Abishek Chandrasekar is a budding vocalist learning Carnatic music under Sri Chertalai Sivakumar, professor of violin and vocal music at Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts, Chennai. Abishek began his training under Smt.Usha Jagathrakshakan in Bangalore at the tender age of 3, continued under smt. Vijaya Srinivas and has been undeterredly learning vocal music from various gurus practicing different styles over the years which has broadened his outlook on the art form.
Abishek had his vocal Carnatic Arangetram in 2018 in Chennai which was presided by Padmabhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi Madurai Sri. TN Seshagopalan. Abishek has performed numerous kacheris in Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy, Hyderabad and Dubai. Abishek also trained briefly in playing the violin to deepen his understanding of the music’s intricacies. He is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer who is now under the guidance of Kalaimamani Zakir Hussain, founder of Sri Paadham Academy of Dance. Currently, Abishek is pursuing a double major in Music and Applied Mathematics in Stony Brook University, New York. There, he ardently studies western classical repertoire and enthusiastically immerses himself in musical theatre to hone his passions of music, dance and acting.
Akshay Venkatesan, a freshman in University of Washington, Seattle, has been learning mridangam for the past 13 years from Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, a leading disciple of mridangam Maestro Late Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Vellore G. Ramabhadran. Akshay is also undergoing advanced training under the tutelage of Vidwan Sri. S.V. Ramani.
Akshay is a staff member of SPAC and has been teaching actively in the school. Akshay has also been teaching at a workshop (Gurukulam) in San Diego coordinated by Sri VVS Murari for the past 2 years.
Akshay has been accompanying vocalists and instrumentalists regularly all over US and in many sabhas in the December music season in Chennai since 2013. He has also been providing support for Bharatanatyam and Vocal arangetrams.
In 2016, Akshay received “Yuva Prathiba” award from Sri. V.V. Subramanian mama as part of the V.V.S. Foundation, recognizing his immense contribution and performance in the field of Carnatic music in North America.
For the past two years in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, Akshay was blessed with the opportunity to take part in Sri. Karaikudi Mani Sir’s “Laya Sagaram” and “The Dance of Layam” programs.
In addition, Akshay learns vocal Carnatic music and is a student of Sri Paduka Academy. He recently had his vocal debut concert on June 29, 2019. He also plays Alto Saxaphone and continues to pursue this in his college.
Akshaya Sekharan, has been learning Bharatanatyam from her Guru. Smt. Deepa Mahadevan, artistic director of Tiruchitrambalam in Bay area, California, in Dhandayuthapani pillai style, for the past 15 years. She took part in many dance productions like Sense Beyond, Silapathikaram etc by Guru Madurai R Muralidharan. Akshaya has completed her arangetram in 2013 and has been performing ever since. She has participated in many competitions and won many accolades. She is an undergraduate student at University of Chicago pursuing her pre-med. It is a privilege and honor for her to be performing in Hamsadwani Sabha, Chennai during Margazhi masam.
Ananya Sekharan, has been learning Bharatanatyam from her Guru Shirni Kanth, artistic director of Mythri natyalaya in Baya area, California for the past 11 years. She took part in many thematic recitals choreographed by her Guru Smt Shirni Kanth and also in productions like Karna by Guru Madurai R Muralidharan, Gajananeeyam by Prof Guru Pasumarthy Ramalinga Sastry. Also participated in many local performances and competitions and won many accolades. Ananya has completed her arangetram in 2018 and has been learning from her guru ever since. She is in her 11th grade in Saratoga High school. It is a immense opportunity for her to perform in Hamsadwani sabha, Chennai during Margazhi masam.
Anirudh Raja is a 10th grader at Oak Grove High School, San Jose, CA, USA. He is a vivid learner with great passion to Carnatic Music and began learning his vocal lessons at an age of 6 from Guru Hari Devanath and Guru Vivek Sundararaman, prime disciple of Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan at Sri Paduka Academy in San Jose. He has been privileged to learn from Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan and part of Neyveli Sishyakulam.
Anirudh has won many awards and prizes such as Carnatic Music Idol USA 2014, Global Carnatic Musician 2017, Cleveland Thayagaraja Aradhana, Annamacharya National Winner 2018, Carnatic Music Association for Youth (CMAY) 2019, International Oothukadu Festival 2019. He is a regular participant in Cleveland Sustaining Sampradaya Track. He regularly performs across all venues in US and during the December music season in Chennai
Arjun Subramaniam is a third-year student at Princeton University, and has been learning Carnatic Music for 14 years. He is a disciple of Smt. Sugandha Kalamegham. He has performed regularly in the US and in Chennai, including in top venues in the December Season, and has won several awards. He is also President of Princeton Swara, an on-campus Indian Classical Music organization, and has hosted concerts by prominent Carnatic music artists from India. Arjun is studying Computer Science and plans to pursue graduate school.
