Indian vocalist to perform on UI campus

URBANA – The Indian Cultural Society and Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth will present a vocal music concert featuring Smt. Aruna Sairam at 7 p.m. Friday in the University of Illinois Music Building Auditorium, 1114 W. Nevada St., U. The event is free and open to the public.

Sairam will be accompanied by violinist Sri Vitthal Ramamoorthy, with Sri Thiruvaroor Vaidyanathan on the mridangam.

The Bombay-born Sairam is considered one of India's greatest living vocalists. Her mother, Smt. Rajalaxmi Sethuraman was a talented singer and her first teacher, while her father, an enlightened connoisseur of the arts, received India's greatest musicians and dancers in his salon.

It was there that Sairam met the renowned singer T. Brinda, who taught her for 10 years. She was soon recognized as an important exponent of South India's Karnatic classical music repertoire, which is rooted in the ancient Vedic tradition still prevalent in South India temples.

During her long concert career, Sairam, an alto, has developed a style that remains open to influences from other fields. She collaborated on the Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco with Dominique Vellard, a French master of Gregorian chants, as well as with notable American and Muslim musicians during the Spirit of Fez national tour in 2006.

In India, Sairam has received several major awards, including, in 2006, the title of Sangeetha Choodamani, considered one of the most prestigious honors for a musician in India.

For information, call 413-0295, or e-mail das3@uiuc.edu.

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