SPIC MACAY

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The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth, often known by its initials (SPICMACAY), is a non-profit organization which promotes classical Indian music, dance, and culture. The parents organization is based in India, with chapters in over 200 towns and cities in India. ^[1] SPIC MACAY USA was formed in 1989 ^[2] and now it is present in the U.S., Canada and Germany ^[3].

SPIC MACAY was established by Dr. Kiran Seth in 1977 at IIT Delhi. ^[4]^[5]

It seeks to foster the exchange of traditional Indian values and to generate awareness of the cultural traditions and heritage of India. In order to achieve its goals, SPICMACAY organizes concerts, lectures, demonstrations, informal discussions, and seminars. These are hosted by local chapters of the organization.

1 History
2 Organizational Structure
3 SPIC MACAY Chapters in educational institutions
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Dr. Kiran Seth, a young graduate from IIT Kharagpur, was studying for his doctorate at the Columbia University, New York, when he chanced to attend a Dhrupad concert by Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Fariddudin Dagar at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York ^[6].

On his return to India in 1976, he started teaching and doing research work at IIT Delhi, where he got together with students and started SPIC MACAY in 1977 ^[7], and its first concert was held at IIT Delhi in the same year ^[7].

The first Lecture-Demonstration series was held in 1979, with six artistes, including Sonal Mansingh, Birju Maharaj, Asad Ali Khan, the Dagar brothers and Munnawar Ali Khan who performed in a few colleges in Delhi.

Today, SPIC MACAY has some 200 chapters across the world and holds over 1,500 events annually, ^[6] mostly in educational institutions, but occasionally in "public" venues like town halls or community parks.

Some of its major activities include: FEST series, VIRASAT series, heritage walks, talks by eminent thinkers, yoga and meditation camps, theatre, screening of classic cinema etc [1]. Lately it has also started getting international artistes from other equally rich cultures to perform in India.

[edit] Organizational Structure

The state of Rajasthan has as many as 15 functioning chapters in towns as modest as Churu, Jalore and Nathdwara^[8] It even operates in the smallest of towns on the border of India and Pakistan in Kashmir. SPIC MACAY primarily works by the efforts of its volunteers, and the concerts are open to all, and free.

The Gujarat riots of 2002 motivated SPIC MACAY to start community outreach programmes.^{[citation needed]}