Arthavan had his initial training in miruthangam under the guidance of Shri Agaramangudi Anandakrishnan (Madhu) Kailash in Brisbane and continues intensive training under (the Late) Shri Srirangarajapuram Jayaraman, Shri Srirangarajapuram Ganesh and Shri K R Ganesh in Chennai, India. He completed his miruthangam arangetram in 2007. Since then Arthavan has accompanied several musicians in Brisbane and Chennai, including Sikkil Gurucharan (vocal), Maharajapuram Ramachandran (vocal), the Carnatica brothers (vocal & instrumental) and Amrutha Murali (vocal). He has been teaching miruthangam in Brisbane for the past 12 years, and performs annually at the December Music Festival season in prestigious Sabhas, such as Narada Ghana Sabha, Krishna Gana Sabha, Brahma Gana Sabha, Karthik Fine Arts, Bharat Kalachar and Hamsadwani. Recently he has been accompanying Bharathanatyam concerts and arangetrams in Brisbane. He works as a paediatric trainee doctor at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, subspecializing in metabolic genetics.
Arun Mahadevan began his training in Carnatic vocal at the age of six under the guidance of Smt. Ranganayaki Rajan in Bengaluru, followed by guidance from Smt. Lakshmi Suparna of Nadopasana School of Music, Malleswaram, Bengaluru. He later learnt from Vidwan O.S. Thiagarajan and also had the privilege of learning from the late Prof. T. R. Subramaniam and. He is currently taking advanced lessons from Vidwan Delhi P. Sunderrajan.
Arun gave his first public concert at the age of ten. Since then, he has performed concerts at venues in India and the USA, in addition to providing vocal accompaniment for several Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi recitals. Arun is a B-high graded artist at the Bengaluru station of All India Radio.
Aside from music, Arun received his PhD in bioengineering from Rice University, Houston, Texas, and is currently a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Born and brought up in New Zealand, Avinash was exposed to the confluence of musical genres that this land has to offer. His innate passion for the arts exposed him to the nuances of Western music and Oriental music.
Avinash’s journey through the classical art form of Mridhangam has been under the tutelage of Sri Suresh Ramachandra (Student of Kalaimamani Guruvayoor Dorai), from whom he has been imbibing the intricacies of Thaala for the past 13 years.
The New Zealand Carnatic Music Society conferred the title “Vadya Visharad” on Avinash in 2017, after successful completion of Diploma in Carnatic Music. Avinash also holds a Diploma in Carnatic Vocal music awarded by the Academy of Fine Arts, London.
In March 2018, Avinash completed his Mridhanga Arangetram in Auckland, accompanying the well-renowned vocalist, Kum. Sriranjani Santhanagopalan and playing alongside other artists such as Vittal Rangan, Trichi Murali and A S Krishnan from India. He was awarded the title of “Layaanjali” from the Temple of Fine Arts, NZ, at the conclusion of this event
Avinash has been regularly accompanies other Artist in Auckland, Wellington New Zealand and Sydney Australia. He also learns Carnatic Vocal Music under Kalaimamani S Rajeswari of Chennai.
Currently Avinash is in his second year at the University of Auckland, pursuing a degree in Health Sciences.
Dev Rajagopalan (DOB: February 21, 2003) hails from a family rich in musical heritage. His late grandfather Shri R Rajagopalan was a Carnatic vocalist, veena exponent, composer, and music director and his cousin Sid Sriram is a well-known Carnatic vocalist and a popular playback singer. Dev began his journey into the world of Indian Classical music at the age of five and was initiated into Carnatic music by his grandfather himself. Dev then came under the tutelage of Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran as well as his senior disciple, Anahita Ravindran. He was presented in a maiden concert on August 18, 2018 at the University of Texas, in Austin. The India Fine Arts of Austin recognized him with the title of Bala Vidwan.
Dev has since been actively been performing in venues such as DESH Festival, Agni Foundation, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Atlanta, Sankara Eye Foundation etc. He has also been a part of the North American Melodic Ensemble in the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival.
Dev is proficient in Western violin too and a member of the Advanced/Chamber Orchestra at the University of Texas and also at the Cedar Ridge High School Symphonic Orchestra.
Hari Iyer is a young aspiring mridangist and a passionate musician under the tutelage of world-renowned percussion maestro Sangeetha Kala Acharya Sri. T. H. Subash Chandran. He started his initial training from Sri. Shankar Viswanathan in Portland, when he was 9 and had his arangetram in 2015 featuring Sri. Vittal Ramamurthy on the Violin.
