South India music and dance at Wheaton

Wheaton will host two evening performances of South India music and dance later this month.
''Navaratri,'' held in honor of the goddess Durga, is one of the main festivals in India, where it lasts for nine (nava-) nights (ratri). Part of every Hindu household and temple throughout India, it is a time to greet family and friends, enjoy music and dance concerts, and worship Durga to gain her blessings.

This autumn's Navaratri celebration at Wheaton features two evening performances each preceded by an introductory talk by Wheaton's scholar-in-residence B.M. Sundaram.

''Drums and Percussion of South India'' will be held on Friday September 28 in Cole Chapel at 8 p.m., with a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. The concert will be played by Haridwarmangal A.K. Palanivel, tavil (double headed drum), T. Viswanathan, flute, Anantha Krishnan, violin and Master Anand, mridangam (double headed drum).

''Classical Bharata Natyam Dance of South India'' will be held on Saturday September 29, in the dance studio in the Balfour Hood Student Center at 8 p.m. with a pre-conert lecture at 7 p.m.
The performance features Aniruddha Knight, dancer; Kala Prasad and Susan Tveekrem, vocals;
T. Viswanathan, flute; Vijayasree Mokkapati, vina (stringed instrument) and Douglas Knight, mridangam

About the festival participants:

Haridwarmangal A.K. Palanivel, on a rare visit to the United States from South India, is one of the most renowned performers of the tavil, a double headed drum traditionally used in the Hindu temple periya melam ensemble. The music ensemble for the evening includes Dr. T. Viswanathan, professor of music at Wesleyan University, and the father-and-son team of Anantha Krishnan, violin, and his son Master Anand, mridangam. (Eighteen year old Master Anand thrilled the Wheaton audience with his drumming in Worldfest's ''Gangamazon'' concert, a meeting of Indian music with Brasilian jazz, in March 2001).

Aniruddha (''Ani'') Knight is the grandson of South India's legendary dancer T. Balasaraswati. Ani has been studying dance with his mother Lakshmi Shanmukham Knight since a young boy, and is currently an undergraduate student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. The music ensemble for the evening includes Ani's father Douglas Knight, his uncle Dr. T. Viswanathan, and Viswanathan's students Kala Prasad, Susan Tveekrem, and Vijaysree Mokkapati.

B.M. Sundaram (scholar-in-residence) is a musicologist from Pondicherry, South India. He is the son of the great tavil drummer Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai, and studied South Indian music with vocalist Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna. The author of important books on Indian music and dance, he was music composer and producer for All India Radio from 1978-92, and has since then been an independent scholar.

Wheaton College gratefully acknowledges the Asian Cultural Council, New York, for its support of Mr. Sundaram's residency at Wheaton, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, and Smith Colleges. Wheaton College is located in the town of Norton, Mass., 35 miles south of Boston, near the junction of Interstates 95 and 495. For detailed directions please see: http://www.wheatonma.edu/About/Directions/Transportation.html

For further information contact Prof. Matthew Allen, 508.286.3577, mallen@wheatonma.edu.

All events are open to the public without charge.