Dr Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan presents their 2022 National Folk Fellowship research that looks at the specific music used for quadrilles in Australia which have historical, thematic or musical links to South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

This presentation and showcase of new songs by Dr White-Radhakrishnan will explore mind-blowing links between South Asia, Australia and the world through the lens of quadrille music, including fiddle tunes in Indian classical music, the emergence of syncretic quadrilles in the Indian Ocean and South Asian folk melodies in an 'exotic' quadrille. Drawing on the National Library’s folk music and oral history collection, one can find unique echoes of these tunes within the Australian folk tradition.

Dr Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan is the 2022 National Folk Fellow, jointly supported by the National Folk Festival and the National Library of Australia.

About Dr Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan:
Dr Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan is a singer and musician and scholar of music, language and culture based at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Their studies explore performance traditions spanning South Asia, Ireland and Australia with a current focus on the Portuguese Burgher community of Sri Lanka. In addition to being the 2022 National Folk Fellow (Australia) they are a recipient of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Top 5 (Arts) Media Residency for 2022, co-producer of the podcast Music!Dance!Culture! and founder of the world-folk band Tapestries of Sound. Dr White-Radhakrishnan is passionate about making connections between people through creativity and research on language and music.