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Annual Fundraiser Executive Team
The current YSTCA Annual Fundraiser executive team (Sathya Ganesan, Rajeev Devanath, Lalit Kovvuri, Manasa Praveen, Dvita Vivek, Anirudh Suresh, and Prayag Barath), are all high schoolers who share a common passion for the Indian Classical Arts; each member is trained in multiple aspects. The team hopes to support deserving local organizations through their events.
ANIRUDH SURESH
DVITA VIVEK
LALIT KOVVURI
MANASA PRAVEEN
Anirudh is a sophomore at Milpitas High School and has been learning mridangam for the past 10 years from Sri. Ravindra Bharathy Sridharan. He has also been learning vocal music for the past 6 years and currently learns from Sri. TN Arunagiri. In May 2024, he had his mridangam arangetram accompanying Sri. Bharat Sundar. He has played in the December Margazhi season in various sabhas and is a regular accompanist in the Bay Area and has supported various concerts organized by many different schools. He has also won prizes in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival and many more. Anirudh enjoys listening to music, and playing sports in his free time.
Dvita Vivek is a sophomore at Irvington High School. She is a disciple of Sri. Hari Devanath of Sri Paduka Academy and has been learning vocal carnatic music for the past 8 years. Dvita has performed for various Bay Area organizations, such as CCC, LOTUS, Rasamanjari, etc, and has won prizes at competitions such as Saptami and the Papanasam Sivan competition. Dvita is also part of her school choir and plays competitive badminton.
Lalit Narayan Kovvuri is a sophomore at Archbishop Mitty High School. He has been learning mridangam for the past 10 years and is currently under the tutelage of Vidwan Sri. S. V. Ramani. Lalit has performed across the US and during the December Margazhi Season in many sabhas like Narada Gana Sabha, VVS Foundation, and Hamsadhwani in Chennai. He has also won several awards nationally and internationally in various mridangam competitions including the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival. Apart from mridangam, Lalit is also pursuing Carnatic vocal and violin under the tutelage of Vid Smt. Anuradha Sridhar. In his free time, he loves doing math and is a math coach at his old middle school.
Manasa is a freshman at American High School in Fremont. She has been learning carnatic vocal from Smt. Kalyani Ramani for over 8 years. She has won several prizes in International Competitions like India Octaves, Kalotsava/Veenadhari Institute, Shravya Season 5, and participated in the Anandam Fundraiser, Lotus Thyagaraja Aradhana, Bay Area Kalaa Utsavam, etc. Manasa loves to read, write, volunteer at CCC, play competitive badminton, and attend Model UN conferences.
Prayag Barath is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School, Mountain View. He has been learning carnatic vocal music from Guru Sri Hari Devanath for the past 9 years and has performed in established platforms like Carnatic Chamber Concerts, LOTUS, and Paduka Chamber Concerts. Prayag has also participated and won awards in competitions including Papanasam Sivan Festival, and Saptami. Prayag has been learning mridangam from Vidwan Sri Chennai Thyagarajan for the past 8 years and performs regularly in bay area events.
PRAYAG BARATH
RAJEEV DEVANATH
Rajeev Devanath is a junior at University Preparatory Academy, San Jose. He has been learning Carnatic Vocal Music from his father, Sri Hari Devanath for 14 years. Rajeev has also been learning mridangam for 5 years from Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, and for 8 years from Sri Chennai Thyagarajan and has won several awards in both vocal and mridangam competitions such as the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and Saptami. Rajeev also completed his mridangam arangetram in 2018. Rajeev also enjoys doing robotics and playing basketball with his friends in his free time.
