CMANA Celebrating Fifty Memorable Years!

[arasi]

Heartfelt congratulations to the Carnatic Music Association of America for its reaching the milestone of fifty precious years of its service! It's one of the pioneers in its offering the gift of listening to live CM for those of us who craved for it, away from home. On top of it, for religiously recording every concert and making them available for those of us who did not live nearby.

How they spent precious time (I remember: Dr. Uma Roy's mother and father too engaged in copying the tapes, then cassettes so that we could be included in the musical experience!). To my husband to whom his long working hours demanded much of his attention, it was a haven to enter this musical realm to unwind--thanks to endless hours given by volunteers at CMANA in reaching rasikas who couldn't make it to many concerts. Then came the CDs, listening to which besides his voracious reading made life enriching for him.

How many rasikas over the years have to thank CMANA for its meaningful existence over half a century!

Wishing North America's oldest and vibrant music association a grand celebration and wishing many more years of nurturing music and in encouraging the young in the country in their musical ventures!

Hope someone posts the entire program of the celebration here.

Again, kudos to CMANA for all these years of service and best wishes for many more years of service to come!

[Nick H]

Good to know!

Congratulations to all involved, and best wishes for the future.

[vasanthakokilam]

[vasanthakokilam]

Arasi asked me to post the concert details which I will do a bit later.

[vasanthakokilam]

From their flyer
---
As we enter the final stretch toward CMANA’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations, we would like to take a moment to sincerely thank you for your support and enthusiasm. Your participation has been instrumental in building the incredible momentum we are witnessing today.

Over the past few weeks, the energy across the community has been truly inspiring. Our outreach and Patron Lunch events in Milltown, Edison, and Plainsboro saw over 120 attendees, followed by a grand Inaugural Kickoff on April 18, 2026, attended by over 500 rasikas, with performances by 18+ groups. This remarkable response sets the stage for what promises to be a truly unforgettable celebration.

As we now approach the blockbuster weekend of May 23–25, 2026, here are a few important updates:

Ticket Update – Almost Sold Out

As of April 26, 2026, over 78% of festival passes have been sold.

Silver (Middle Section only 4 seats remaining): Select seats in Other sections available.
Platinum: Just 5 tickets left
Regular: Only last row available
Seats are disappearing fast—this is your moment to be part of this historic festival if you haven’t already joined us.

Event Information

Currently, only 3-Day Passes are available currently. Day Passes will open soon but not before May 6 2026.
All passes come with assigned seating
Passes are fully transferable to family and or friends for any of the days.

To obtain passes or instructions, please email: [email protected]

[vasanthakokilam]

Festival Dates

Saturday, May 23, 2026 – Day 1
Sunday, May 24, 2026 – Day 2
Monday, May 25, 2026 – Day 3
Venue

Bridgewater Temple Auditorium
1 Balaji Drive
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

[vasanthakokilam]

Saturday May 23 2026

9 15 AM

Thirupugazh Rendition by CMANA Members Led by Ms Subha Srinivasan and Ms.Jayashree Ramakrishnan and members of NJ Thirupugazh Group

11 15 AM Lec Dem by Patri Satish Kumar
Topic: Nuances in the art of Mridangam Playing

2 30 PM Tristayi Concert by Padmasri, SangeetaSaagara A Kanyakumari accompanied by L Ramakrishnan and Kamalakiran Vinjamuri , Patri Satish Kumar ( Mridangam) and Sunil Kumar ( Kanjira)

Saturday May 23 2026 5 30 PM

Sanjay Subramanyan ( Vocal)
S Varadarajan ( Violin)
Neyveli Venkatesh (Mridangam)

======

Sunday May 24 2026
9 00 AM
Bharatiyum Isaiyum
(Bharati and Music)
A Moving Homage to a National Poet)
A Presentation featuring Students presenting Songs and enactment by Isaikavi Ramanan

