Global Ambassadors

Shweta Parthasarathy is a resident of Chicago, and is the President of Marc Realty – a Real Estate focused company in Chicago. Born and raised in India, Shweta was trained in Indian Classical Arts from a young age. She moved to Chicago a long time ago, where she now lives with her husband and two children who are 18 and 15. Both Shweta’s children are entrenched in Carnatic Music from a very young age as well.  Shweta’s daughter, Sanjana completed her music arangetram in 2023, and her son, Siddharth, is a Mridangist.

Shweta is very passionate about the  South Indian classical art forms, and her vision  is to ensure that the next generation of children stay engaged through learning from gurus who are committed to teaching and nurturing them.   

Shweta and her family are an integral part of Chinmaya Mission Chicago where she teaches bhajans from time to time to the local community in the hope of connecting people from various walks of life through music and devotion.

 Carnatic classical musician from the state who is known for his traditional as well as innovative approach to the art. Hailed as a child prodigy, he gave complete classical music concerts from the age of ten. He was trained by eminent stalwarts like Padmabhushan TV Gopalakrishnan and Padmashree K V Narayanaswamy .

 He believes art should remain connected with the society and environment around him and his philanthropic services made him envisage Raaga Music therapy sessions in several hospitals. His attempts at taking classical music to the youth saw collaborating with SPICMACAY and other youth organisations to give concerts and lectures in schools and universities and also moulding many eminent young musicians. 

 Placed amongst the 50 most influential soft powers in India by the Open Magazine for two consecutive years, and recipient of the Prestigious Sangeetha Nataka Aacdemy’s Yuva Purashkar (2019), Palghat Ramprasad is one of the most sought after South Indian Carnatic music vocalist both in India and abroad.

Grandson of the legendary mridangist Palghat Mani Iyer, Ramprasad started learning music from a very young age from his father Sri T.R.Rajaram. Ramprasad’s entry into the concert platform was in the year 1988 in the Youth Association for Classical Musical popularly known as YACM in Chennai, when he was less than 8 years old; where he was awarded the title, ‘the best artist’ of the series. From then on, he has been regularly performing concerts in and out of India for the past, more than three decades now.

Hailed as a child prodigy by many, even as a teenager, Ramprasad was accompanied on stage by legendary artists and Nataka Academy awardees such as Sri T.K.Murthy, Late Sri Palghat Raghu, Sri T.V.Gopalkrishnan, Sri Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Late Sri Ramabadhran, Sri Trichy Sankaran, Sri Kandadevi Azhagiriswamy, Thiruparkadal Veraraghavan, Sri M.S.Anantharaman, Sri Sikkil Bhaskaran, to name a few.. Ramprasad is a trained economist (applied econometrics - PhD from University of Georgia), and was a visiting post-doctoral fellow at The Harvard School of Public Health, and has internationally renowned peer-reviewed publications in the area of economics and quantitative public health, to his credit 

Started training in Bharatanatyam under the able guidance of Guru Smt. Ambika Buch, Retd. Lecturer, Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts and performed Arangetram in 1992. • Have performed in various sabhas in the city and have traveled widely in India and abroad with the Kalakshetra troupe where I have done a number of lead roles in their dance drama productions (Sita in Ramayanam, Andal in Andal Charitram, Parvathi in Kumara Sambhavam, Akka Mahadevi etc...). • Have also performed under many prestigious banners in the city. Have performed and traveled widely with the Aradhana School of Dance, directed by Smt. Ambika Buch. • Was part of Cleveland Aradhana Festival, USA, 2019 • Founder - Director of ‘Chathur Lakshana’ Academy of Fine Arts, Chennai, training many aspiring children in the field of Bharatanatyam. • Worked as Part–Time lecturer and centre co-ordinator in Kalai Kaviri College of Fine Arts, under the Off-Campus Degree Programme. • Graded artist in Doordarshan (B Grade) • Served as guest faculty at Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts, Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai, 2018–19 Music, Nattuvangam And Instruments • Trained in Carnatic music with great vidwans like Bhagawathulu Sri. Seetharama Sharma and Sri S. Rajaram. • Sings and does nattuvangam for her student’s performances. • Also proficient in playing the Jaltarang, a very rare musical instrument. Yoga • Learnt and practiced yoga with Dr. M.Kavitha, BNYS. D.Ac., DMHS, DIAS, from 2006 – 2008. • Practiced with and assisted Sri Sundar Chetlur (Being Peace) from 2008 – 2011 in Hatha Yoga, Integral Style.

