Brains Behind
Jai Ganesh Kumar
Chief Executive Officer
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Jai Kumar holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Arizona Tucson and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California San Diego. He is a resident of San Diego and currently works for Qualcomm in their research and development wing on next-generation hardware for machine learning. Jai is an avid and ardent music lover and hails from a musical background. He has had lessons on Vocal Carnatic music as well as introduced to the Mridhangham since his childhood. He is currently pursuing his advanced training on Mridhangham. His other passion involves sports, STEM, and Robotics. He actively volunteers to teach kids robotics and STEM at local community schools.
He has a strong belief that, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything”. He has a strong penchant in promoting budding talents in the field of Carnatic music through the “gruhasangeetham – house concert” series, a platform that provides a great opportunity for the kids to present their skills, embellish them and learn from their senior cohorts. The peaceful ambiance also helps the audience understand the nuances of this intricate art and appreciate the aesthetics involved.
Establishing a cultural identity and understanding the complex art of classical Indian music needs an intricate enterprise. Through Samaa Arts, we aim to provide a platform that helps not only to promote the latent inherent talent but also bring people from different parts of the world to perform in the US thereby enriching the experience and creating more exposure to this exceptional art form.
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Murari Vadakkencheri
Founder, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Public Relations & Projects
A freelance musician with over three decades of professional performance experience. He is a thinking musician and has strong ties with global music. Murari has held top management position in banking and other corporate sectors before starting his own Arts foundation in India.
Murari with his management and music background aims to put the Indian classical music in the world map with a difference.
Murari, a visionary has successfully launched his new concepts at varied stages across the globe and aims to connect with like minded artistes, entrepreneurs, connoisseurs across the North America and beyond. He will be heading various projects of SaMaa Arts llc from time to time and take care of the operations and public relations portfolio as well.
Banumathi Jai Ganesh
Director - Branding & Marketing
Banu is an Electrical and Electronic engineer currently working as a Senior Software Quality Manager at Intelliguard, a start up company located in Carlsbad, CA. An avid learner, connoisseur, Banu has taken to learning string instruments as her recent hobby and is taking lessons on Guitar and Mandolin for the past few years.
She teaches South Indian Classical music and is an artistic director of NaadhaYogam School of Music based in San Diego, CA. She has participated in various community events as a volunteer and has been part of many outreach activities in the San Diego area conducted by different Organizations. She is also one of the Directors at Ramoo & co Group (EST1944) and Ishwarya Banu Enterprises in Tamilnadu coimbatore (India) taking care of her Father-in laws 72 years old Retail business.
Banu being a high energy person, believes in showcasing the talents of different genres in the right platform and comes up with novel ideas and strategies often. She is determined to make the difference to the way the art is performed and marketed so far and likes to be the change being part of SaMaa Arts.
Advisory Board
Ranjani Varaghur
Ranjani Varaghur is an educator who lives in Hudson, Ohio. She holds Master’s degrees in Environmental Sciences, GIS and in Business Administration. Ranjani is passionate about teaching and is the Center Director at Mathnasium and also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Akron.
In the past, she has also been a lecturer in Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She is a Bharatanatyam (Indian Classical) dancer and teaches the art form in the Greater Cleveland area. She has also taught Chinmaya Balvihar classes to young kids, which involved teaching about Indian heritage through stories and bhajans.
Ranjani firmly believes that art is the medium through which culture can be preserved and nourished. With a combination of Art, Business and Academia, Ranjani enjoys being a part of SaMaa arts which provides a platform to sustain classical art forms and hopes to do the best she can to continue the work of this organization
Harish Ganapathy
Harish Ganapathy is a software engineer at Google Inc., Mountain View where he works on developing large-scale machine learning algorithms for YouTube. Harish holds a Master's degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Harish has trained in Indian Classical Music (Carnatic) for over three decades and has performed across North America and in India. Harish also teaches music in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is based. His other interests include playing in local Squash leagues.
Raghava Krishna
Raghava Krishna, a multifaceted personality comes from a lineage of Composers and Musicians in South India. He is a Carnatic musician who performs Classical music and film music concerts in different parts of the world, apart from various Television and radio shows. He is a multifaceted artist who is also a 3D Animator and a magician.
He currently works for Ubisoft, France and has been a part of various projects produced by studios like Asobo Studio, WB games, AMA Studios, Digital Alchemy and Pixar.
He has also worked as a lecturer in Image College of Arts, Animation and Technology during which affiliated to the University of Wales.
As a magician, he has performed his show 'Prophecy' in many countries and has also been closely associated with SaMaa arts and been a part of various events and operations as well.
Manasa Suresh
Manasa Suresh is a science teacher and Carnatic vocalist by profession. As a Fulbright scholar in Carnatic music with undergraduate and graduate degrees in science and education, Manasa seeks to form meaningful connections between music, science, and education. She is passionate about advocating for and creating opportunities for deserving students and musicians, and is invested in creating safe and supportive learning and performance spaces in the arts.