Sunday May 24 2026

2 30 PM

Ramakrishnan Murthy (Vocal)
Vittal Rangan ( Violin)
Delhi Sairam ( Mridangam)
Sunil Kumar( Kanjira)

Sunday May 24 2026

5 30 PM

Smt.Ranjani & Gayatri ( Vocal)
L Ramakrishnan (Violin)
Sai Giridar ( Mridangam)
K V Gopalakrishnan ( Kanjira)

====

Monday May 25 2026

9 00 AM : Classical Parade at the Bridgewater Temple Prakaram

A Walk around temple with all Junior Members of CMANA,Musical and Dance Fraternity led by Sivasri Skandaprasad

Followed by

10 00 AM

Sivasri Skandaprasad & Party - Classical Performance

1 00 PM
Tribute to the Ladies of CMANA- A Dance Tribute by Kiran James

Vocal: Divya Meena Raman (Minneola, NY)
Nattuvangam: Umesh Venkatesh (Philadelphia, PA)
Violin: Swetha Narasimhan (Philadelphia, PA)
Mridangam: Harsha Mandyam Bharathi (Chicago, IL)

As part of CMANA’s 50th anniversary celebration, CMANA will present a
45 to 60-minute solo Bharatanatyam dance performance with live music. The repertoire will
comprise of Kiran James’s original choreographies of compositions, drawn from both the
dance (nāṭya saṅgītam) and concert (sabha gānam) music repertoires, to honor the legacy and
contributions of women in CMANA. Woven into the narration will be anecdotes and storiesabout of the late Smt. Vasantha Rajagopalan, and other women who have tirelessly
supported CMANA and promoted Indian art and culture in the United States.

2 15 PM Hony Patron Award Ceremony followed by  SangeetaSaagara Presentation to Ms Sudha Ragunathan

3 30 PM Grand Final Concert

SangeetaSaagara Sudha Ragunathan (Vocal)
Vittal Rangan ( Violin)
Delhi Sairam ( Mridangam)
Chandrasekara Sarma ( Ghatam)

=====

UPCOMING IN FALL 2026

Sep 05 2026 C3 Festival

Sep 06 2026- Sunday
K S Vishnudev ( Vocal)
A S Gokul ( Violin)
K V Prasad ( Mridangam)

This is a CMANA sponsored National Tour

Saturday September 26 2026

Pallavi Darbar as part of our National Carnatic Artistes Festival

Saturday October 3 2026
Flute Jayant & Party ( Flute Concert)


Date TBD
Vignesh Ishwar & Party ( Vocal)

[vasanthakokilam]

Additional Updates for Pass Holders

Event Passes: All passes have been mailed. If your purchase was after April 20, they are expected to arrive this week. If not received, please email [email protected] with subject “Non receipt of passes” for alternate access arrangements.
Food Arrangements: Lunch and dinner will be available all three days. Prepayment details will be shared with Gold, Silver, and Regular pass holders. Food is included for Platinum (Yellow Pass) holders.
Accessibility Support: Golf cart services are being arranged for those needing assistance from the parking lot to the auditorium. Details will follow shortly.
Hotel Accommodations:
For out-of-station attendees, CMANA has secured a limited block of rooms (given the busy Memorial Day weekend and graduation season):

Embassy Suites by Hilton Piscataway/Somerset
121 Centennial Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854
+1 732-980-0500 (mention “CMANA”)

or email [email protected] for a link to the hotel.

[vasanthakokilam]

https://www.cmana.org has the above information as well.

[arasi]

Spring cuckoo,
Can't thank you enough for bringing every little detail of the several days of this celebration! Those who can't quickly find their info, can refer to this thread, of course.

Quite a grand celebration it's going to be, not only with a galaxy of artistes performing, but also with the youngsters putting their hearts into the celebration and presenting their own share in various events.

Kudos to the CMANA folks and best wishes to them for making it a memorable time for all who participate in it

Hope for those of us who cannot make it, there are going to be a lot of posts about the event, concert reviews and impressions from the young and the old. Photographs and clips too!

