Recommended: World music and deep roots onstage at VCA

Published 4:07 pm Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Music lovers on Vashon have two special treats in store coming up soon at Vashon Center for the Arts.

Ganesh Rajagopalan

Grammy-award winner Ganesh Rajagopalan will perform with the Swarayoga Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, in VCA’s Kay White Hall.

Rooted in the rich traditions of South Indian classical music and shaped by a global creative life, Rajagopalan — renowned as an Indian classical violinist, film score composer and educator — brings the violin into conversation with rhythm, breath and story. His works also connect centuries of music, bridging bridges ancient ragas with contemporary cinematic and improvisational sensibilities.

The concert is a part of a new partnership between VCA and SAMA: Music + Art, a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 2019 by Darek Mazzone and John Goodfellow.

Sunny War

Sunny War, a rising guitar virtuoso, will play a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

In her early 20s, War quit her job in a mall to pursue music full-time. She produced her first EP “Worthless” and sold it herself, one CD at a time, on Venice Boardwalk in Los Angeles. The spirit of determination and hope is carried into the folk-punk sound she has since made her own. In less than a decade, War has released four EPs and five studio albums, each garnering increasing attention and accolades from critics.

Michael Simmons, a musician, journalist and filmmaker, is one of those critics.

“I haven’t heard a young guitarist this dexterous in eons,” he wrote in the LA Weekly.

Find out more and get tickets to both shows at vashoncenterforthearts.org.