PERFORMANCE  

Rohan's performance career began at the age of nine, after just a year of training. He has since performed in over 200 concerts all across the USA, Canada, and India with senior musicians in the field like Sangeetha Kalanidhis Flute N. Ramani, R. K. Srikantan, Prof. T.N. Krishnan, and R. Vedavalli, as well as present-day luminaries like Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Flute Shashank, O.S. Thyagarajan, S. Sowmya, T.M. Krishna, etc. He has also taken the Indian music scene by storm, having been specially invited to perform at the Indian music hub-city of Chennai for ten consecutive years during the celebrated December Music Season. His primetime performances at venerated musical institutions like The Music Academy, Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Krishna Gana Sabha, Hamsadhwani, Bharat Kalachar, etc., have earned Rohan the description "percussion prodigy from America."

In December 2003, Rohan performed with Chitravina N. Ravikiran at the oldest Indian classical music festival in the world, the Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, in Jallandhar, Punjab. Their historic performance clocked in as the second Carnatic concert organized by the national festival in its 130-year history.

Rohan's efforts in the has taken the mridangam far beyond the traditional ensemble and ardently explores the rich avenues of cross-musical collaborations. His inventive performances involved Grammy Award-winning musicians like Glen Velez, Viswa Mohan Bhatt, Anoushka Shankar, and Ayano Ninomiya, fusion percussion ensembles with jazz percussionists, noted works with the renowned Nexus jazz group, and a first-of-its-kind symphonic collaboration with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.

Along with concert performances, Rohan has delivered notable academic presentations on Indian classical music and percussion in many a renowned collegiate institutions, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kansas Wesleyan University, Western Michigan University, Hope College, Grand Valley State University, and Kalamazoo College. Rohan is particularly acclaimed for his lecture-demonstrations that combine a lively, interactive element with a scholarly lecture.

Rohan's busy music and academic schedules have not held him back from his passion of community service. He has conducted and organized music outreach events in the Midwest and India since the age of ten in notable institutions like The Banyan, Lakeside Treatment and Learning Center, Kalamazoo Unitarian Church, Indo-American Cultural Center and Temple, Washington Square Retirement Home, Bodhanandha Society Summer Camp, Kalamazoo Juvenile Center, Chicago Thyagaraja Utsavam, and Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana.

 

Rohan's multi-faceted actvities earned him a private meeting and performance for the former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, at the presidential estate and office in New Delhi in July 2007. In his 30 minute meeting, the President asked about his performances, community outreach efforts, and other musical and academic activities and ambitions. Dr. Kalam closely examined and complimented Rohan’s new mridangam design and requested him to present a private performance on his new instrument. The President then presented Rohan with a special souvenir and his autographed book, Indomitable Spirit, as well as signed Rohan’s latest Layopasana albums.

Indeed, Rohan's countless international concert performances, academic lectures, workshops, and community outreach programs have helped propagate awareness and appreciation for Indian classical music in general and South Indian percussion in particular. It comes as no surprise that Rohan is often regarded a "role model" and "source of inspiration" to aspiring young musicians, and is now considered a young celebrity in the Indian music scene.

 

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