The Baroque-Carnatic Connection
a cross-cultural conversation between South Indian and Baroque music and dance genres
presented by Silambam Houston,
in collaboration with
the New York Baroque Dance Company,
Roopa Arts Cultural Center and
Apollo Chamber Players
At the Miller Outdoor Theater
June 7, 2024 | 8:30 pm
MEET the team
To learn more about each of our team members, tap (on a phone browser), or hover over (on a computer screen), each photo!
Artistic Direction
Lavanya Rajagopalan (Silambam Houston Executive Artistic Director, Bharatanatyam Choreographer, Nattuvangam) is a dancer/choreographer, arts educator/administrator, and scientist/science communicator. Dr. Rajagopalan has trained in Bharatanatyam with the legendary Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy, and in vocal Indian classical music and in nattuvangam. She has performed extensively and to critical acclaim throughout India and the US. Dr. Rajagopalan is the founder and Executive Artistic Director of Silambam Houston, an Indian classical arts non-profit based in Houston, and choreographs for and directs the Silambam Houston Dance Company. She also oversees and develops Silambam Houston’s arts education and outreach programs; these include performances, workshops and residencies for K-12 and community settings, including ‘Dance Across India’, ‘Storytime with Silambam’, and ‘Dancing into STEM’. Among the honors she has received is the distinguished 'Acharya Kala Bharathi' award from Bharat Kalachar in Chennai, recognizing her contributions to the field of Bharatanatyam as a Guru. Under her stewardship, Silambam Houston was designated a ‘Houston Cultural Treasure’ by BIPOC Arts Network and Fund in 2023.
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Did you know that Pythagoras traveled to India during his lifetime (570 to 495 BCE)? He was greatly influenced by the philosophy and sciences he encountered, including the structure of Southern Indian music.
Did you know that the celebrated Southern Indian musician Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775-1835), revered for his contribution to 18th-century Carnatic music, integrated Scottish and Irish violin tunes into his compositions? These melodies were made familiar through East/West interactions during the time of the British East India Company rule (1757 to 1858).
To me, cross-cultural collaborative projects are a wonderful way to discover commonalities, understand differences, and reach new audiences. This exploratory conversation between Baroque and Carnatic traditions, with the added visual dimension of western and Indian classical dance, has been an eye-opening journey into cultural commonalities and differences, on many levels: repertoire, performance techniques, timings, pitch centers, new combinations of timbres, and choreography and rehearsal processes.
Creative Leads
Catherine Turocy (New York Baroque Dance Company Artistic and Executive Director, Baroque Choreographer) recognized as one of today’s leading choreographer/reconstructors and stage directors in 17th and 18th century period performance, with over 70 Baroque opera-ballets to her credit, has been decorated by the French Republic as a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Jahnavi Murali (Carnatic Vocal and Cello) became interested in Carnatic music at a very young age, inspired by her late great grandfather, Shri. A.K. Gopalan, a Carnatic musician and devoted bhajan singer. She has been under the tutelage of Shri. Madurai R. Sundar, disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Shri. T.N. Seshagopalan, for the past 19 years. Jahnavi has performed around the United States for many organizations such as the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Shri Ranga Ramanujan Desikan Fine Arts (SRFA – California), Sankar Nethralaya, Margazhi in Detroit (MID) Festival, Geeva Arts Festival (Louisville, Kentucky), and more. She performs regularly in the December Music Season conducted in Chennai, India, and lends her voice for dance productions and recitals. Jahnavi co-directed Alankaar, an Indian music community choir at Wright State University, and arranged Indian classical and folk compositions for a choir format. Jahnavi is also a trained Western classical cellist and plays with the Mason Symphony Orchestra. She is currently working at Energizer in the R&D department as a Technology Engineer, and is also pursuing a Masters degree in Carnatic Music from the University of Silicon Andhra.
Matthew Detrick (Baroque Music Director and Baroque Violin) is co-founder, executive and artistic director of Apollo Chamber Players (Apollo), an internationally-acclaimed chamber music ensemble on the cutting edge of creative, programmatic performance and the commissioning of multicultural new music. With Apollo, Mr. Detrick can be heard on Parma Recordings’ Navona Records label and on American Public Media’s nationally-syndicated program, Performance Today. He is a frequent guest speaker and clinician for alumni lectures, Career Days, and music entrepreneurship series at Rice University, Brazosport College, and the Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg Competition. He has also served as a grant evaluator for the Texas Commission on the Arts. Mr. Detrick was appointed concertmaster of the Symphony of Southeast Texas (Beaumont, TX) in 2012 and has since been a featured soloist performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. He has also served as guest concertmaster of the Lubbock and Alexandria (LA) Symphonies. In Houston, he performs often with the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet orchestras. A graduate of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, his principal teachers include Kenneth Goldsmith, Collette Wichert and the late Raphael Fliegel, former concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. Mr. Detrick performs on a 1760 Giuseppe Testore violin and a 1886 Josephy Alfred Lamy bow.
