About Harvard Sangeet

Founded in response to the steadily growing number of remarkable South Asian musical talents and enthusiasts on campus, our mission at Sangeet is to usher South Asian music to its deserved place among the other cultural and artistic establishments at Harvard, and to forge a legacy at the intercollegiate and global levels, establishing Harvard as the premier seat of South Asian musical leadership, prominence and excellence.

Sangeet’s activities are devoted to all aspects of South Asian musical performance and scholarship. They are aimed at increasing the exposure and appreciation of South Asian music, providing a forum for teaching and learning, and encouraging performance at the highest levels. Sangeet’s commitment to variety and breadth ensures that there is an event for every type of music-lover. Enjoy informal Antaksharis, study breaks, bhajan workshops, and karaoke nights, or join aficionados for concert field trips, themed jam sessions, fusion opportunities and campus-wide performances, or take advantage of Sangeet’s one-of-a-kind lecture-demonstrations with visiting maestros, intercollegiate conferences and more. Sangeet is also proud to offer a music school through which members of the Harvard community can pursue vocal, instrumental and percussion lessons in the various genres of South Asian music.

Come experience the Sangeet Community!

People

Sumit Malik: Co-President

Sumit Malik is a sophomore in Kirkland House concentrating in Applied Mathematics and Economics with a secondary in English. He has played tabla for fourteen years, formally studying under Pdt. Samir Chatterjee, Daniel Prabhakar, and Shyam Pai. He also has enjoyed learning piano, violin, guitar, and dhol. Sumit’s playlist consists of Hindustani classical as well as Bhangra, Bollywood, hip-hop, and alternative rock, and his top artists include Zakir Hussain, Udit Narayan, and Jay Sean. When he’s not with Sangeet, Sumit can be found debating politics, playing tennis, or performing poi (light- or fire-twirling).

Juhi Kuchroo: Co-Outreach Chair

Juhi Kuchroo is a sophomore in Kirkland House concentrating in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She has been learning Hindustani Classical music since she was seven years old. She is also trained in western classical music and was a soprano I in the New England Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale and Camerata for four years. Juhi is also a trained Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi (Indian Classical Dance forms) dancer. She enjoys singing and listening to all kinds of music, but is especially fond of Shreya Ghoshal. At Harvard, Juhi is also the Artistic Direction Chair for the South Asian Association and head of Harvard Bhangra.

Samita Mohanasundaram: Co-Outreach Chair and Dean of Music School

Samita Mohanasundaram is a freshman in Massachusetts Hall. She has been learning both Carnatic and Western music since she was six years old. Samita has been trained in Veena for the last 9 years, Carnatic Vocal for 6 years, Western piano for 13 years, and flute for 8 years. Samita is also a Bharathanatyam dancer who loves to perform and choreograph. For the last 7 years, she has been teaching dance and piano to individuals in the New England area. Samita has been part of music camps and lectures run by Lalgudi G.J.R Krishnan and the New England School of Carnatic Music. Samita's favorite artists include M.S. Subalakshmi, G.N. Balasubramaniam, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, Lalgudi G.J.R Krishnan, Ilayaraja, Smt. Preetha Arun, and Smt. Durga Krishnan.

Gokul Madhavan: Graduate School Liason

Gokul Madhavan is a graduate student at Harvard University, currently studying Sanskrit, Persian and Indian studies. He has been interested in Indian music, especially Indian classical music, from a very young age, and studied the Carnatic violin in Dubai. He also enjoys singing and his musical interests include critical appreciation of Carnatic compositions, enjoying Hindustani music, Hindi film songs and listening to Western classical music, as a layman. Having spent most of his life in the Middle East, Gokul is also fascinated by Arabic music, and is now trying to learn more about this school of music as well. Gokul's non-musical interests span mathematics, computer science, languages and linguistics, world history and international relations.

Board Members at Large

Suhas Rao

Siddarth Chandrasekaran

Madhura Narawane

Sonali Tatapudy

Daniel Haldar: Co-President

Daniel is currently a sophomore in Kirkland House concentrating in Chemistry. Since the age of five, Daniel has been trained on classical piano in the Western tradition; more recently, Daniel has received formal instruction in classical composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Although Daniel's training is primarily Western, he developed a deep interest in South Asian music at a young age and has since then studied the fundamentals of Hindustani classical theory. Within the arena of South Asian music, Daniel's interests range from kheyal to bhajans to Bollywood, and some of his favorite artists include Lata Mangeshkar, Ustad Rashid Khan, and A.R. Rahman. When he's not at Sangeet events, Daniel is usually found studying organic chemistry, singing at the piano, or YouTubing clips from classic '60s Hindi films.

Harper Sutherland: Treasurer

Harper Sutherland is excited to be involved in Sangeet during her first year at Harvard College. Harper is from Cleveland, Ohio and performs both trombone and vocals. Her favorite Indian musicians are Jaspinder Narula, Shreya Goshal, Sunidhi Chauhan and Udit Narayan. However, she's also interested in anything that Hrithik Roshan is lip-synching.

Nur Nasreen Ibrahim: Secretary

Nur Ibrahim is a sophomore at Winthrop House, concentrating in Literature. She has been trained in classical South Asian vocals. She especially enjoys Sufi mystical music, rock (Noori! Coke Studio!) and Bollywood songs along with U2, Coldplay, The Beatles, the occasional musicals and of course Disney songs. She firmly believes that The Lion King was the best part of the nineties. When not involved with Harvard Sangeet, she loves to read, watch movies, draw and wait for the next board meeting.

Alumni

Omer Aftab

Anusha Tomar

Suneel Chakravorty

Trisha Pasricha

Prathama Nabi

Ameya Velingker

Vasanthi Sridhar

Samir Rao

Vaidya Ganesh Rajagopalan ("G")

Aneesh Kulkarni

Ramya Parthasarathy

Vikas Mouli

Gowri Aragam

Amit Patel

Ellora Derenoncourt

Harvard Advisors:

Dr. Richard Wolf

Dr. Richard Wolf is a professor of ethnomusicology at Harvard University’s Music Department, specializing in veena and mridangam, among his other varied interests. Professor Wolf has done has done extensive fieldwork in South Asia over the years and has cross-disciplinary interests in linguistics, religion, and anthropology. It is Sangeet’s good fortune that he is at Harvard during our years here, and we are incredibly grateful to Professor Wolf for his ready availability, thoughtful ideas, insightful advice and unconditional support and enthusiasm. Sangeet, and the South Asian musical cause are greatly indebted to him.

Dr. Sindhu Revuluri

Profesor Revuluri received her PhD in musicology from Princeton University in 2007, where she also taught for one year. Her research interests include exoticism and modernism in fin-de-siecle France, contemporary Indian music and film, trends in global pop music, and post-colonial approaches to music history. She is currently working on a study of the relationship between empire and modernist musical thought in France, as well as a project on popular musical expression in south India. She joined the Harvard faculty in 2007, and Sangeet is glad to have her on board already as an advisor.