Hari has been playing in concerts regularly in the pacific NW. He has accompanied several renowned artists such as Dr. S. Sowmya, Sri. Vittal Ramamurthy, Sri. V.V.S Murari, Sri V.L. Kumar, Sri Basavaraj brothers – Sri Raghavendra Rao and Sri. Sivaramakrishna Rao and Pandit. Tarun Bhattacharya (on Santoor) during their concerts in the Portland Balaji Temple.
Hari travels regularly to India to participate in the December Music season in Chennai. He has been featured with senior artists such as his guru Sri. T.H. Subash Chandran, Sri. Pattabhiraman Pandit, Sri. O S Thyagarajan, and many more during the December season.
Hari has expanded his repertoire to include playing the Kanjira.
Hari also plays the saxophone and is the recipient of several awards including the nationally recognized John Philip Sousa award. He is currently pursuing a degree in Music and Music Technology at the University of Oregon.
Srikrishna (aka Krishna) is an 8th grader from Portland, Oregon, USA. He started his percussion training on mridangam at a young age of 6 from his Gurus Sri.T.H. Subashchandran and Sri. Shankar Viswanathan at the Sankara Drumming School. For the past 3 years, Krishna has been learning Ghatam directly under the tutelage of Sri.T.H. Subashchandran. He completed his Ghatam Arangetram in Mar 2019. Krishna continues his Ghatam training with Sri. Subashchandran on Skype and his disciple Sri. Muralikrishna locally. Krishna is very interested in music/rhythm and as part of Sankara Drumming Group has participated in many musical events like Thyagaraja Aradhana, World Beat Music Festival, Margazhi Utsavam to name a few in the Portland area.
Kumari Kyra Kishore (14 years) a disciple of Guru. Smt. Akila Subramanyam started her dance lessons at a young age of five. Over the years, Kyra developed a passion and appreciation for this art form and loves communicating through dance. She is fortunate to have inherited her Guru’s traditional aesthetic style of dancing along with its core values.
- Performed at the Cleveland Aradhana festival in a group production “Prathatyaksha Deivame” – composed by Dr. Rukmini Ramani - April 2019
- Solo performance for the Kerala Flood relief fundraiser. – September 2018
- Performed and part of the dance production Ramayana – Aaranyagaandam by Sri. Srikanth Natarajan and Smt. Aswathy Nair, a fund raiser for Swami Sri Dayananda Saraswathy’s gurukulam – May 2018
- Performed at the Gopalakrishna Bharathi Festival at Mayiladuthurai sharing the stage with Sri. Srikanth Natarajan and Smt. Aswathy Nair - February 2018.
- Solo dance recital at the Thiruvalangadu Temple in Chennai. - July 2017.
- Part of the dance school’s first fundraiser ““NANDHISWARA NANDHAMUKUNDA” to raise funds for the education of under privileged children in Bangalore. - March 2017.
Kyra will be performing solo dance recital for “Giri Fine Arts” in December 2019. She has been fortunate to attend workshops under the guidance of her Guru with several eminent artists like Smt. Indira Kadambi, Sri. N. Srikanth and Smt. Bragha Bessel.
She has participated and won accolades at various prestigious competitions like Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Saptami Foundation, Sivan Fine Arts Academy, Annual Indian Music and Dance Competition, Kerala Association of Greater Washington and so forth.
Madhu (Ganesh) Vadlamani has recently graduated (BS in Computer Science) from UNC Chapel Hill (Class of 2019). He had his initial training in vocal from his aunt Smt. Sujana Parupalli at the age of 6. Later he switched to Violin and is currently learning under the tutelage of Smt. Seetha Ramakrishnan and Vidushi Ranjani Ramakrishnan for the past 9 years. Madhu has won many awards both in US and India and regularly gives concerts during the December music season in Chennai.
Manickam Yogeswaran's musical career spans more than four decades. During childhood he was trained in Carnatic music and Tamil Isai from his teachers the late “Sangita Bhushanam” S. Balasingam and the late Sangita Bhushanam” P. Muthukumarasamy. He is a disciple of the world-renowned musician “Padmabhushan”, “Sangita Kalanidhi” Sri T V Gopalakrishnan from South India.
Yogeswaran is the coordinator for South Asian music at the Global Music Academy in Berlin. He also teaches Carnatic vocal, mirdangam and flute at the Academy. Yogeswaran performs in an eclectic range of styles with two of his own ensembles, “Carnatic music ensemble” to his collaboration with European musicians “Carnatic Comfort Zone”.