Meggi Sweeney Smith (Assistant Baroque Choreographer), soloist with the New York Baroque Dance Company since 2010, has trained with Catherine Turocy, Lieven Baert at the Stanford Historical Dance Week and Thomas Baird. In addition to teaching private classes in the Baroque period, Meggi just finished teaching workshops in Basics, Ornamentation, and Improvisation and Notation/Reconstruction at the Mark Morris Dance Center. In 2011 she instructed students in Renaissance dance and acrobatics for the Roving Classical Commedia University Summer Workshop. In addition to teaching private Baroque lessons and advising in historic etiquette, Meggi dances with companies such as CorbinDances, Cohen/Suzeau, Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater, and the Anna Sokolow Dance Company. Meggi is so thankful to be part of this beautiful community of artists.She studied at the University of Kansas where she received highest honors for her BFA in dance and a minor in music. While there, in addition to modern, ballet and East Indian, she studied Renaissance and Baroque reconstruction and notation, while performing group and solo works for concerts and lecture demonstrations. She received the School of Fine Arts Collaborative Initiative Award and Undergraduate Research Award for her dance research in historic fields. Meggi received Honorable Mention for the Sara and Mary Edwards Paretsky Award for Creativity in her curriculum for teaching music through dance. She began dancing at the age of ten in her hometown of Carrollton, Missouri. Her interests have also included playing the piano, flute, tumbling, and participating in madrigal and theater works.
MUSIC
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Roopa Arts, founded by Abhishek Balakrishnan, is dedicated to a variety of arts experiences encompassing the visual, media, and performing arts.
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Houston-based APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS is a “young, dynamic ensemble...creating programs in response to current events” (NPR) that “recasts music for a diverse and multi-ethnic generation” (Strings Magazine). Recipient of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Residency Partnership award, the ensemble has performed for sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and it is featured frequently on American Public Media’s nationally-syndicated program Performance Today.
Released on the Grammy-winning label Azica Records, Apollo's With Malice Toward None album reached No. 1 on Amazon’s ‘Hot New Release’ chart. The ensemble’s catalog of records has been featured on hundreds of radio and media stations worldwide, including Sirius XM, The BBC, and WQXR-NYC. The organization’s debut feature film, MoonShot: The Remarkable Journey of Apollo Chamber Players, has won international accolades, including Best Documentary and Best Documentary Soundtrack at the Seattle, Vancouver, and Screen ATX (Austin, TX) film festivals.
A passionate advocate of globally-inspired contemporary music, Apollo counts an expanding catalogue of over 50 commissioned works. In this regard, the ensemble concluded a bold initiative to commission 20 new multicultural works by the end of the last decade. 20x2020 features a diverse roster of the world’s leading composers and instrumentalists including Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, Pamela Z, Leo Brouwer, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, Vân Ánh (Vanessa) Võ, and Tracy Silverman.
Apollo’s community partners include schools and universities, at-risk youth centers, refugee and veterans service organizations, and public libraries. The ensemble’s vanguard Library Voyage project, an initiative to perform in all Harris County/Houston Public Libraries, is the first of its kind in the nation. Apollo was founded in 2008 by violinist and music entrepreneur Matthew J. Detrick and violinist Timothy Peters.
Matthew Dudzik (Baroque Cello) has been a member of Apollo Chamber Players since 2009. Based in Houston (TX), Mr. Dudzik has also performed in a wide variety of settings including with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Mercury, Houston Early Music, and Theater Under the Stars. A frequent performer in Japan, he has appeared with acclaimed violinist Takayoshi Wanami at his Yatsugatake Summer Concerts as well as at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo. A dedicated and enthusiastic educator, he maintains a vibrant private studio at his home, and he serves as a teaching artist for the Houston Youth Symphony’s MELODY program and the American Festival for the Arts (AFA). Mr. Dudzik began playing the cello under the guidance of Minnesota Orchestra cellist Sachiya Isomura. He continued his studies with Ko Iwasaki at Southern Methodist University and Norman Fischer at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in music, respectively.
