:: 2006 & 2007

The 2006 and 2007 seasons were important milestones for CCMA. With an expanded committee and a number of new membership options we conducted a strong membership drive. Committee members have worked tirelessly to canvas new members. Diversity in program offerings included Bharathanatyam, more instrumental programs as well as workshops and interactive events for members and children. We have seen a marked increase in attendance at concerts. It has been heartening to see the number of people who have stepped up to become Benefactors and Donors and extended their financial support of CCMA to the next level. We now have sponsors for at least half our programs.

With the help of donors and sponsors and we have been able to upgrade microphones and audio cables and added a second feedback monitor. The new equipment has made a huge difference to the sound quality. Raja Kountanya should get most of the credit for his research and recommendations on what equipment to buy. Our next objective is to upgrade the speakers in the coming year or two.

The new codes of conduct regarding loitering, food and drink, and supervision in the lobby have taken hold. The ambience has improved. There are fewer disturbances and the concert experience is much better. These measures have also helped the children who want to sit and listen to the concerts without being disturbed. At every program it is heartening to see we have dozen or so youngsters who set the tone for concert etiquette. The new CCMA website continues to attract visitors and registrants. The website has become one of the leading sources of new members. Frequent updates, an exclusive from Sruti magazine for monthly content & pertinent articles, sound clips from Worldspace radio and links to concert reviews are all reasons to visit the website. If you are reading this, we are sure you will agree that this is one of the top sites for its genre in North America today. Many thanks to CloserLook Search Services Inc. For their generous support and excellent website work. Kudos to our committee members who have each taken up the tasks of arranging hospitality, publicity, soliciting sponsors, keeping accounts, and sharing in all the set up and cleanup it takes to organize every program. It is wonderful to work with a team of talented and dedicated individuals who give of themselves despite busy lives and place the needs of the organization first.

All this said, it is still difficult to canvas support for Carnatic Music and Bharathanatyam. Expanding support beyond the committed core of rasikas proves difficult. The average cost of admission still lags behind a movie ticket and fast food. We would like to see every family with a child who is learning music or dance become members. We would like to be able to pay artists better. CCMA would like to remain a member driven organization and we would like to have most of the revenue come from membership rather than donations. If you enjoy these performing arts and want to see them continue to be staged in Central Ohio; if you want your children to have the opportunity to hear and to meet leading artists of the Carnatic world; if you would like to see these arts flourish and enrich our lives; be a member of CCMA and work with us to further these goals. Enjoy the programs and experience the joy we share as we succeed in these efforts.

Shankar Ramachandran
President

:: 2005

We have successfully completed the fifth year of activities in CCMA. We arranged nine quality programs this year. We also participated in the Arts festival of the City of Upper Arlington. Our thanks are due to all our members and patrons, to the families who hosted the artists during the year, to Nat Rammohan, Dr. Sudhir Sehgal, Dr. ManmohanKatapadi and Dr. Prabhakar Modur for financial support, Jayashree and Ishwar for arranging the Hall and the volunteers who helped in making the arrangements before and after the concerts.

Our website has gone through couple transitions; first from Karthik to Prakash Parasuram and then to CloserLook Complete Website Solutions, thanks to the help of Shankar Ramachandran and Sumithra Jagannath.

For next year we have a number of new members elected to the committee. Please welcome, Jayanthi Prakash, Smitha Magal, Jayanthy Srinath, Raja Koutanya, Kishore Sarathy and Shankar Ramachandran. Please join me in welcoming them. Together, we plan to bring you an outstanding 2006 season. Our 2006 line up is going to be strong and will include Ranjani-Gayathri, S Sowmya, and others. On January 7th we have a special Thiruppavai Program. Encourage your friends to become members and help us continue to grow and improve our programs.

As the President I express my sincere thanks for the continued support and cooperation I have received from the members of the Executive Committee.

Ram Chandrasekar
President

:: 2004

On November 20, 2004 the General Body Meeting of the Association was held. The Secretary of the Association read out the report from Nat Rammohan on the election of office bearers. Two nominations were received – those of Anu Hariharan and Ram Chandrasekar and both of them were declared elected unopposed.

The treasurer’s report indicated an income of $ 9071 and an expenditure of $8358. The closing balance was $1025.

The President then presented the following report.

