A behind-the-scenes peek at the myriad of Visual and Performing Artists living and working in the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley.
Music teaches us about the experience of being human. Through music we more fully understand love, heartbreak, anger, joy and the complex layers of our emotions. Hearing a few bars of music can instantly take us to another time and place. It expresses something about us, who we are, and where we belong. Through music we learn to harmonize with each other and dance with the multifaceted rhythms of our lives. The musicians in our community are essential. Their music helps us to be in touch with our hearts in a way that words alone cannot.
Arindam Krishna Das is one of those musicians. His work has touched thousands of lives locally in the last 20 years in a multitude of ways. He has served as musical director for many local theatre companies including Little People’s Repertory Theatre, Mountain Community Theatre, Theatre in the Mountains, ScottsValleyHigh School, Santa Cruz Performing Arts, San JoseStateUniversity, GeorgianaBruceKirbySchool, All About Theatre, and others – all in the last year alone. His creative work spans the county, both in and out of school sites and local theaters where he has inspired young thespians and adults alike, teaching and leading them in his own special brand of theatre and music. If you have seen local musical theatre, he was most likely involved.
Raised in New Jersey, Arindam was deeply inspired by his father, Frank Levy, who worked as a music teacher. The close proximity of the New York theatre scene to New Jersey in his childhood allowed him the opportunity to witness many first-run productions on Broadway, and helped to encourage his deep passion and appreciation for musical theatre.
What inspires him is “the opportunity to serve the muse.” He believes that if you “love something; you are more able to share it with others.” His most satisfying moments have come when he has touched people’s lives in a way that only music can. He is convinced that there are three essences necessary to bring about transformational experiences for himself and others – “humility, tolerance, and respect.” His intention is to assist in bringing forth “the divine spark of creativity” in both himself and in others through his work in the performing arts. His 2016 projects are already underway with just that purpose.
Arindam is the musical director of MCT’s production of “Young Frankenstein,” playing March 25-April 17 in Ben Lomond (tickets @ mctshows.org), as well as the musical director for Scotts Valley High School’s 2016 spring production of “Chicago.” His on-going Beatles Performing Group, (sponsored by Santa Cruz Performing Arts) is open to youth aged 7 to 18 years, and rehearses every Sunday at St. AndrewsChurch in Ben Lomond (831-247-6829 for registration). Go take a listen. Tell him the muse sent you.
Dr. Kathie Kratochvil has been on the Theater and Creative Arts faculty at San Jose State University for 16 years. She has worked professionally in the performing arts community in Santa Cruz County in multiple artistic and educational capacities for over 30 years. She is a founding member of Mountain Community Theatre in Ben Lomond.
