Rohan's graduation

[RKrishnamurthy]

I am happy to share with you the news that Rohan is now Dr Rohan Krishnamurthy. Last week he had a 3 hour defense of his thesis and came out with flying colors. This is particularly satisfying since Eastman is known to deny a PhD even at the dissertation defense stage! His thesis dealt with internet pedagogy as applied to South Indian percussion, a very hot and relevant topic today in all fields. I am myself teaching two classes on line as we speak! His work will eventually appear as a book. Arguably, it looks like there are many "firsts" in terms of his achievement. Some of these are:
(1) He is the first person "of color" to have received a PhD from the celebrated Eastman School of Music in its more than one hundred years of history.
(2) He is the youngest PhD to graduate from the school (3) He is the first one to get a PhD in musicology with specialization in Ethnomusicology
(4) He is the first one, perhaps nationally,to get a PhD in five years (just after a Bachelor's degree) considering that the national average in his field is 9 years!
(5) He is the first one to introduce South Indian percussion at the Eastman School in terms of performance and academics.

While Rohan is fully qualified for a professorial job now, he plans to continue his entrepreneurial activities for some time that keeps him traveling most of the time, collaborating with Western musicians.
Rama Krishnamurthy

[vasanthakokilam]

Congrats Rohan. Best wishes for a great future.

[cmlover]

Congratulations Dr Rohan Krishnamurthy !
We are very proud of your achievement.
Wish you a bright career,,, Keep it up..

[Nick H]

Have had some contact with Rohan through earliest carnatic music fora, if not even going back to usenet days, when the talk was of the basics of mridangam construction, etc. I'm delighted to hear that he is now Dr Rohan. Wonderful news, and many congratulations. I'm sure that a lot of hard work went into it, and that it was well earned and well deserved.

Well Done Rohan!

[arasi]

Rohan,
Hearty congratulations! Dr. Rohan, I presume

Hope to meet you one of these days. Heard you play, but haven't had a chance to speak you after a concert.

Best wishes to your proud parents...

[maduraimini]

Congratulations, Dr.Rohan Krishnamurty!

[rshankar]

Congratulations to Dr. Rohan and his proud parents...as Sri TyAgarAjA said, 'yE nATi nOmu phalamO, yE dAna phalamO'!

[mohan]

Congratulations to Rohan! What was his thesis topic?

[rajeshnat]

Congrats Dr Rohan, hope your phd knowledge gets applied to music particularly carnatic music

[mahavishnu]

Congratulations, Rohan. All the best in your academic and musical pursuits!

[PUNARVASU]

Congratulations to Rohan.

[bilahari]

Congratulations and best wishes to Rohan. I am also keen to learn more about his thesis.

[thanjavooran]

Congrats Rohan. Best wishes for a great and bright future.
With blessings,
Thanjavooran
26 07 2013

[ramamantra]

I downloaded an image of 'The South Indian drum beating itself' to attach it to the reply, but don't think there is any such provision. Hence, the text.

[RKrishnamurthy]

Congratulations and best wishes to Rohan. I am also keen to learn more about his thesis.

While I am not competent to critique his research, I can say that it deals with a scientific, cultural and socio economic analysis of using internet technology in the pedagogy of South Indian percussion. His field research spanned over several months in Chennai, interviewing and observing leading percussionists and their students who use internet to teach students across the globe. The thesis also uses a special notation he has developed to convey percussion notes to other musicians, especially Western classical musicians. The work is focused on Indian diaspora in NA, but applies perhaps to any diaspora. Some of you may have read the following article he wrote for The Hindu. It gives an overview.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/che ... 214484.ece


Rama