GOVERNANCE
|
Akhil Jobanputra | PresidentBorn and raised in Vancouver, Akhil Jobanputra started his journey in the Indian classical vocal form known as khayāl at the age of three. He is currently under the tutelage of Gurus Dr. Pandit Arun Dravid and Pandit Arijit Mahalanabis. Akhil also receives guidance from Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar. As a performer, Akhil has been featured in various venues and events across Canada, the United States, India, and the United Kingdom. As an educator, Akhil has taught a number of students to enrich Vancouver’s South Asian traditional arts and culture ecosystem. He was recently featured in the Canadian South Asian Youth Conference, and his paper “My Identity, My Music” was published by Simon Fraser University Library. At the age of twelve, Akhil founded the Indian Classical Music Society of Vancouver (ICMSV) with the goal of bringing communities together and promoting various local events. Since then, he has curated a series of initiatives and events geared at increasing awareness, accessibility, and education around Indian classical music. Akhil is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography, and worked for two years at the UBC Centre for India and South Asia Research.
|
|
Avinash Maniram | Vice-President, SecretaryAvinash has been on the ICMSV Board since January 2019 and is currently serving as Vice-President and Secretary. He currently chairs the Funding and Governance Committee. Professionally, Avinash is an actuarial consultant specializing in group benefits. For over 20 years, he has worked with boards of trustees in the management of benefit programs covering unionized members throughout a variety of industrial sectors. He is also an avid musician and fan of Indian classical music with formal classical training in tabla. His passion for music spans several genres and he has performed throughout Canada as a percussionist, guitarist and keyboard player with a number of bands and ensembles. In addition to classical music, his current field of interest lies devotional music and in the Bhojpuri folk music traditions of the Caribbean. Within ICMSV, Avinash works closely with Akhil on the technical aspects of event programming and on ensuring that the quality of ICMSV events matches the calibre and skill of the artists that are showcased.
|
|
Alka Tandan | TreasurerAlka joined the ICMSV Board in January 2019. She has transitioned from Director-at-Large to Treasurer, and co-chairs the Marketing Committee. Outside of ICMSV, Alka is a seasoned customer experience and customer insight professional, working with a range of clients from start-ups to F100 brand. Drawing on an eclectic range of analytic techniques and business models, she has helped companies harness customer focused approaches and technologies to drive usage, growth, retention, and revenue. Alka first became involved with ICMSV to improve her record of attendance at events. She became more engaged as she discovered the mix of musical expression and education, in order to broaden the audience for these classical forms.
|
|
Shania Shankar | Director-at-LargeShania is a third-year integrated sciences student studying Behavioural Neuroscience and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. She enjoys volunteering with Alzheimer’s patients, trying to enhance their quality of life through the creative arts such as music — which has been a passion since childhood. As an avid performer of Carnatic music, she began her training in Indian classical singing at the tender age of three. Having completed her arangetram in 2016, Shania continues training under the tutelage of her guru to give rise to a professional music career. Though she regards Carnatic music as the roots of her vocal career, Shania has also been a longstanding member of various choral ensembles throughout her life, including the Vancouver Children’s Choir and BC Music Educators’ Association Honour Choir. Shania’s ambition is to create meaningful change through the intersection of music and health. She believes the Indian Classical Music Society of Vancouver has been very successful in uniting community members through a shared appreciation for the meditative effects of the Indian classical performing arts. Through her role as Director-at-Large, she looks forward to implementing more Carnatic music events in the Lower Mainland while simultaneously developing her own knowledge of the various Indian classical art forms.
|