What is KalaSudha?

KalaSudha (kalasudha.com) is a family-run, self-funded social enterprise for Indian classical music, founded in 2023 by Rajeev Kumar and Shabd Pyari in Newham, London. A share of every paid activity goes to our artists development fund, which pays for concerts, recordings and the promotion of the art forms. We present concerts in the UK and India, teach live online through structured courses in 22 languages, release recordings, and promote the artists we work with to presenters worldwide.

What KalaSudha does

We present concerts of Indian classical music and dance, and we teach every discipline of that music and dance online. We record and release music with the artists we work with. We also sell instruments through the site.

For each route on the site, with the page where it starts, read What can I do on KalaSudha?

Who runs KalaSudha?

Rajeev Kumar and Shabd Pyari founded KalaSudha in 2023 and run it together from Newham, London. Their two children help at concerts. Rajeev works in software, and that work shapes the tools we build for musicians and learners, such as KalaSudha Composer for writing notation. The About KalaSudha page tells the story.

Concerts and the baithak

Our concerts follow the baithak, a word that means sitting. Musicians and listeners sit close and give the music time to unfold, so you hear the detail of each phrase.

London Ragas is KalaSudha's concert series in London, and Kala Festival is a touring festival. In India we run a theme-based series, one theme at a time in every active city.

The events page lists every concert on sale. It keeps our past events too. Each event page holds the details of that concert, and you book there.

Learning with KalaSudha

The KalaSudha Academy teaches every discipline of Indian classical music and dance, live online. You learn one-to-one with a vetted teacher, or in a structured course with levels and certificates. Top educationists vet our structured courses, and each instructor builds their course with KalaSudha.

We record every lesson so you can play it back, and we translate the course material into 22 languages besides English. Where enough learners sign up, we bring workshops and summer camps near them, so you can learn in person too. If you are starting from nothing, read I'm new to Indian classical music. Where do I start?

Recordings and artists

We record our artists in the studio and on stage at our own concerts, and release the music worldwide as albums and tracks. Our concert videos show single pieces filmed on those stages. Find them on the releases page and the videos page.

Read the profiles of the artists we work with on the artists page, then look for their next concert or their recordings.

Where to find us and which languages

kalasudha.com is our home. You book tickets and lessons there, and it works in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Our official social profiles are listed in Where can I find KalaSudha?

The site comes in 23 languages, and Urdu pages read right to left. To switch, read Change the site language.

How KalaSudha is funded

KalaSudha is a family-run, self-funded social enterprise. A share of every paid activity goes to our artists development fund, which pays for concerts, recordings and the promotion of the art forms.

Ticket income covers 30% to 40% of a concert's cost. We fund the rest ourselves and take no public funding. If you leave a concert unhappy, write to us and we will refund your ticket.

Is KalaSudha for children?

Yes. All ages are welcome at our concerts. Children need a ticket, and under-16s come with an adult.

The Academy teaches children as well as adults. A parent books lessons under their own account and adds the child as a learner: see Add a child as a learner. Our workshops and summer camps have no age limit, and parents stay in the room with their children.

Get help

For anything this page does not answer, read Contact us or write to [email protected]. To see what a free account holds, read Do I need an account, and what do I get with one?