When Classical goes Viral | Sriram Emani | TEDxChennai

Sriram Emani runs the IndianRaga movement where the most talented musicians and dancers are handpicked to collaborate and produce videos that go viral across 65 countries to over 100 million audiences! In just a few years, more than 5000 artists have reimagined the classical arts in a modern-day context, showing how the grammar and essence of tradition can be retained while attracting new and young audiences.

Older generations told their stories - now its time to tell ours, argues Sriram in this candid talk that traces his journey living out of a suitcase across 50 cities with 50 families in North America as he observed how families bond over classical arts. Through examples of IndianRaga videos that have gone viral globally, Sriram makes a case for how classical arts were always a means of social commentary, and instead of being treated as relics from the past that need to be 'preserved', we should bring them centerstage to start conversations on issues that matter to us, in languages that we speak, to suit our content consumption patterns today.

Sriram Emani is a Global Fellow with the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA). He is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and the MIT Sloan School of Management where he was 1 out of 5 students to be awarded the prestigious Siebel Scholarship for academic excellence and leadership. Sriram started the marketing and business development team at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. Over the past few years, Sriram worked as a Strategy Fellow with the President of Lincoln Center, New York City, and with the President of Global Digital Business at Sony Music, New York City. Sriram represented USA at the global creative business conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, after IndianRaga won the US Creative Business Cup in 2012. Sriram was also recently invited to speak on Capitol Hill by the US Congressional Arts Caucus in a 'Spotlight on Arts Entrepreneurs' to discuss the impact of arts legislation and policy on the performing arts ecosystem in the United States. He won the 2015 Arts Entrepreneurship Award by Fractured Atlas in New York City.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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