All Teacher Sessions will be scheduled on Saturday, the first day of the Utsavam.
CTU requests teachers to do the following within their respective Teacher Sessions:
- Maximize the quality of the overall performance in line with your session’s theme — if applicable
- Identify the students (preferably groups) who will perform in your session
- Distribute the allotted time across the selected students as you deem fit
- Ensure that the given Teacher Session is completed within the allotted time
Note:
- Barring extenuating circumstances, teachers must be physically present on stage with their students during their respective Teacher Sessions.
- A Teacher Session may only include performances by students of the given Teacher. The Teacher does not perform in a Teacher Session — as a lead or accompanying artist.
- The Teacher Session may include performances by members of the teacher’s family. However, please note that when determining the number of students per teacher to allocate time, CTU does not include members of the teacher’s family learning from the teacher.
- Teacher sessions must have a minimum of three students. Should the number of students in a Teacher Session on the day of the festival be less than three, they will have the option of paying homage as part of Group Sessions and/or Individual Performances.
- The following combinations can have accompaniments during a Teacher Session:
- Seven or more vocalists
- Four or more instrumentalists playing the same instrument
- CTU will enforce the time limit for the overall duration of the Teacher Session.
- Students who do not get a chance to perform within the allotted time for a Teacher Session may get an opportunity to perform later subject to the availability of time after all the scheduled Homage to Tyagaraja performances for Day One have been accommodated.
Students who cannot be accommodated within the Teacher Sessions at the time of registration may consider working with their teachers to register themselves as Individual Performances.
Teacher Sessions may be conducted by Local Teachers or External Teachers.
Local Teacher Sessions
A Local Teacher is a teacher who is a permanent resident of the Chicago metropolitan and suburban area.
Time Allocation
- Teachers who had less than the minimum number of students required as part of their Teacher Session in the previous year will be allotted the same time as Individual Performances. This is the time allotted to the whole Teacher Session. The total time for this Teacher Session cannot exceed four minutes.
- Teachers who had more than the minimum number of performing students in the previous year have already been informed about their respective time periods.
- New teachers will be informed about their respective time slots after all their registrations have been received.
External Teacher Sessions
CTU welcomes teachers from all over the world to have their students participate in our festival every year.
An External Teacher is a teacher who is not a resident of the Chicago Metropolitan and Suburban area.
In order to be allocated time for their sessions during the Utsavam, External Teachers must ensure that:
- The role of the teacher is physically represented on stage either by themselves or a designated representative.
- They make a commitment to participate in the Homage to Tyagaraja sessions by having the families of their students making the payment required in advance.
Note: Due to time constraints, only a limited number of slots are available for external teachers whose registrations will be processed on a first come-first serve basis.
Out-of-state participants who are not part of an external teacher’s session may perform as part of the Group or Individual performances.
Questions: Please review the responses to Frequently Asked Questions before sending an e-mail to ctu {dot} regn {at} ChicagoTyagarajaUtsavam {dot} org.