The Rotary Club of Wahroonga invites you to an Evening of Classical Indian Dance and Jazz on Saturday 23 November from 5:15 pm in the Peter Duly Auditorium at Abbotsleigh School, Wahroonga.
This event, featuring Suhasini Sumithra and Hugh Barrett, is raising funds for a training program for people with disability, women and caregivers at Cheshire Homes in Coorg (South India) to work in plastic waste management.
Bookings are now open - www.trybooking.com/557134
Suhasini Sumithra started her training in the classical Indian dance style of Bharatanatyam at the age of four in Buffalo, New York. In her early teens, she spent a summer learning another style of classical Indian dance called Kuchipudi at the Kuchipudi Art Academy in Chennai and fell in love with the dance style.
She continued her studies in both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi under the tutelage of Dr Tejaswini Rao in Buffalo, but completed her Rangapravesam (or debut solo performance) in the Kuchipudi dance style at the age of 16. Suhasini has since had the privilege to study Kuchipudi under Dr Sobha Naidu in Hyderabad and Shri Raghavan Nair in Sydney.
While living in Canberra, she began studying Kuchipudi with Smt Vanaja Dasika, niece of the legendary Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam who founded the Kuchipudi Art Academy where Suhasini's passion for Kuchipudi first began. Suhasini currently lives in Sydney but continues to study and perform Kuchipudi with Smt Dasika.
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Hugh Barrett studied jazz piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Paul McNamara, Judy Bailey, and Mike Nock, graduating in 2006 with a Bachelor of Music with first class honours.
He was a James Morrison Jazz Scholarship finalist in 2003 and 2004 and an Australian National Jazz Awards semi-finalist in 2006 and 2013. Hugh has been a member of the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra since 2006, providing him with opportunities to perform with acclaimed international artists such as Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Bob Shepherd, Alex Sipiagin, Florian Ross, Charles Tolliver, and Bert Joris.
Hugh has also performed in smaller ensembles with American drummer John Riley and Australian jazz icons such as Dale Barlow, Bernie McGann, and Dave Panichi, and at many of Australia’s best jazz festivals, including the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
A versatile musician, Hugh also recorded and toured nationally and internationally as part of popular group The Beautiful Girls from 2009 to 2012.