[rajeshnat]

Correct me if I am wrong . One of the key patrons is younger brother of Safe Ramabadran is Dr Rajagopalan. In last 20 years once i think i met both the brothers in mylapore sabha.

I recollect lot from our late MK Ramasubramaniam talking about CMANA. IIRC even VK Vishwanathan was connected to Cmana . Did we not have some person joytsula a more present day patron or some one posting here.

Perhaps is this the oldest sabha in USA? Congratulations of this extraordinary milestone.

@Spring Cuckoo has waken up in rasikas.org - after how many years???

[vasanthakokilam]

more like Cicadas though it has not been 13 or 17 years.

[arasi]

Compare the sounds of your name to chirpy cicadas
When you took the name after your most favorite singer
Whose voice vied with that of MS Amma herself?

[arasi]

Rajesh,
Every admirable rasika that you have named has been in some way responsible by putting their heart and soul into the growth of CMANA, I have heard of or known. I do wish someone in NJ who is aware of CMANA's every step in history chimes in.

Meanwhile, you would see in the program that on Monday, they have the celebration in the temple with the students where the main honoree is Srimathi Vasantha Rajagopalan. Over the years, I have heard (and experienced a bit too) the Rajagopalans' ardor and endless service. Their being tireless organizers of CM concerts and in being such gracious hosts. How many house concerts they must have had! Northern musicians were roped in as well. A house concert of Begum Parveen Sultana when she was getting to be a super star of HM too!

Yes, our dear Viswanathan, MKR, Nagarajan(now of Texas) and name any other ardent organizer, each of them in the tri-state area was part of it all in the early years of CMANA.

[maheshram]

Yes, our dear Viswanathan, MKR, Nagarajan(now of Texas) and name any other ardent organizer, each of them in the tri-state area was part of it all in the early years of CMANA.

To this list I must add the name of my late mother Nirmala (wife of my father MKR). She was instrumental in those early days to all the growth along with many others.

On Rajagopal Mama's leadership role and Vasantha Mami's as well, it cannot be lauded enough. Much like my parents, they opened their home to musicians*, found venues with tiny budgets, drove artists here, there and everywhere, and brought professionalism to the organization. Dr. Uma Roy was the perfect torchbearer from there - what an amazing, bright, kind and dedicated lady!

*On a more humorous note, my contributions were mostly (a) lifting incredibly heavy suitcases of visting artistes at JFK (b) ceding my room at home to all the visitors and (c) grudgingly taking musicians to the same NY tourist venues time and time again (I used to joke that the Statue of Liberty would start waving me away when she saw me

[arasi]

Maheshram,
I can't thank you enough for your post for two reasons:
You decided to post here after a long absence, and we all know how richly your father has contributed to Rasikas. org by way of sharing his vast musical knowledge. Your parents' closeness to MS Amma's family (your grandmother being one of her closest friends) meant that many a precious anecdote was shared here with us rasikAs.

We lived alternating between NY state (not the city) and the UK in the late sixties and seventies--which meant not being close to all the pioneers and torch bearers-to know at first hand their work and immense efforts. We had glimpses of them when they came to Hudson Valley (the Nagarajans lived there) when several concerts were held at basements, Vassar college and the Hindu center where a temple was built later.

I have not met the current office bearers of CMANA because of not attending any concerts in NJ! We were connected of course, because of the concert recordings we had been able to purchase from them for many years. On Uma Roy's request, I wrote for CMANA's journal about the moving experience of my bringing Andavan pichi and Ambujam Krishna together for a meeting of the two composers!

Of the latter-day office-bearers, Rhama and her equal half of course are very special to me. It was a pleasure to meet them at several of the Boston concerts in the past two decades.

Do you still live in the NY area? Then, you will attend the festival here and there, I hope. Please do write about it--continuing the family tradition (bless your father and mother).

I loved the bit about your thinking that the Statue of Liberty was waving you away!
Hope your sister is doing fine, also both your families