On July 28, Brooklyn Raga Massive’s (BRM) Tradition to Innovation program, will showcase a wide range of sounds inspired by Indian Classical music. This concert is the premier of a live video recording with 4 musicians playing in real time from each of their homes using a software called Artsmesh. Featuring Neel Murgai on sitar, Aaron Shragge on trumpet, Arun Ramamurthy on violin and Mir Naqibul Islam on tabla. This is the first time BRM has used this exciting new technology to collaborate and create a presentation. Look out for more live recordings and and live streaming in the future as we try to stay at the forefront of network music innovation and creation.
KCA is proud to announce its Summer 2020 LIVE AT THE GANTRIES ONLINE Concert Series. Traditionally held at Gantry Plaza State Park in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Recreation, Queens Theatre in the Park, Plaxall, Inc., and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, this series is moving online in 2020 to offer eight world-class performances every Tuesday at 7pm during July and August 2020 that will stream on KCA’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Live Q&A sessions with the artists will follow each event.
Arun Ramamurthy - Violin Arun Ramamurthy is a versatile violinist, composer and educator based in NYC. A disciple of the celebrated Carnatic violinist brothers, Dr. Mysore Manjunath & Sri Mysore Nagaraj, Arun has become one of the country’s leading Indian Classical and crossover musicians. He has carved a niche for himself as a multifaceted artist, performing internationally in both traditional Carnatic and Hindustani settings as well as cross genre creative projects. Arun has been fortunate to perform with artists such as Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Sudha Ragunathan, Anindo Chatterjee, Mashkoor Ali Khan, Marc Cary, Amir ElSaffar, Awa Sangho among others. He leads the Arun Ramamurthy Trio, an ensemble that brings a fresh approach to age-old South Indian classical repertoire and raga inspired originals. Praised by All About Jazz as “a beautiful, exotic, ear-opening listening experience” his trio’s debut album “Jazz Carnatica” was picked by NPR’s New Sounds as a Top New Release. Arun is a co-founder of Brooklyn Raga Massive, an artist collective dedicated to creating cross-cultural understanding through the lens of Indian classical and Raga inspired music. He created the concert series Carnatic Sundays at Cornelia Street Café, an iconic jazz venue in New York’s West Village.
Neel Murgai -sitar, overtone singing Neel Murgai is a sitarist, overtone singer, daf player, composer, and teacher from Brooklyn, NY. Neel has studied sitar for 25 years, currently with his guru Pundit Krishna Bhatt. He is a graduate of Goddard College's MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts program. His first album with Neel Murgai Ensemble was released on Innova Records in 2010. Neel has performed around the world with numerous artists from varying disciplines including, Bill T. Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Wyclef Jean, Andre DeShields, Karsh Kale, Vijay Iyer, Adam Rudolph, Daniel Bernard Romain, Dana Leong, Ellen Stewart, Laraaji, Yuerba Buena, Baba Israel, Raz Mesinai, Mission on Mars, Akim Funk Buddha, Loren Conners, Louis Bellogenis and Cosmo Vinyl. He has performed at venues ranging from the Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center to Late Night with David Letterman to jazz clubs such as the Blue Note and at festivals around the U.S including Art Wallah, Arts Plosure, Masala! Mehndi! Masti! and many others. Neel played in the orchestra for Disney’s musical theater adaptation of “The Jungle Book” directed by Mary Zimmerman. Neel has composed music for many film, TV, video, theater, and dance projects including the features, “The Yes Men Fix the World", which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and "A Decent Arrangement" starring Shabana Azmi. His music has been featured in the BBC series, “Holidays in the Danger Zone", and TBS programs, “Women of the Ink", and “Spotlights". Ehren Hanson -Tabla Ehren Hanson began learning tabla at age 15 and went on to teach rhythm as an assistant professor at Bard College in 2002, and in 2005 he received the Senior Performing Arts Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. He has accompanied great musicians including Pandit Debi Prasad Chatterjee, Pandit Subrata Roy Chaudhuri, and Steve Gorn.
Aaron Shragge - Trumpet/Shakuhachi Aaron Shragge's music "...delves deeper into that satori place in your brain" - Jazz Times. Aaron Shragge has performed with Daniel Carter, Ben Monder, Dave Douglas, William Parker, Jon Gibson, The Sam Roberts Band, Akim Funk Buddha, and Medeski Martin and Wood's Billy Martin at such venues as Symphony Space, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and The Blue Note. Aaron is active in the NYC improvised/creative music scene having served on the board of Festival of New Trumpet Music NY/Canada. Aaron's unique instrument the Dragon Mouth Trumpet was designed to expand the trumpet’s melodic capacity and is the result of over a decade of studying both the Shakuhachi (Japanese, Flute) as well as North Indian Vocals. Aaron Shragge's current projects include a duo with Ben Monder, a Jazz quintet that plays the music of Tom Waits, and his continuing solo works for Dragon Mouth Trumpet/Shakuhachi.