Yogeswaran was conferred the prestigious 'Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Centenary Celebrations commemorative Award' for his significant services to Karnataka Music on a global level in Mysore in 2018.
Yogeswaran was the first Tamil voice to hit Hollywood after singing on Jocelyn Pook’s haunting soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's “Eyes Wide Shut”. He performed a song composed by Jocelyn Pook as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in June 2012. He sang for the musical “Voices across the world” at the Royal Opera House. He played a role as Mahatma Gandhi in a musical celebrating the Bi - centenary of the Norwegian constitution. The musical “Stemmer” was composed by the British composer Orlando Gough and performed with the Bergen National Orchestra in Bergen Norway
Yogeswaran received acclaim for his appearances at festivals such as BBC Proms, Womad, Glastonbury, Montreaux Jazz Festival, Vienna festival, Arts and Ideas Festival USA, Sacred Music Festival-Berlin and at the Bergen International Festival-Norway.
He is a regular feature at the December music festival in Chennai since1994.
Mayuri Srivaths, age 13 years, has been learning carnatic music vocal since age 3 from Vidushi Smt. RajaRajeshwari Bhat and Vidushi Smt. Shyamala Venkateswaran. She completed Level IV CARNATIX theory examination with distinction. She has participated in krithi, manodharmam and RTP competitions and won prizes at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Dallas Saptami, Carnatic Music Idol USA, Sangeeth Bala Samrat USA, Carnatic Star Competition-Dallas, and Papanasam Sivan festival. She participated in Sustaining Sampradaya 2016-2019, and Carnatic Epic Choir at the Cleveland Aradhana, and Indian Raga Houston labs with Sri. Abhishek Raghuram. She has done concerts in Chennai and the US and has been performing at the Chennai December music festival for the past 3 years.
Nitya Narasimhan is a Bharatanatyam dancer and artistic director of the Prayukti Academy for Indian Arts, California. She is under the tutelage of Guru Rukmini Vijayakumar, Bangalore and is a senior disciple/dancer in the Raadha Kalpa Dance Company. She began her Bharatanatyam training at the age of 4 and spent her formative years learning under Guru Suma Mani, Chennai. Nitya holds a diploma in movement and pedagogy from Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts and Media and is currently pursuing an Art of Teaching program in Iyengar Yoga. She worked as the Programming Director for the Lshva Art Space and the Raadha Kalpa Dance Company gaining experience in working with eminent artists and curating various art events. Nitya is a solo and freelance performer in the Bay Area, California and works with many reputed companies including Set Vidhya Subramanian's Ensemble, Nava Dance Theatre and has been a part of notable productions touring across the US like Ganga to Kaveri by Utsav Music, Life of Pi by Bharati Alliance, Gandhi by Abhinaya Dance Company. She also extensively presents solo work and has been performing for the Chennai Marghazi kutcheris in various sabhas.
Pranavkrishna Ramasubramanian, disciple of Shri Erode Nagarajan, prime sishya of Padmashree, Sangeet Kalanidhi Umayalpuram K Sivaraman, has been learning Mrudangam from the age of 3. Since his maiden concert in accompanying local artists in Omaha to his arangetram in Chennai accompanying Shri Bharat Sundar in July 2018, Pranavkrishna has been accompanying a number of leading artists across US as well as in the December music festival in Chennai. He has accompanied Shri. Sunil Gargyan, Shri. Aditya Prakash, Vids Anahita and Apoorva, Shri. Chitravina Ravikiran, Shri. Ashok Ramani to name a few.
Pranavkrishna is a senior in Millard North High School. He is a fellow in IndianRaga & has won several prizes in percussion competitions in Cleveland Thayagaraja Ardhana and was placed third in national level Sangeet Saamraat. He is also very involved in Robotics and has been placed in the recent world championship.
Raghuveer and Narayan are current disciples of Vidvan Sri OSThiagarajan. They started their musical journey from childhood. Raghuveer showed interest in singing at the age of 4. Their mother Smt.Vijayashree, a student of Smt Vijaya Nagarajan (disciple of Smt.DKPattammal), was Raghuveer’s first teacher. When the family moved to Melbourne, Raghuveer started learning from Smt Vasumathi Subramanian (disciple of Sri TR Subramanian and Sri VV Sadakopan). Inspired by his brother, Narayan soon started learning from Smt. Vasumathi.
In 2010 the brothers were introduced to Sri OSThiagarajan who took them as his disciples. Considering themselves very blessed to learn from such a revered Vidvan, their passion and commitment for the art form increased many fold.
Soon they started performing as a duo in Melbourne, Sydney and NZ and feature regularly in the Chennai Music Festival from 2011-12 season and never looked back. In their musical journey Raghuveer has nearly 20 years of Carnatic music experience while Narayan has over 15 years.