Jesús Pacheco (Baroque Percussion) graduated from the Conservatory of Sevilla, working with several professional orchestras in Spain and Europe, the most notable being the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and Helmut Rilling, respectively. Jesús is currently a very active percussionist and music educator in the Houston Area, performing mainly with Early Music Companies, such as Ars Lyrica Houston and Mercury Chamber Orchestra amongst others.
Naga Srinidhi Kuruvada (Carnatic mridangam) has trained in Mridangam from Gurus Vidwan Shri M Vasudeva Rao, Vidwan Shri S V Balakrishna and Vidwan Shri MannArgudi A Easwaran, as well as Vocal, since the age of five. He has performed extensively in India and the USA and won several awards in competitions held at the Madras Music Academy, Chennai, and at the Naadha Brahma Sangeeta Sabha, Mysore. A sophomore at the University of Houston Clear Lake, he is on the faculty of Silambam Houston, where he teaches Carnatic vocal and mridangam.
Emily Zelaya (Baroque Violin) Emily Zelaya began playing violin at age 3 in Anchorage, Alaska. She later moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa where she auditioned and won her first job with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra at age 15 and went on to win the orchestra’s concerto competition at 18. Emily attended the Eastman School of Music where she was a regular concertmaster of the school’s orchestras, including opera and studio orchestras, and received a degree in Violin Performance, studying with Mikhail Kopelman and Zvi Zeitlin. Emily has been a member of the Syracuse Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony (GA), Laredo Philharmonic, Corpus Christi Symphony, Victoria Symphony (TX), and others. She’s an avid chamber musician performing regularly with the Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival and the Texas New Music Ensemble and has performed several times as a soloist with various orchestras. Emily has been living in the Houston area since 2016 and performs regularly with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, among many other ensembles, and also teaches private students. Emily is also an actress with the Film Acting Academy and recently earned a Professional Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV from Berklee’s renowned online program. Emily is a wife, mother of two, and an avid runner.
Sergein Yap (Baroque Viola) Violist Sergein “Siggy” Yap studied with Ivo van der Werff at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, with Martha Katz at the New England Conservatory, and with Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Committed to new music and collaborating with living composers, Sergein is a core member of the KINETIC Ensemble and Loop38. Sergein performs as a regular substitute with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, Houston Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra. Mr. Yap is Adjunct Professor of Viola at the University of St. Thomas and also teaches for American Festival of the Arts (AFA), HSPVA, and the Houston Youth Symphony. Additionally, Mr. Yap is the Director of Outreach for Chamber Music Houston and was previously an Associate Artist Manager and Booking Representative with MKI Artists.
Siddarth Giridharan (Carnatic Violin) is a 11th grader at the Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, NC. He is passionate about playing the Carnatic violin and teaching music and math. He started learning the Carnatic violin with Guru Sadashiv Bhat and is currently under the tutelage of Abhishek Balakrishnan. Sid has been playing the violin for over 8 years now and has been fortunate to accompany his peer musicians in the Triad and Triangle areas. He has won awards at several regional and local Carnatic music competitions.
Ishan Shankar (Carnatic Violin) is a Carnatic violinist and vocalist from Plainfield, IL and is an incoming freshman at University of Illinois Urbana Champagne. He started learning Dwaram style of Carnatic violin from Guru Sri. Pavan Singh Bhatti at the age of 9 and is currently undergoing training from Shri Abhishek Balakrishnan, Houston, Texas. He also learns Carnatic vocal from Vidushi Smt Rajarajeswari Bhat and Vidhwan Shri Abhishek Balakrishnan. He has performed in concerts in India and United States for Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam, Sankara Netralaya, Roopa Fine Arts, SEWA USA and has accompanied many vocalists.
dance
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The New York Baroque Dance Company founded in 1976 by Catherine Turocy, Artistic Director, and Ann Jacoby still leads the historical dance field today. The company specializes in producing 17th and 18th century programs ranging from street performances to fully staged operas. With over 60 operas in its repertoire as well as reconstructed dances and ballets choreographed in period style, the NYBDC has toured North America, Europe and Japan with conductors James Richman, John Eliot Gardiner, Christopher Hogwood, Nicholas McGegan and Wolfgang Katschner. In their home base of New York City, the company produces concerts annually with Concert Royal directed by James Richman. The NYBDC also performs with Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus, The Dallas Bach Society, Mercury Baroque, Apollo’s Fire and Philharmonia Baroque. Groundbreaking productions over the past three decades include the premiere of Jean Philippe Rameau’s Les Boreades (not performed in the 18th century because of Rameau’s death) and Hippolyte et Aricie, both at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Opera de Lyon; Henry Purcell’s Indian Queen performed at the Barbican in London; the award winning Scylla et Glaucus by Jean Marie Leclair performed at the Opera de Lyon as well as over 100 performances of a double bill with Rameau’s Pygmalion and George Frederick Handel’s Terpsicore. The company is very proud to have performed in Handel’s operas Terpsicore, Ariodante, Arianna, Alcina, Atalanta, Orlando, and Teseo at the International Handel Festival in Goettingen, Germany.Description text goes here
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The performing wing of Silambam Houston, a ‘Houston Cultural Treasure’, the SHDC is comprised of stellar performers trained to professional level in various Indian classical dance forms, and represents the fruition of collective decades of effort and dedication. Founded and directed by Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan, the company’s repertoire includes several full-length original productions, including Ritu: The Changing Moods of Nature, Shambhavam, Maya: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kavya: Poetry in Motion, Chakravyuh: Battle Against the Odds, Dance of the Cosmos, and Waking Up Free: India’s Journey.