She is the Director of Sangyan Music Academy Bengaluru. She has served as Professor of Music in the Dept of Performing arts Alliance University and has rendered over a decade of service in teaching mathematics. She is a graded artist of the All India Radio. Versatility in singing has always been her strength. She has a mellifluous voice that effortlessly reaches through the octaves embellishes creativity and enhances melody, deeply rooted in tradition.

She was initiated into Carnatic music during early childhood and has been performing in the concert arena for the past two decades in India and abroad. She is imparting training to young aspirants & they have reached advanced levels, won laurels and scholarships.

She has had the privilege of undergoing advanced training under erudite scholars & Gurus during her study at Delhi University.

As a professional artist, he has been awarded ‘Sangeet Praveen’ by ‘Prayag Sangeet Samiti’, ‘Allahabad and Sangeet Bhaskar’ by ‘Pracheen Kala Kendra’, Chandigarh. Also he has received ‘National Scholarship’ from Govt. of India Ministry of HRD, Dept. of Culture and he has been selected by ‘Indian Council’ for Cultural Relation for their panel of Musician. He has been associated with ‘All India Radio’ as a graded artist since 1990. He has been selected by ‘Sahitya Kala Parishad – New Delhi’ to perform in Yuva-Mahotsova’98.he dedicated himself to extend and create an environment of Classical Music in rural areas of India and in abroad with leading organizations and eminent dancers. Apart from this, he has been associated with media & various cultural organizations as a sitarist and& cultural coordinator. At present working with G.D. Goenka World School, Sohna.

 Rekha encourages all art forms and as a responsible youngster she imparts knowledge of different arts forms to students. In this context she organises a cultural event every month at her dance studio which acts as an eye- opener into the world of arts.      

 As a young exponent of dance Rekha has a lot of achievements to her credits, like a doctoral degree, many awards and recognitions representing Mohiniattam at various universities inside and outside India.         

 She is the sole member of the expert committee panel for mohiniattam at the "Cultural Ministry Govt of India" ., an empaneled artist of the ICCR and an " A" graded artist at the Doordarshan.         

A renowned Mridangam Artist who has shared stages with the doyens of Indian Classical Music and has collaborated with World musicians.

Raghavan received his initial mridangam tutelage from the Late Sri Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer, and went ahead with his advanced training from Maestro Sri Patri Satish Kumar, in Chennai, India. Having started his musical journey at the age of six, he has performed more than 1600 concerts both as a distinguished soloist as well as a collaborator in diverse genres of music and dance ensembles. His prodigious talent with deep rooted knowledge of Indian Classical music along with cross-genre musical collaborations has enabled Raghavan in expanding and carrying traditional music into a new realm.

  Aarthi is currently under the acclaimed tutelage of Smt. Dr. Gayathri Girish and Sri N R Prashanth and has also previously been trained under senior vidwans Smt. Padma Chandilyan, Smt. Gowri Gokul, Dr. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam, Smt. Suguna Varadachari, Sri A.S. Murali and Sri Chitravina Ravikiran

Aarthi had also been selected to perform for the esteemed Kalaa Utsavam Festival  at the Esplanade in Singapore, under the mentorship of Sangita Kalanidhi Padmashri Smt. Bombay Jayashri. She has been a regular face in the December Margazhi Music Season in Chennai, where she gives numerous concerts every year in esteemed sabhas such as Music Academy, Brahma Gana Sabha, Bharat Kalachar, VDS Academy and Nada Sudha. Her involvement in Carnatic Music is further motivated by her equally long-standing training in Bharatanatyam under Dr. Swarnamalya Ganesh in the Vazhuvur Bani, which has driven her to further her musicality by learning the Veenai under Sri. Veenai Parthasarathy and Sri Mudikondan Ramesh.