Their performances in Chennai includes in Sabhas such as Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts, Kartik Fine Arts, Hamsadhwani (NRI Festival), Bharat Kalachar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha (Vani Mahal), Rasika Fine Arts to name a few.
They give high importance to all aspects of manodharmam – raga alapanai, neraval, kalpanaswaram & RTP with emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, while strongly rooted in the traditional form of Carnatic music.
Apart from the traditional concert performances, they have provided Carnatic vocal support to Harikatha by Sri Dushyanth Sridhar as well as for dance performances from time to time.
They have a few awards to their credit. Raghuveer was one of the finalists in the MSS Voice of the year 2017 Award and performed at the Music Acadamy in Oct 17. Narayan won the titles Carnatician of Australia and Global Carnatician 2017 in the Senior Category.
They are keen to dedicate their skill for noble causes and perform an annual Charity concert in Melbourne and have raised about A$16000 in their past 4 fundraising concerts.
The brothers attribute their achievements to the tutelage and blessings of their Guru Sri OST, the blessings of their Acharya Andavan Swami and enormous support of their parents both from the Music side and from taking care of all the concert logistics.
Raghuveer is a Chemical Engineer with a Business Management degree from RMIT,Melbourne and Narayan is a Commerce graduate from Monash University.
Rasika Murali Mohan is an accomplished Carnatic vocalist and violinist with an illustrious musical lineage. She commenced vocal training with her mother, Late Smt. Geetha Murali at the age of 5. Rasika initiated violin training under the tutelage of the esteemed Smt. Tara Anand since age seven. Recently, Rasika has been blessed to receive advanced vocal training from the eminent Palghat Dr. R. Ramprasad. Rasika teaches Carnatic vocal and violin music at the Saikripa School of Music in Boston, USA. She completed her masters in Speech Pathology from Boston University and is a practicing speech therapist in Boston, USA. As such, she strongly emphasizes vocal health and proper technique as key tenets of the Saikripa School of Music.
Rhea Rajesh, is a senior disciple of Kalaimamani Sri. K.N. Shashikiran and has been under his advance tutelage and guidance for the past 5 years. Under the guidance of her guru, Rhea has developed a wide repertoire in manodharma singing, mirroring the paddathi and padantharam of her guru’s lineage.
She has been keenly recognized by musical organizations in the U.S. for her classicism. From a competitive perspective, she has also been a finalist in the Carnatic Idol and a runner-up at the Sangeet Saamraat, premiered in Indian television channels.
Rhea is delighted to perform for the Hamsadhwani for the third consecutive year in Dec 2018. Elsewhere, Rhea is a leading participant at the Cleveland Music Festival in the U.S. and has also been performing in the Chennai Margazhi Season regularly, including Brahmagana Sabha, Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Nadasudha, Chennai Cultural Academy Trust, Madhuradhwani, Carnatica Global Fest, Panchamukha Aanjaneyar Temple and Cleveland Aradhana Festival of Music & Arts.
Sanika Pande is a budding young vocalist in the field of Carnatic music . She commenced her musical training under the tutelage of Guru Smt. Vasudha Ravi since she was 4 years old . She currently resides in California USA and has given many concerts there in
prestigious organizations like Lotus, SR Fine Arts , Nandalala Mission , Carnatic Chamber of Commerce etc . She also learns Carnatic Veena from Guru Srikanth Chary and Carnatic Key Board from Guru Keyboard Satya Narayanan.
Sanika is a proud recipient of many awards from various prestigious organization and participant in various causes:
a) Won 1st prize multiple times in vocal in Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana from 2015 onwards
b) Won 1st in Sangeeth Samraat USA in Sub Junior Category
c) Won multiple times in Papanasam Sivan competition USA
d) Won multiple times awards in Manodharmam category in Silicon Andhra Association In both regionals and finals
e) Finalist in Carnatic Music Idol USA
f) Regularly sings and accompanies in Veena and Keyboard in all pujas through out the year in Chinmaya Mission and other temples
g) Accompanies for various concerts in Bay Area for schools and other Utsavams
h) Has sung for multiple charitable cause in US specially for special needs kids
Sanjeev Raja is a disciple of Vidwan Sri Melakkaveri Balaji. He has been receiving intense training in mridangam for the past 13 years and has performed in over 100 concerts and festivals throughout the U.S and India. Sanjeev is a sophomore at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he is studying Chemical Engineering and Computer Science.