Julia Bengtsson (Baroque Dancer) joined the NYBDC in 2019. She is a Swedish dancer and choreographer based in New York. A Gothenburg native, Julia started taking dance classes five years old with Eileen Jones, Principal Dancer with the Gothenburg Ballet. Ms Jones encouraged Julia to apply to the Swedish National Ballet School, where she was accepted. At sixteen Julia moved to Stockholm to continue her studies at the Royal Swedish Ballet School. After her graduation she was accepted as a Scholarship Student at the Joffrey Ballet School. Julia has performed soloist roles at first-class theaters in Sweden, as well as in US, such as The Royal Swedish Opera House, The Gothenburg Opera, and Lincoln Center. Her performances range from classical ballets, to operas, to musicals, to music videos, and she has collaborated with several internationally accaimed photographers. Julia has received significant awards from organizations including Anders Sandrew’s Foundation (2014), Arts Umbrella (2014), Willinska Foundation (2012), Cecilia Rilton Ballet Foundation (2012), F. Barck Foundation (2012), and Carina Ari Foundation (2008).
Adelle Lorraine (Baroque Dancer) recently joined The New York Baroque Dance Company, dancing under Caroline Copeland,working on her project focused on dance and music of Ignatius Sancho. Last month Adelle danced at the Kennedy Center and in New York with the modern day premiere of Les Fêtes de Thalie (1714) with music by Jean-Joseph Mouret. Adelle was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She started dancing at the age of 7, training with multiple studios including City Ballet, Raleigh School of Ballet, International Ballet Academy, and Carolina Dance Center. Adelle graduated with a BFA in Commercial Dance at Pace University. At Pace, Adelle has received training from Rhonda Miller, Lauren Gaul, Scott Jovovich, Mandy Moore, Dee Caspary, Jess Hendricks, Suzi Taylor, Jennifer Hamilton, Dominique Kelley, Donna Drake, Caroline Liem, Lisa Hopkins, Ms. Vee, and “Chi Chi” Smith. Adelle has also performed choreography by The Barton Sisters, Ephrat Asherie, Michael Rooney, and Paul Taylor’s “Company B” (restaged by Ruth Andrien) while at Pace. Currently Adelle is a trainer for the Tracy Anderson Method in New York City. Adelle believes that dance is the most universal approach to human expression, and strives to always tell a story when she teaches, choreographs, and performs. Her motto is “never a dull moment”.
Mamatha Muralidharan (Bharatanatyam Dancer) has learned Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi since the age of 4 and continues to learn, perform and teach performing arts. Born in India and brought up in Oman, she started her dance journey under the tutelage of Kalamandalam Jyothi Lakshmi. She is also trained under Kalamandalam Husna Bhanu, Guru Smt Anupama Mohan and Smt Raji Soundararajan. Mamatha is a nationally recognized classical dancer in India, as a recipient of the National Bal Shree award-2010 for the category of creative performance. She has also participated in numerous competitions and won titles across Kerala, India during both her school and college years. She has continued to perform in the US since moving here in 2019. She is currently involved with Silambam Houston, under the guidance of Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan. With a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, she works in the oil and gas industry.
Saronsri Senthamilselvan (Bharatanatyam Dancer) began her Bharatanatyam training at the age of 8 in India, and has trained under the mentorship of Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan at Silambam Houston since moving to Houston in 2019. She has performed in several productions with Silambam, and was part of the ensemble that traveled to perform in Chennai, India in Dec 2023- Jan 2024. She currently pursues a Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Houston Clear Lake.