We have successfully completed the fourth year of activities. We arranged the following eight programs. We also contributed to the Arts festival of the Upper Arlington City.

Our thanks are due to all our members and patrons, to the families who hosted the artists during the year, to Nat Rammohan, Elegance of India, Dr. Sudhir Sehgal, Dr. Manmohan Katapadi, Dr. Lakshmi Seshadri for financial support and the volunteers who helped in making the arrangements before and after the concerts.

As the President I express my sincere thanks for the continued support and cooperation I have received from the members of the Executive Committee.

Ram Chandrasekar
President

:: Programs in 2004

:: Historical - 2003

Report on the Annual General Body Meeting:

The Annual General Body meeting of the CCMA was held on Saturday November 16, 2002 at the Riley Auditorium, 178 West Park Street, Westerville, OH.

The Election Return Officer, Nat Rammohan presented the results of the election for the Executive Committee. There were two nominations received for the two vacancies, those of S.Thiagaraja Rao and Shankaran Krishnaswamy. They both were declared elected unapposed for the three year term beginning Jan 2003.

The Treasurer then presented the final accounts for the fiscal year 2001.After this the President presented the Annual Report.

We have successfully completed the third year of activities. We arranged the following nine concerts. We also arranged a one-day work-shop in Carnatic music conducted by Geetha Bennett. Three neighboring Universities supported this program. These would not have been possible without you sustained support and the enthusiasm and help of many volunteers. Our thanks are due to all our members and patrons, to Shri Aswath who got our brochures printed at no cost, to the families who hosted the artists during the year, to Nat Rammohan, Elegance of India, Dr. Jawahar Pala, Dr. Sudhir Sehgal, Dr. Manmohan Katapadi, Dr. Lakshmi Seshadri for financial support and the volunteers who helped in making the arrangements before and after the concerts. As the President I express my sincere thanks for the continued support and cooperation I have received from the members of the Executive Committee.

Ram Chandrasekar
President

:: Events Conducted in 2003

:: Historical - 2002

Report on the Annual General Body Meeting:

The Annual General Body meeting of the CCMA was held on Saturday November 16, 2002 at the Riley Auditorium, 178 West Park Street, Westerville, OH.

The Election Return Officer, Nat Rammohan presented the results of the election for the Executive Committee. There were two nominations received for the two vacancies, those of S.Thiagaraja Rao and Shankaran Krishnaswamy. They both were declared elected unapposed for the three year term beginning Jan 2003.

The Treasurer then presented the final accounts for the fiscal year 2001.After this the President presented the Annual Report.

Annual Report:

CCMA, during its second annual season, conducted eight concerts by artists visiting from India. The spring season started off with a concert by Raji Gopalakrishnan (vocal), followed by Ramani (flute), Unni Krishnan (vocal), Omanakutty Nair (vocal) and Balakrishna (veena). The fall season had three programs: T.M.Krishna (vocal), Sowmya (vocal) and Rama Ravi (vocal).

During 2002, we had a total of 52 family members, 17 individual members, 6 senior members and 5 student members. We continued our professional cooperation with CMAO (Dayton) by providing discounts for their members at our concerts and receiving such discounts for CCMA members at their concerts. We also purchased the audio system. We are now in the process of filing a petition with the IRS for a non-profit organization status for CCMA.

All these would not have been possible without your sustained support and the enthusiastic help from many volunteers. Our thanks are due to all our members and patrons, to Sri Aswath for printing our brochures gratis, to the families who hosted the artists during the year and to many volunteers who participated in making the arrangements before and after the concerts. We thank Sri Nat Rammohan, Sri Gopi Santhanam and Sri Suresh Pillai for financial support to purchase the audio equipment.

We are planning another exciting music season for CCMA in 2003 which may include artists like Shashank (flute), Jayanthi Kumaresh (veena), Ganesh-Kumaresh (violin duet), Sudha Raghunathan (vocal), M.S.Sheela (vocal), Aruna Sairam (vocal), Nityashree (vocal). It will be of considerable help in our planning if you can commit your continued membership for 2003 by paying the membership dues as early as possible. This will also help us in raising the fees needed for petitioning the IRS to obtain a non-profit status for CCMA.

I express my sincere thanks for the continued support and cooperation I have received from the members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee solicits your opinions as to how we can serve you better.

Ram Chandrasekar
President