Sashwat is a student of Sri Paduka Academy under the able guidance of Sri. Hari Devanath & Sri. Vivek Sundararaman. He started his musical journey under the tutelage of Smt. Hema Sista, a disciple of Dr. M.L.Vasanthakumari. Sashwat takes advanced classes under his Paramaguru, Neyveli Sri. Santhanagoplan, immensely benefiting from Sir’s ocean of knowledge. He has participated in several events such as Cleveland Aradhana, Papanasam Sivan, Saptami and won prizes at various levels. He won the Advanced Pallavi and Senior Pallavi competitions at the prestigious Cleveland Aradhana 2018, Sashwat is a 12th grader at Evergreen Valley High School, San Jose, California. Sashwat enjoys writing and pens reviews for CCC (Carnatic Chamber Concerts), a monthly forum for budding musicians.
Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam is a Carnatic vocalist based in Los Angeles, California. She is a disciple of Vidushi Lalgudi Rajalakshmi. Sindhuja has performed concerts at various venues in India and the US. She was part of Pt. Ravi Shankar's musical ensemble that performed in Hollywood Bowl in 2009. Sindhuja also has an interest in composing and in the theoretical aspects of Carnatic music, and has produced a number of videos and written articles for Sruti magazine. Recently she was also part of several Carnatic video productions for IndianRaga. Sindhuja works as an assistant professor of philosophy of science at California State University, Northridge.
Srikar Chittari was initiated into mridangam by Sri Srinath Balasubramaniam at the age of five. Since then, he has been a disciple of Sri Vijay Ganesh and, more recently, Sri Neyveli Narayanan of Chennai. Srikar has accompanied many full-length concerts over the past eight years, including concerts in the Washington D.C. area, in the East Coast, in the Chennai December Music Season. He has also accompanied several senior AIR graded vidwans. In 2019, Srikar performed in the Madras Music Academy’s “Spirit of Youth” series. Srikar is currently a first-year engineering student at the University of Virginia.
Srinath Hariharan, a budding violinist and a dedicated student of the arts from Minneapolis, began learning under Vidushi Bhargavi Balasubramanian in 2014 and with Sangeet Samraat Chitravina N Ravikiran in 2015. With passionate dedication, he has developed a keenness for Carnatic nuances, its consummate approach to melody and inventive approaches to its rhythm. Srinath has won several first prizes in premiere National and State Level music competitions, including at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, Sangeet Samraat (Carnatic Premiere League) as well as the Minnesota Carnatic Star.
He performed ahead of his age to win the third place in the prestigious Concert Competition of the Cleveland Festival in 2019. Srinath completed his solo and accompaniment arangetram with renowned Akkarai Sisters in July 2019.
Srinath has also had the opportunity of performing as a soloist and as an accompanist in events such as the Minnesota Tyagaraja Aradhana (2017 - 2019), Melharmony Festivals of Minneapolis and Madison in 2017 and Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, 2018. Srinath also learns Western Classical and has performed at the MacPhail Center for Music and won prizes at the Minnesota State Fiddle Competitions. Srinath is 9th grader in Woodbury High School, Minnesota.
Sriranjani Haran, daughter of Shiva and Sumathy Haran, was born in New York in the year 2005. She started learning vocal Carnatic Music since the age of two from her mother Sumathy Haran, who runs a music school in New York. She continued her music education under Guru Smt. Radhika Pattabhiraman of Chennai at the age of eight. For the past few months she has been learning from Guru Smt. Sumithra Vasudev of Chennai. She is learning Veena from her aunt Guru Meena Swaminathan of Bangalore and Violin from Guru Sri Shankaran Chandran of Chennai.
Sriranjani has shown keen interest and demonstrated skills in music since a very young age. She has participated in many competitions held by local organizations such as Telugu Literary and Cultural Association (TLCA), Saraswathy Awards etc., in the Tristate Area and Shringeri Sharada Mutt in Pennsylvania. She won the Star Singer Award conducted by New York Tamil Sangam at the age of nine. She has also won prizes in Sangeet Samrat competition at the national level. She has participated and sang in many groups in various organizations such as Shruitilaya, Mahavallabha Ganapathy Temple, Shri Shirdi Saibaba Temple in New York. She has given solo concerts in Shrutilaya a few times and a concert held at Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple in Bangalore. She has also won awards in her school competitions.
Sriranjani is very interested in Manodharma and has demonstrated great finesse in developing her own Alapana for a few ragas. Her Kalpana Swaras are very unique and she has been developing them with very limited training. These days she shows great interest in Neraval and has created some in a couple of Keerthanas.
