Saraswathi Ranganathan & Swaminathan Selvaganesh - Ragas Live Festival 2024

Two of our favorite artists, Saraswathi Ranganathan (veena) & Swaminathan Selvaganesh (kanjira) returned to Ragas Live Festival 2024 for a late night/early morning set of Carnatic music.
It was 5:30 AM set of the 24 hour festival at Pioneer Works on 10.20.24 and Saraswathi led the audience on a journey.  

Saraswathi brings with her a legacy of firsts. She is the first Indian woman and Veena artiste to win a Chicago Music Award in its 35-year history, the first Veena artiste to perform as an orchestra member of Disney’s Jungle Book production and the first Veena artiste to receive a $10,000 grant from the Logan Foundation in Chicago. She attributes her path-carving success to the inclusive energy in her music and in her life. Her goal? Bring artists and listeners together as one community united in music and understanding. – worded by Stephanie Jones, Jazzspeak.org

Saraswathi constantly endeavors for sounds of the Veena to reach a cross cultural global audience. She learned Veena from her mother Shantha Ranganathan and from Karnataka Kalashree EP Alamelu in Bangalore.  She has been performing and teaching for over three decades now.

Saraswathi also has the distinction as being the first Veena artiste whose original multi-lingual song “Ennai Azhaithaen – I embraced me” was commissioned by the Chicago Humanities Fest.

Saraswathi is the first Veena artiste to perform live music for Chicago International Moves & Music Fest with original score for screening of the movie Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances. 

Swaminathan Selvaganesh is a renowned percussionist hailing from a family of world-class musicians. Born into a musical dynasty, he is the grandson of Padma Bhushan recipient T.H. Vikku Vinayakram and the son of Grammy winner V. Selvaganesh, both prominent figures in the world of Indian percussion