SATHYA GANESAN
Sathya Ganesan, started to learn Ghatam at the age of 5 from the Late Shri T H Subash Chandran and has been under the tutelage of Shri N Guruprasad since 2019. Sathya is the disciple of Acharya Pitamaha Shri Chitravina Narasimhan, Sangeet Samrat Shri Chitravina N Ravikiran and Vidushi Bhargavi Balasubramanian for Vocal. He has been blessed to accompany many senior vidhwans including the Mysore Brothers, Kanyakumari Amma, Carnatica brothers, and his guru Shri Chitravina Ravikiran. He is interested in the STEM field and presides over the leadership of 2 school clubs. He loves teaching and likes to listen to music in his free time.
Senior Center Executive Team
The current YSTCA Senior Center executive team (Pranaya Rishi, Sathya Ganesan, Nitika Pande, and Vibha Raghavendran), are all high schoolers who share a common passion for the Indian Classical Arts; each member is trained in multiple aspects. The senior center team hopes to support local senior centers by spreading the joy of classical music to seniors in the community.
Sathya Ganesan, started to learn Ghatam at the age of 5 from the Late Shri T H Subash Chandran and has been under the tutelage of Shri N Guruprasad since 2019. Sathya is the disciple of Acharya Pitamaha Shri Chitravina Narasimhan, Sangeet Samrat Shri Chitravina N Ravikiran and Vidushi Bhargavi Balasubramanian for Vocal. He has been blessed to accompany many senior vidhwans including the Mysore Brothers, Kanyakumari Amma, Carnatica brothers, and his guru Shri Chitravina Ravikiran. He is interested in the STEM field and presides over the leadership of 2 school clubs. He loves teaching and likes to listen to music in his free time.
SATHYA GANESAN
Nitika Pande is a Freshmen in Wilcox high school. She commenced her musical training under the tutelage of Guru Smt. Vasudha Ravi since she was 4 years old . She learns Violin from Shri Arvind Lakshmikanthan. She also plays Carnatic keyboard. She has won awards for her musical renditions in various competitions within US and in India .She loves to listen to music of all genres . She is trained in classical dance and enjoys the same. She’s passionate about mainly helping the seniors and engaging with the community.
NITIKA PANDE
Vibha Raghvendran, a rising junior at Monta Vista High School, is a disciple of Vidushi Smt. Vasudha Ravi and began her musical journey under the guidance of Guru Sri Shivkumar Bhat. She has been learning vocal Carnatic music for the past 12 years. She has performed in well-known forums such as Carnatic Chamber Concerts, LOTUS, and SRFA. She has also participated and won awards in competitions such as Papanasam Sivan, OSAAT, and Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. Vibha is a part of her school’s Science Olympiad team and enjoys reading and playing badminton. She is passionate about bringing joy to the elderly through Indian classical art forms, and will be co-leading the effort related to outreach events at various senior centers.
VIBHA RAGHAVENDRAN
Pranaya Rishi is a junior at Irvington High School in Fremont. She has been learning Carnatic Vocal for the past 10 years from Sri. Hari Devanath. She has also been learning Veena for the last 5 years from Sri. Srikanth Chary. Pranaya is a part of her school’s Science Olympiad team and enjoys reading. Pranaya was co-leading the effort related to the day-long fundraiser event last year and will be co-leading the effort related to the senior center outreach this year.
PRANAYA RISHI
OUR MENTOR
SMT. PADMA MOHAN
Smt. Padma Mohan, an IT professional-turned-art promoter, has been fostering Indian Classical art forms, especially Carnatic music in the Bay Area, since 2005. Padma has served in the cultural committees at Livermore temple, Fremont Hindu Temple, Carnatic Music Idol core team and has organized and hosted many concerts by budding and senior musicians. She founded Carnatic Chamber Concerts (CCC) in January 2009 which has become the pioneer platform for budding artists in the bay area with over 450+ music learning children currently enrolled and many on the waitlist. Under Padma's leadership, CCC, a registered nonprofit organization, has grown exponentially over the years and has enriched the musical growth of students learning music. Padma has been the adviser/mentor for the youth group Youth Services Through Cultural Arts (YSTCA) since its inception and under her mentorship, YSTCA has raised over $198,000 since 2012 for various local nonprofit organizations in the bay area.
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