"In a quietly consistent way, MIT has been contributing to Boston's growing international music scene for several years," wrote Bob Young in a recent Boston Herald article extolling MIT's "ambitious progress for a program that's only six years old."
Separate concerts on Friday, Oct. 24 will showcase music from two parts of the world, celebrating musical artistry from India and Bali.
Senior Madras violinist T.N. Krishman, who has performed solo and accompanied other musicians for almost six decades, headlines a MITHAS (MIT Heritage of South Asia) concert featuring classical music and dance of India. Mr. Krishnan, who's earned the title "Sangeetha Kalanidhi," the highest honor given to Carnatic music artists for his performances of traditional South Indian music, joins B. Harishkumar on mridangam (a double-conical, two-headed drum) and V. Gopalakrishnan on ghatam (an earthenware pot without skin covering) at 7pm in Killian Hall.
Tickets are $15, $12 for MITHAS members and students, $10 for MIT students, and are available at the door only. For more information, call x8-7971.
At 8pm in Kresge Auditorium, MIT's Gamelan Galak Tika and the Regional Government of Badung Bali will present the first US appearance of Bintang Badung, the "Stars of Badung," in a performance of Balinese music and dance. The 26-member group will present a dazzling array of traditional and modern works, from the kecak monkey chant to the calonarang exorcism dance/drama, along with traditional solo dance classics, marching music and classical Legong dance.
Bintang Badung is a new ensemble made up of the finest artists from the Badung region, the capital of Bali. It includes master teachers from the National Arts Academy as well as their finest prot���g���s. The group features dancer I Nyoman Catra and singer Desak Made Suarti Laksmi, well-known to MIT audiences from their three-year residency here from 1993-95.
Tickets are $15, $10 students/seniors, and $5 children under 12. For more information, call x3-2826.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 22, 1997.
