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The Cleveland Thyagaraja Music Festival has grown from its
humble beginnings of a small gathering in the basement of a
suburban church to its present status of the premier event. It
has attracted a large number of participants as well as
attendees from the entire North American continent. Yet, there
is no change in the spirit of celebration, in the humility of
approach, and in the groundswell of goodwill, friendship, trust,
and understanding the festival has generated every year. The
festival days resemble a reunion by various members of an
extended family, who come from different places and enjoy the
opportunity of meeting together.
The spirit of volunteerism and the outpouring of enthusiastic
encouragement have made it possible for this annual festival to
come this far. The Committee thankfully acknowledges your
support for all these years.
The Aradhana Committee, however, faces the challenge of
resources to cope with the magnitude and momentum of the
festival and comes to you again for your continued cooperation
and generous help. As the Festival has grown over the last two
decades, it has taken on a greater role - that of the
representative of Indian culture and heritage in North America.
The festival is the largest of its kind in North America. It now
extends over the better part of a week and hosts over 30 artists
and 2000 rasikas. All this is not possible without your
continued financial assistance.
The festival remained free and open to the public for
twenty-six years. However, organizing such a large-scale event
funded solely by voluntary contributions has proven infeasible.
Due to an overwhelmingly large deficit accumulated over the last
few years, we are now compelled to raise money by charging a
ticket price for a select few concerts. The day of the
Aradhana, as well as the vast majority of concerts remain free.
We hope that this limited measure will help us recover some of
our financial burden.
The Festival depends on the generosity of its patrons. With
the festival becoming larger and inviting unique performances
both from India and from within the United States to Cleveland,
we appeal to you, the rasika, to help keep this festival in the
spirit in which it was concieved.
Your tax deductible donation in favor of "Aradhana Committee"
will be greatly appreciated.
We now accept donations online through
Paypal. You can donate to the Aradhana Committee by clicking
the "donate" button below. Major credit cards are accepted. You
do not need to be a Paypal member to donate.
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