When one pictures the Boston/Cambridge area, one is likely to imagine students and professors engaging in academic discussion about engineering or business at MIT and Harvard. But how about a topic such as say, the music of India? Could Boston host a multi-day conference that puts the spotlight on ancient musical traditions of India through world class performances and stimulating lecture demonstrations?
 
For the past seven years, LearnQuest Academy of Music whose mission is to connect people through music has been hosting annual music conferences featuring the classical music of India. While vocal and instrumental performances and lecture demonstrations have formed the core of the conferences, documentary films on Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and classical dance  performance have also been part of the fare in the past few years.

This year the 8th music conference takes place between March 25 and March 31 with events at MIT's Wong auditorium (March 27, 28 evenings), Berklee College of Music (March 25 evening), Regis College in Weston (March 29 evening, all day on March 30 and 31) and culminating with a grand finale performance by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma on Santoor and Ustad Zakir Hussain on Tabla, a concert organized by World Music of Cambridge, MA, but a part of the LearnQuest Music Conference 2013.  Other instrumentalists include the well-known sitarist Ustad Shahid Parvez, the Carnatic flutist V. K. Raman, the Hindustani violinist Praveen Sheolikar and the Carnatic violinist Purnaprajna Bangere. Also included is a tala-vadya instrumental ensemble lead by Sri T. H. Subash Chandran.
 
Among vocalists, the conference will feature the legendary Carnatic vocalist Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, young Carnatic vocalists Malladi brothers and Priya sisters, and Hindustani vocalists Arati Ankalikar, Uday Bhawalkar and Anand Bhate. Lecture demonstrations on Dhrupad, Khayal and Thumri forms of music will put the spotlight on local artists such as Warren Senders.
 
Savoring Indian meals and browsing through books and CDs for sale between back to back concerts, conference attendees have compared the experience to sampling a grand tray of delectable musical desserts. Visitors from as far as California, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and from neighboring states New York and New Jersey have made annual music pilgrimages to enjoy the LearnQuest Conference  over the past seven years. It is not the least bit surprising considering that LearnQuest's annual music conference brings together top-notch musicians from India and United States in elegant auditoriums that transform meeting spaces into a Mecca of music for a whole week! 

The grand finale concert on March 31 by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma accompanied by Ustad Zakir Hussain will be held at the beautiful Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. Ticket prices for this special concert are included in attractively priced season tickets.  Early bird discounts end on March 1. Join the musical celebration to nourish your soul. For detailed information about program schedule, early bird discounts and tickets, please visit: http://learnquest.org/conference2013/.

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