Last Updated: Monday, 15th Apr 2008
Back to Registration Guidelines
1. What do I have to do to stay informed about the logistical details of various CTU events?
A. Register your contact information and areas of interest with CTU
2. How will CTU be allocating time for Teacher Sessions in the years to come?
A. CTU will allocate times for Teacher Sessions in the years to come based upon the actual number of students who performed from the Teacher’s school in the respective Teacher Session. Students of the given Teacher who performed at the festival outside of the Teacher Session will not be taken into consideration when allocating times by teacher in future years.
3. I am a Teacher and I have a lot more students than I did last year. Can CTU allot additional time for me this year?
A. CTU appreciates your enthusiasm to have your students participate at the festival. However, please note that the times allotted to teachers have already been finalized and CTU is not in a position to make any revisions this year. CTU strongly encourages teachers to maximize participation by grouping multiple students in the allotted time for their respective Teacher Session. See also response to Q. 2.
4. I am a CTU Teacher and one of my students is not sure if she will be attending the Utsavam. If I register her for participation in my Teacher Session, can I make changes to the registration after the CTU 2008 Registration Deadline?
A. Yes. You can. However, please note that changes received after the CTU 2008 Registration Deadline may not be printed in the CTU 2008 Tyagaraja Vijayam brochure.Â
5. Are Bharat Natyam performances being considered by CTU for Tyagaraja Homage sessions?
A. No. CTU is not considering Bharat Natyam performances for Tyagaraja Homage sessions.
6. I am a Teacher and I plan to have multiple groups of four to five children sing during my Teacher Session. Can these groups four to five vocalists be accompanied on the Veena?
A. Please refer to the CTU 2008 Registration Guidelines. As mentioned under General Guidelines:
- All instruments other than Tambura, Sruthi Box, Talometer and cymbals are considered to be accompaniments.Â
- The following combinations may have accompaniments on Saturday in the Rathi Auditorium in the Teacher Session or Group Session. See Accompanied Performances for all other combinations.
- Seven or more vocalists
- Four or more identical instruments
Based on these notes, there have to be a minimum of seven vocalists in a group for them to have any accompaniment (including the veena) in a Teacher Session.
7. I registered but did not receive an acknowledgement. How can I get confirmation that my registration was received by CTU?
A. If you did not receive an acknowledgement at the e-mail address you provided in the registration, please try re-submitting the registration after a few minutes. Please ensure that you provide all the requested information as well as the Verification Code at the bottom of the registration page. If you still do not receive an acknowledgement, please send an e-mail to info {AT} tyagaraja-chicago.org requesting confirmation that CTU received your registration.
8. Two of my vocal students learn violin from another teacher. Can these students register for vocal in my Teacher Session and also perform violin in another Teacher Session?
A. No. A participant may perform only once at the Utsavam. See Note under General Guidelines at CTU 2008 Registration Guidelines
- Other than the standard CTU Performances of Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram, Pancharatna Kritis, Utsava Sampradaya Kritis, Western Orchestra, a participant may perform only once at the Festival. They may perform in a Teacher Session or a Group Session, an Individual Performance or an Accompanied Performance.
9. Two of my students are singing with two others who are not my students. Who registers them?
A. A Teacher Session should only have the students of the given teacher. If there are students from multiple teachers in a group, the group should designate a contact person and have the contact person register separately as a Group Session.Â
10. What would be the duration of an Accompanied Performance? Would it be one song only?
A.  An Accompanied Performance is also one Kriti only like the Individual Performance. However, as mentioned at Accompanied Performances, the time limit for Accompanied Performances will be determined after all the registrations have been received.Â
11. I am a teacher in the Chicagoland area. I did not receive any e-mail regarding the time allocated by CTU for my Teacher Session.  Can you please resend this e-mail?
A. Please refer to the Teacher Session section in the CTU 2008 Registration Guidelines. Here are some relevant extracts:
- Teacher Sessions are time periods allotted to teachers based on the number of students who participated from their school in 2007.Â
- Teachers with five or less students will be allotted the same time as Individual  Performances — four minutes. This is the time allotted to the whole Teacher Session. In other words, the Teacher can have the students render a single performance by one child or a single performance by a group of 2 to 5 children. The total time for this Teacher Session cannot exceed four minutes.
- Teachers with six or more performing students in 2007Â will be informed about their respective time periods prior to the commencement of the registration process.Â
- New teachers will be informed about their respective time slots after all registrations are received.  Â
- When determining the number of students per teacher, CTU does not include members of the teacher’s family learning from the teacher.
Depending on your specific situation, you may not have received an e-mail from CTU informing you about the time allotted for your Teacher Session.
12. What is the criteria for becoming a CTU sponsored accompaniment so that people can choose you?Â
A. There is no concept of a CTU sponsored accompaniment. Performers delivering an Accompanied Performance are welcome to work directly with the artists of their choice.
13. Can I perform a Tyagaraja Kriti that is not there in the List of Kritis provided?
A. Absolutely. The list of Tyagaraja Kritis provided is only for reference. It also ensures some consistency in the manner in which they are spelt. You may enter a Tyagaraja Kriti that is not in the list in the Kriti field on the Registration page.
14. How do I indicate an Accompanied Performance? My kids registered for an Individual Performance requesting a CTU Mridangam. Is that an Accompanied Performance?
A. Accompanied Performances are indicated by specifying the name of the accompanying instrument and the accompanying artist in the Accompaniments box on the Registration page. If you select CTU Mridangam, it will be treated as an Accompanied Performance. As mentioned in the update on Accompanied Performances, CTU expects you to submit an updated registration with the name of the Accompanying Artists. If you are registering for an Individual Performance please ensure that you do not select CTU Mridangam or CTU Ghatam.
15. I have an engagement in the evening on Saturday. Can I get an afternoon slot?Â
A. CTU looks foward to your attendance on all three days at this festival of concerts and dance performances. Please refer to the General Guidelines section at CTU 2008 Registration Guidelines for additional details on the sequence in which various performances will be scheduled. We do not anticipate having any Homage to Tyagaraja sessions in the evening on Saturday since we have a professional program scheduled at that time.
16. We have registered our children for Individual Performances. Will we be notified ahead of time if they get to perform on Saturday or Sunday?
A. CTU looks foward to your attendance on all three days at this festival of concerts and dance performances. As mentioned under Note in General Guidelines at CTU 2008 Registration Guidelines, we may not be able to accommodate Individual Performances on Saturday. Depending on various factors, some Individual Performances may have to be re-scheduled to Sunday. Since the exact list of Individual Performances re-scheduled to Sunday will not be known until the end of Saturday, we are not in a position to let you know in advance if your children’s Individual Performance will be on Saturday or Sunday.