Sriranjani is studying in the 9th grade in Benjamin Cordozo High School in Queens in New York this current year. She has been in the gifted and talented program in the middle school at Irwin Altman Middle School in Queens, New York and continues in the same program at High School too. In addition she also plays Tennis and loves the game. Sriranjani’s main interest is in Carnatic Music and aspires to do more learning to enhance her talent.
Srividya Sriram started learning violin at the age of 6,initially under Smt Rajeswari Arvind of Kolkata and later moved to Smt Vasantha Kannan of the illustrious Lalgudi Gharana.She started giving full time concerts at the age of 12 under the able guidance of her Guru.Srividya has performed widely both as a soloist and accompanist, at all leading venues in and around Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.She has performed alongside leading artistes like Smt Vishaka Hari,Sri Sikkil Gurucharan ,Sri Sriram Parthasarathy, Ustad Shakir Khan and Haridwaramangalam Sri AK Pazhanivel during their concert tours to Singapore and Malaysia..She is also a sought after violinist for many a dance shows and arangetrams in Singapore.Srividya is an accomplished" A "Graded Carnatic vocalist and has trains a number of students for both vocal and violin.
Sudarshan Mohan is a student of Vidwan Kalaimamani Sri R. Suryaprakash, the contemporary torch bearer of the Madurai Mani Iyer bANi of Carnatic Music. Sudarshan is a medical student in Virginia, USA.
I am Swathi Lakshmanan, Bharathanatyam Dancer, professionally trained under Guru Shri K Mohanan and his wife Shrimathi Sunitha Mohanan for more than 15 years in Chennai. I currently live in the US and I run a dance school here in the USA. I teach and perform in various parts of the US and in India.
Vignesh Ravi, a mridangam player, is a student of Sri. Sridhar Chari, a prime disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman. Vignesh has been teaching a number of student mridangam alongwith his guru Sri. Sridhar Chari for the last 5 years. Vignesh performed his arangetram in August 2013 where he accompanied Sri Saketharaman and Sri. Nagai Sriram. Vignesh has performed at a number of cities across Australia including the multicultural festival in Canberra, Annamacharya celebrations in Adelaide, at Murugan temple and Neyveli Sishya Kulam in Perth. In 2017 and 2018, Vignesh has performed at Narada Gana Sabha, Hamsadhwani, Nadasudha and Chandrasekhara Media. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession.
Arjun Ramachandran has been learning Mridangam from the age of 8 from his illustrious Kalaimamani Sri Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan. He also learns vocal music from the renowned artist Sri Madurai Sundar. Arjun annually participates in the Chennai Music Season and Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. Arjun has performed at Tirupati multiple times for the Nadaneerajanam program and performs annually in the prestigious sabhas of Chennai. Furthermore, he was also able to gain tutelage from Guru Shri Karaikudi Mani during the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. Moreover, he has accompanied several ‘A’ grade AIR (All India Radio) artists such Veena Balakrishnan, Tirupati Yella Srivani, Smt. Padma Sugavanam to name a few. Arjun is a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University and he hopes to continue with this passion and become an accomplished musician.
Chetana began her training in Carnatic vocal and violin under Sri.Raman Iyer in the Seattle area at the age of 11 years . Subsequently, she was under the tutelage of Sri.P Govindarajan (senior disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi M.Chandrasekharan) after which she was fortunate to come under the direct tutelage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Kum. A KanyaKumari . Besides being proficient on the violin, Chetana also shows promise as a talented vocalist , under the guidance of eminent flautist Smt. Shantala Subramanyam. In addition, she is also under the guidance of Dr. Sanjay Subramanian (Student of Neyveli Santhanagopalan)
Melbourne-based twin brothers Ramnath Iyer and Gopinath Iyer began their veena training from vidushi Srimathi Rajagopalan before becoming disciples of veena maestros Shri R. Pichumani and Trivandrum Shri R.Venkataraman. Australia’s leading exponents of the veena, the Iyer Brothers have made a name for themselves in Australia and overseas as a unique duo in Carnatic (South Indian) classical music. Their music is both exciting and complex, beautiful and challenging. The brothers are ‘A’ graded artists of All India Radio and Doordharshan.
Ramnath has been a resident of Melbourne since 1986. He has worked with visiting professional musicians from India, including the famous flute maestro Dr. N.Ramani. Ramnath has served as a peer specialist in Indian Music for the Australia Council from 1996. In 2002 Ramnath served as an adjudicator for veena at the third biennial Indian music competition held in Singapore by the National Arts Coucil of Singapore. Before immigrating to Australia in October 1993, Gopinath was a resident of New Zealand where he performed extensively. A few notable performances being Wellington Access Radio, Victoria University of Wellington and the NZ Academy of Bharatanatyam. He has participated with the renowned violin maestro Dr. L Subramaniam in a workshop during the Asia Pacific Festival in Wellington, in 1992.
