Avartan

Avartan is a non-profit organization which aims to support and promote youth Indian Classical Musicians. There are three components to the organization: a school component, performance component, and service/outreach component. The school will consist of a network of teachers across the country who are well trained musicians capable of instructing the younger generation of today in a way that relates the music to them. The school component allows students from anywhere around the country to pick out teachers they would like to take classes from. If those teachers are not available in their area, online lessons with that teacher will be available and the student will be assigned a local teacher for the student to check in with. The performance component includes a festival put on yearly at UCLA: Avartan Music Festival. This club will have a good amount of focus on this component of Avartan, but will also be involved in the other components of Avartan. The organization is beginning to expand festivals like that at UCLA with a branch in the East Coast. It also aims to bring in master artists for lecture demos, video demos, and to incorporate them into the school through skype or other online sessions with Avartan's students. Teachers of the school of music will be able to host lecture events in their areas as well. Avartan will also be able to provide a strong network for visiting artists to connect with and work with the organization to host events. The service and outreach component has two main parts. First it includes a database of performance opportunities and a matching list of artists. According to the performance, we would send matching students or teachers to fill the needs of the performance. The second part is a set up for students to present lecture demos for younger children in arts programs, as well as for seniors, and disadvantaged children to encourage them into arts, as well as raise arts awareness. Although the UCLA organization will spend some time in the months upcoming to the UCLA festival focused just on its organization, outreach, and promotion, it will also focus on expanding and developing the other components of Avartan.

avartanmusicfestival@gmail.com

Signatories: Ram Eshwar Kaundinya, Anusha Vemuri, and Ritu Sreenivasan

Advisor: Cornelius Jake Gildea