Nandakumar is an incoming 11th grader in Evergreen Valley High School. He has been learning Mridangam for over 7 years under the tutelage of Shri Ramesh Srinivasan of Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center.

Saaketh’s Mridangam arangetram was held on June 2018 in Chennai where he accompanied Smt. Vasudha Ravi.

He is an avid runner and has won awards in various running meets.