Featured will be Minnesota Carnatic music artist Nirmaia Rajasekar

By Valory Schoenecker/Murphy News Service

The American Composers Forum will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Thursday, May 14, with a multi-faceted composers’ “night out.”

The national organization, headquartered in St. Paul, focuses on enriching the lives of music composers by providing them the resources to create, perform and share their musical talents. With more than 2,000 members, the organization presents a wide swath of music genres including jazz, opera, orchestral, chamber, electronic, acoustic, world and sound music.

One of the ACF’s world renowned performers is Nirmala Rajasekar, a Plymouth resident who travels internationally showcasing her love for South Indian Classical music. Rajasekar is known for teaching and performing “Carnatic” music vocally and on her veena, a stringed instrument dating back to ancient India.

Rajasekar was about 6 when she started formal training of South Indian Classical, or Carnatic, music in her hometown Chennai, the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Neither of her parents were musicians, but they were lovers of music and surrounded their daughter with a musical environment in which the arts were important.

“When I was a little girl, I used to just climb on top of any surface that looked like a stage and pretend that whatever was around was a microphone and kept singing,” Rajasekar said.

She said it was always her dream to sing. By the time she was 13, her formal debut concert in Bangalore, India launched her musical career. It has now been 35 years since Rajasekar’s first concert.

She has performed at United Nations and Carnegie Hall, New York City; the Ted Mann Concert Hall, Walker Arts Center, BBC, London, Kongresshaus, Zurich,

Musee Rietberg, Zurich, the Bali, Indonesia; Music Academy, Chennai, India, Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, India, Chembur Fine Arts, Mumbai, India, Bangalore Gayana Samaja, India and the Ravindra Kalakshethra, Bangalore, India.

“It has become my one passion and I’m lucky that it’s also my profession,” she said.

Rajasekar said she never expected to leave India when she began her musical career, but after she married her husband, Raj Rajasekar, her journey took her to England and then the United States. She quickly realized it was her mission to share her Carnatic talent with the rest of the world.

“I’m very fortunate, you know. But I guess that’s always been the model of my life. Just go as it flows and somebody takes care of you always,” Rajasekar said.

Rajasekar has her master’s in computer science from a college in India and worked in information technology for many years, while pursuing music on the side. But about 12 years ago, she decided to take a leap and quit her job to pursue her musical passion full time.

“It is a lot of traveling that this profession brings and to have the time to practice and be on top of your game as much as you can, it really needs more than 24 hours,” she said.

Not only was working two jobs difficult for Rajasekar to balance, but she also has two children.

Neeraj Rajasekar, her oldest child, is currently studying sociology at the University of Minnesota, He hopes to get his Ph.D. Neeraj is a classical violinist and guitarist and currently dabbles in rap and hip hop.

Her youngest child, Shruthi Rajasekar, is a freshman at Princeton University in New Jersey and plans to focus her studies on music. Shruthi is also a member of the American Composers Forum, bringing her soprano vocal abilities among talented musicians like her mom.

“Performing is like an examination every time you go on stage. You have a good feeling about it, yes, but it’s also, in some ways, you’re pushing yourself to a limit, particularly when you’re doing something new,” Rajasekar said.

On Saturday, Rajasekar had the opportunity to perform one of her compositions at the SV Temple in Edina where there was a two-day festival for South Indian music. She said this was a unique collaboration between some of her close friends who are also internationally recognized for their musical talents. The performance included 20 musicians, many of whom were her students.

“This music gives itself to be able to create those bridges, which is what my life is all about; creating bridges, building bridges through music and making connections and extending the hand of friendship. So for me this concept is kind of like coming home, because I make all my music with the help of friends,” Rajasekar said.

In honor of the American Composers Forum’s 40th anniversary, members are encouraged to celebrate on May 14. For members who live in the Twin Cities, the organization is hosting a “national composers night out” that evening at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. The event will showcase performances, food and will have musicians in attendance.

“Minnesota is such a great place for the arts,” Rajasekar said. “After traveling to so many countries around the world, traveling around in the states, I just realized how lucky I am to be in this state where we have so much going for us.”

Rajasekar’s daughter, Shruthi, plans to perform for her friends at a New Jersey coffee shop on May 14 to honor the organization and her positive experience as a member.

The American Composers Forum is putting together a compilation of its member’s compositions in a piece titled “Chained Melody” that will premiere on May 14. When Shruthi was home for spring break, she and her mom created their own soundbite called “Something for Everyone” that they sent to the organization to be included in this celebratory musical collaboration.

The song can be found on the American Composer’s Forum’s SoundCloud site on or after May 14.

Rajasekar has been a member of the American Composers for about 17 years. Rajasekar has produced two full-length albums with the American Composers Forum’s recording label, Innova Recordings, and has performed many concerts on its behalf.

Rajasekar reflected on how blessed she is to be able to do what she loves each and every day. From teaching more than 70 students, internationally via Skype or in person at the Naadha Rasa Center for Music to traveling to some of the world’s most influential cities, Rajasekar gives 100 percent of her time to educating others about the music she holds dear to her heart.

“My faith and my love for music, my crazy passion for it, I think has brought me just, I can’t even tell you how much it’s brought me, it’s just an amazing thing,” Rajasekar said.

Rajasekar founded the Naadha Rasa Center for Music which recently marked her 25-year anniversary of teaching. Rajasekar said Naadha Rasa means essence of pure tone. The school has guest presenters, educators and teachers visit from India and around the world to share their wisdom and experiences with the student community.

Rajasekar was given the 2008 Achievement award by the India Association of Minnesota, an honor given to one Minnesotan each year.

“Composers; I think that there’s one in every one of us,” Rajasekar said. “Every one of us is a composer, whatever genre we write in, whatever we express ourselves in. So everyone can be a composer. That’s what draws me to it, it’s the fact that it’s so accessible to everybody.”

Reporter Valory Schoenecker is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.