Today we’d like to introduce you to Ravi Arora and Pradeep Shukla.
LearnQuest Academy started over 20 years ago as an after-school education program. Upon realizing strong need from the community for music education, the academy changed its focus and name to LearnQuest Academy of Music and started offering lessons in Indian classical music. Today, the Academy has over 150 students and offers lessons in vocal and Indian instruments including Sitar, Sarod, Tabla, and Flute. It also offers lessons in western Piano and Guitar.
Since 2006, LearnQuest also hosts an Annual Music Conference which includes workshops, lecture demonstrations and 3-day festival of Indian Classical Music. The Conference is held the week leading to Easter weekend. Some events leading up to the Conference are organized with some prominent local organizations, such as World Music, Berklee School of Music and MITHAS of MIT. In the past we have also collaborated with New England Conservatory, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Boston University. Over the last 12 years, the Conference has grown to become one of the largest music festivals of its kind outside India.
Finally, LearnQuest also offers North Indian classical music concerts in a traditional “Baithak” style. In this format, concerts are conducted in an intimate setting where the artists and audience interact and inspire each other. LearnQuest has conducted over 50 Baithak vocal and instrumental concerts since 2010. The Academy operates as a non-profit educational institution.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
LearnQuest offers classes in Waltham, Andorver and Acton. Some students drive for over an hour to come to classes. We continue to seek other venues for classes, but the challenge has been to find space at reasonable costs.
As a volunteer-run organization, the Academy is always looking for more dedicated community members for support.
An organization like ours is difficult to run without financial backing. While we are fortunate to have some support, we are always looking for more to sustain and grow.
Please tell us about LearnQuest Academy of Music.
We are a non-profit music institution that seeks to connect people through music. While our focus is primarily on Indian classical music, we also offer western music lessons. We now operate at three centers in the Boston area – Waltham, Acton and Andover, and offer lessons over VoIP as well. The Annual Music Conference is now recognized as a significant event among top Indian classical musicians and attendees.
We are most proud that we could get here through the dedicated work of some key individuals, volunteers and financial support from the community. While most of our students are young children, a growing part of our enrollment are now adults and empty-nesters, often without prior music training. They find the mix of music education along with the meditative aspect of Indian classical music to be very beneficial. While this was not planned specifically, we are gratified to be able to provide this growing niche of students.
Over the years, we have tried to create some unique music programs. Today, our Sitar program is guided by Shahid Parvez, Tabla program by Anindo Chatterjee, and Sarod program by Buddhadev Dasgupta, who just passed away last month. We also offer an annual 3-day intensive workshop in Dhrupad, an ancient style of India classical music by renowned vocalists, the Gundecha Brothers. All these artists are internationally-recognized stalwarts and maestros in their respective disciplines. We are very fortunate to have this support.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
The initial classes that LearnQuest offered in its after-school program included math, science and music. We decided to focus on the music aspect. Looking back, we feel that we should not have dropped math and science and should have continued those classes as vital educational needs of the community.
Also, within the music education, we could have been more proactive in developing the western music programs. Our focus on education has limited our ability to create interactions among musicians perusing diverse genres to truly “connect through music”. The organization was late in seeking financial support for the community.
Pricing:
- Reasonable pricing for music classes; $30-$40 per class
- Great value for Annual Conference attendees; Season tickets for $140, and heavy discounts for students
Contact Info:
- Address: LearnQuest Academy of Music
711 Main Street Waltham, MA 02451 - Website: http://www.learnquest.org
- Email: info@learnquest.org; admissions@learnquest.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/learnquest/
Image Credit:
Personal photos: Anish Khanzode, Priti Chakravarty, Ravi Arora & Pradeep Shukla
Photos: LearnQuest student graduation photo.
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