She has brought her extensive solo performance experience in South India from The Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Karaikudi Kamban Vizha, Ramakrishna Mutt, and elsewhere to Melbourne and has presented concert length performances at the Carnatic Music Circle, Laya Vidya Centre, Indian Music Academy of Melbourne, Sydney Music Circle, and several Indian Dance school concerts. Uthra has overseen and directed 11 annual concerts of the Keerthana School of Music.
She has also collaborated and performed with Dr. Priya Srinivasan in contemporary performances at the Treasury Building for Mapping Melbourne Festival, Jaipur Literary Festival in Melbourne (Fed Square), Immigration Museum for the Triennial International Asian Festival AsiaTOPA which included intercultural experimentation with Iranian singer Tabassom Ostad as well as performances at the Showroom Gallery in London, Royal Central School of Drama. She also collaborated with Yiddish singer Inge Mandos, choreographer Dr. Hannah Schwadron and Dr. Priya Srinivasan in Hamburg and Berlin for site specific works at the Gangeviertel, Berlin Wall Memorial, and Church of Reconciliation. Her compositional work includes setting classical and contemporary music for vocalists and dancers alike, including soundscapes for experimental artists.
She is a leader in Indian Migrant Communities of Melbourne and just completed her term as the Secretary of Federation of Indian Music and Dance Association of Victoria. Her primary goal is to work both for the South Asian communities of Melbourne and for wider communities to open minds and hearts through music.
Proceeds from fundraising concert handed over to Monash Children's Hospital
Uthra's Biography
Uthra Vijay is the Artistic Director of Keerthana School of Music in Melbourne that she founded in 2003. She is a versatile artist, composer and educator, who is equally comfortable working in the classical realm or experimenting with non-classical forms of music including popular music and contemporary forms. She has an extensive background in Indian classical music, winning several awards and performing in a range of venues in India and Australia.
Uthra is an accomplished Classical Indian Music Vocalist emerging from a musical family having trained in the Carnatic music form since the age of 5. She learned from several distinguished gurus and was exposed to different musical styles culminating in her training under the auspices of S.P. Ramh in the late legendary violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman’s School of Music.
Keerthana Music School
Keerthana Music School is an Indian Carnatic Music School in Melbourne, the director of which is Mrs Uthra Vijayaraghavan. She founded the school in 2003 and has since been teaching vocal music to many students of different age groups, ranging from 5 years to 60 years.