The San Diego chapter of the Association for India’s Development (AID) is holding a concert with L. Subramaniam, the celebrated master violinist and composer. “We were lucky in finalizing the dates with him,” says AID event coordinator Ramgopal Thiruvengadam.
Founded in 1991, AID is a nonprofit volunteer organization that promotes developmental work in India and supports various projects in the areas of health, social justice, women’s rights, and protecting the environment, among others. Some of their projects include providing education to the children of life prisoners and leprosy patients, broadening the education of students with special needs, and planting orchards in forest land to provide a living for villagers in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. The organization has 36 chapters nationally and six in India, with approximately 100 ongoing projects.
With this concert fundraiser called “Resonance,” the organization hopes to raise enough money to sustain those projects and possibly take on more. “Almost all the money raised goes to supporting projects at the grassroots level in India,” says Thiruvengadam, citing that AID has “very little operational costs.”
Subramaniam, a Grammy-nominated artist, will perform with a three-member percussion ensemble. This is AID’s first concert in two years, and the volunteers are thrilled. They are hoping that Subramanaim’s high profile and impressive body of work will draw a sold-out crowd. “We know that his name is enough to bring in all the music lovers of San Diego and Southern California to the concert. It is worth every dollar spent.”
Subramaniam composed the music scores for the films Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala, and was the featured violinist in Little Buddha, Kama Sutra, and Cotton Mary. The violinist has received such honors as the highest government award in India, the Padma Bhushan, and honorary doctorates from the University of Madras, Bangalore University, and the University of Sheffield. Subramaniam also holds a medical degree from Madras Medical College.
Though putting on such events in an all-volunteer organization can be tedious, Thiruvengadam says this one is different. “Fundraising events like these also injects energy into the group and makes the volunteers work that extra bit harder. He is known as ‘The God of Indian Violin,’ and people don’t get titles like that without good reason.”
While the event organizer wants concertgoers to enjoy the music, Thiruvengadam says there is much more to the concert. “We try to raise funds to support as many projects in India as possible, in as many states as possible and covering as many social issues as possible. There are just too many people who are not privileged enough to have a square meal a day.”
Friday, Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m. Poway Center for the Performing Arts, 15498 Espola Road, Poway. $20, $30, $50, $100 advance ($5 fee for tickets bought at the door). (513) 238-8479. aidsandiego@gmail.com. sandiego.aidindia.org/resonance.