Ilana Ruth Cohen (Baroque Dancer) is from Portland, Oregon, where she grew up dancing in the rain. She graduated from Pomona College with a BA in Modern Dance and Chemistry and is currently a PhD student at the City University of New York where she studies how aquatic plants help to clean our water resources and teaches Biology. She is a member of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble and has performed in works by Anna Sokolow, Doris Humphrey, Jose Limón, Isadora Duncan, John Pennington, and Matthew Nelson in New York, California, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington, DC. She has also performed as dancer and puppeteer with Shadow Box Theater. In 2021, Ilana assisted in setting Anna Sokolow’s Rooms, working both virtually and in person, and has taught modern dance to children at Bay Ridge Ballet and through the Limon4Kids program. This is her first year with The New York Baroque Dance Company.
Shweta Srinivasan (Bharatanatyam Dancer) is a Bharatanatyam dancer, performing artist and choreographer. Her dance journey commenced in Chennai, India under Smt. Chitra Visweswaran, where she laid the foundation for her artistry. Continuing to refine her craft, she immersed herself in the Tanjavur Bani under the mentorship of Smt. Gayatri Ramaratnam, a journey she continues to this day. Additionally, she receives training from Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan at Silambam Houston, further enriching her skills.In addition to her passion for dance, Shweta is a data scientist, balancing her artistic pursuits with a full-time career. Her artistic endeavors have taken her across India and the US, where she has given captivating performances on various stages. Recognized for her exceptional talent, she has garnered several awards throughout her career.Currently based in Dallas, Texas, Shweta actively immerses herself in the vibrant arts community, participating in various events and organizations to enrich the diverse art forms she cherishes.
Rebecca Walden (Baroque Dancer) began her professional career with Nevada Ballet Theatre and Columbia Classical Ballet. Since moving to New York in 2011, she has danced with Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Connecticut Ballet, Encounters Dance, Ballet Inc, Azoth Dance Theatre, and Nishikawa and Artists, among others.Rebecca received her classical ballet training from Pavlovich Dance School and Southeastern School of Ballet, and received her high school diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in ballet. She trained in contemporary dance in Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet Traning Program, and has been coached by Nadege Hottier since 2015. Her choreography has been performed by New Chamber Ballet, konverjdans, and Premiere Division Ballet, in New York, Italy, and Germany.In 2016, Rebecca graduated from Columbia University, graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with the Dean’s Award in Anthropology. She is also a certified trainer of the Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis Expansion Systems.
Sreelakshmi Somanath (Bharatanatyam Dancer) is a senior Silambam student and company dancer. She began her Bharathanatyam journey at the age of 7 when she trained under Dr. Sreedhara Akkihebbalu for a few months in Corpus Christi. After moving to Houston, Sreelakshmi found her artistic home at Silambam Houston in August 2018, under Guru Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan. She had her Ranga Pravesham (solo dance debut) in June 2022 and has had the privilege of participating in several, original Silambam Houston productions. In addition to performing, Sreelakshmi has helped teach beginner classes at Silambam as a student instructor for the past few years, and has been invited to join the Silambam faculty for the upcoming year. A rising senior at Clear Springs High School, she hopes to continue to fulfill her passion for dance during all her future endeavors.
Ananya Hariharasudhan (Bharatanatyam Dancer) began her dance journey when she was 4 ½ years old under the guidance of Guru Dr.JAnaki RangarAjan in Richmond, Virginia in the year 2014. She joined Guru Padmini Chari in 2016, when her parents moved to Houston and then joined Silambam in 2017 to train under our Guru, Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan. She received her Salangai - the ankle bells used in Bharatanatyam in 2021, and performed in her debut solo performance in 2023. Ananya has performed in the Silambam Houston Dance Company’s original production ‘Chakravyuh’, playing the part of young Abhimanyu in that production at its premiere in 2021. She is a rising high school freshman, and enjoys dancing, singing, playing the violin and spending time with her friends.
Production
Lighting Design/Stage Management Kaavya Rajarathnam, Anjali Kadur
Wardrobe Ramya Dharmendran, Mridula Padmanabhan
Audiovisuals and Set Design Lavanya Rajagopalan
Rehearsal Space
SUpport
Grant support
This performance was made possible by grants from the
Miller Theater Advisory Board
and the National Endowment for the Arts
EVENT Sponsors
click on an image below to learn more about each of our sponsors!
Silambam also receives support from
The City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance
Texas Commission on the Arts
Dance Source Houston
In 2023, Silambam was named a ‘Houston Cultural Treasure’ by the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund
This project was initiated in 2021 in collaboration with Houston Early Music and funded through the ENGAGE program of the Mid-America Arts Alliance