Maithree

Music forges strong bonds of camaraderie among its creators, performers, and listeners. Maithree: The Music of Friendship does exactly that in proposing a harmonious coexistence between players from different cultures who share a common global dream of enthusiastic diversity. As the album’s co-producer Gary Hines (leader of the Grammy-winning Sounds of Blackness) says:

These are more than just songs. They are a rhythmic, melodic & harmonic convergence of many diverse souls & spirits into one expressive creation. What comes from the heart reaches the heart. The Maithree experience makes our hearts beat together as one.

Maithree, the ensemble, was formed when Nirmala Rajasekar, Indian veena virtuoso, invited some friends to play music together. With visiting South Indian drum guru Boopathi, cellist Michelle Kinney, and brothers Pat (clarinet) and Tim O’Keefe (world percussion), this is Minnesota-grown idealism at its finest, where no barriers to musical or social concord get in the way. Maithree, the similarly-named album, features original music, along with new arrangements of Indian, Irish, and Turkish tunes. Maithree, the composition, was originally written for a 1966 concert at the United Nations, bringing a message of world peace and friendship across borders. What could be more timely?

Maithree is a testament to Rajasekar’s belief in the power of the arts to build community — a message as important as it is joyful:

Now, more than ever, we need music to bring us together, to remember what we have in common while celebrating what makes us different.

Rajasekar has an international four-decade career as one of the leading veena players in the world. A trailblazer in the Carnatic tradition, she is an active collaborator. Her career highlights include the NAACP Image Award for World Music Album with Sounds of Blackness and a Carnegie Hall performance with Butterfly.