Chicago-based Mandala South Asian Performing Arts recruits interim executive director

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Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, (mandalaarts.org), a MacArthur Award-winning organization which focuses on performing arts traditions of South Asia, announced it has recruited Chethan Anant as interim executive director effective January 1, 2024.

Anant, considered a respected musician and educator is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the organization’s operations and programs. He leads and manages Mandala’s overall budget and finances, fundraising, the marketing staff, and volunteers, a Jan. 15, 2024, press release from the organization said.

“I am honored and eager for this opportunity to serve the arts and am looking forward to being a part of the work that Mandala sustains,” Anant is quoted saying.

An Indian Classical musician, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and music educator from Chicago, specializing in the Hindustani Classical tradition, Anant has performed around the US and internationally. He also collaborates with artists spanning varied genres, including Carnatic, jazz, Thai traditional, roots, blues, and hip hop.

As an educator, Anant has been teaching music since 2016 “and strives to share his new-generational perspective on the age-old Hindustani Classical music tradition with his students,” Mandala said. He has given lecture demonstrations and performances at institutions including Stanford University, Tulane University, and Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute.

Pranita Nayar, founder of Mandala, who continues as Mandala’s Artistic Director, said, “I have worked with Chethan, a dedicated music professional, for the last four years in his capacity as a curator and producer of events. I am confident that he will lead Mandala into the next decade with our mission to produce forward-looking programming that responds to the aspirations of the rising, young, South Asian population of the U.S., who are interested and committed to the practice and propagation of the performing arts.”