Since 1994, the brothers have been performing together and have been very well received in various centres around Australia and overseas, including the Four Winds Festival at Bermagui (1995), Australian Institute of Eastern Music in Sydney (1997, 1999), Port Fairy Folk Festival (1999), Womadelaide (2001), The Boite (1999 to 2012), SIFAS, Singapore (1998), ACT National Multicultural Festival in Canberra (1998), Australian National Folk Festival (2004) and their own performance projects which have been funded by Australia Council and Arts Victoria (1994, 1995, 1997) . The brothers have released a number of audiocassettes and CDs with the help of a grant from the Australia Council. Their CDs titled ‘Soulful Strings’ and ‘Sound of Tradition’ were featured in ‘The Planet’ program of Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National channel.
Since 1994, the brothers are annually featured in the December music festival in Chennai, India and have received rave reviews from the press. They have been featured in all the major sabhas in Chennai: The Music Academy, Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha, The Mylapore Fine Arts Club, The Indian Fine Arts to name a few. The brothers have also performed in Mysore, Bangalore Mumbai and Kerala in recent years. The brothers were adjudged as the best veena artists in the sub-senior category at the Music Academy (Lakshmi Sundaram award for Veena) and senior category at the Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai. In 2010, the brothers were awarded the “Multicultural Award for Excellence 2010 - Contribution to Arts” by the then Premier of the State of Victoria, Australia, Mr John Brumby. The brothers were invited to perform at the 2013 Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival in Cleveland, USA. All India Radio featured them in their prestigious 2013 Series of Sangeet Sammelan concerts in Mumbai.
In 1990 the brothers established the Pichumani School of Carnatic Music in Melbourne and have been teaching the art of veena playing and vocal music through this institution for the last 25 years. The school has grown considerably during this period with a dedicated group of about fifty students. They have also presented eight of their senior students in full length solo veena recitals and two senior students in vocal recitals.
Jahnavi Murali became interested in Carnatic music at a very young age, and she started lessons at the age of six from Smt. Gnanam Subramaniam, disciple of the late Shri T. R. Subramanium. Subsequently, she began lessons with Shri Madurai R. Sundar when she was eight. She has been under his tutelage for the past 14 years. Jahnavi has won prizes at several competitions, and has performed all around United States. Including at Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Samagaana, and others. Jahnavi has traveled to Chennai to perform in the past four December Music Seasons, giving concerts at Krishna Gana Sabha, Brahma Gana Sabha, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, kartick fine arts, Chennai Cultural Academy, Asthika Samajam and Hamsadhwani among others. She is currently studying chemical engineering at The Ohio State University, and is also an accomplished cellist.
Srimathi Kala Srinivasan, an experienced Jalatharangam artist and Bharatanatyam dancer, reputed for her extra-ordinary talents in music and dance, has been one of the major pillars of Music and Dance performances in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, for almost three decades.
Born in a family of musicians and being the daughter to late Kalaimamani Srimathi Seetha Doraiswamy, a Jalatharangam widhwan, who herself has performed a number of times in Tirupati including the Brahmotsavam organized by Thirupathi Devasthanam, it was only natural for Kala Srinivasan to diversify her talents into various different forms of Carnatic Music. She obtained her Diploma in Music specializing in Vocal music and Veena and was awarded the Sangeetha Sironmani certificate by the Tamil Nadu Government Music College. She started performing the very rare Indian Classical instrument, the Jalatharangam, at a very young age and has been a regular Doordarshan and All India Radio artiste. She hasover hundred performances to her credit in India, Oman and the UAE. She was also selected by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1984 to perform the Jalatharangam in several parts of Tamil Nadu in a move to encourage rare talents and classical instruments. She has conducted and played the Jalatharangam in her own creation of a Vadhya Vrinda, an orchestra consisting of multiple Indian percussion instruments blended together in fine tune, in the presence of the ambassadors to various countries, in Oman, on the occasion of the Indian Independence Day. In 2013, she received the high honor of performing for Shri Jayendra Saraswathi, the 69" Shankaracharya Guru of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam.
Kapil Ramanarayanan is a Second Year student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been learning mridangam for more than 13 years. He is under the tutelage of Vidhwan Bangalore Arjun Kumar. He is an advanced mridangam player and has accompanied for Concerts in Chennai, Bangalore and the US. He has won several prizes at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, including first prize for mridangam thani (solo) in the Senior category.
Kesav Viswanadha has been learning Carnatic vocal music from Sri Ashok Subramaniam since he was 5 years old. Over the past decade, he has given several one-hour long concerts around the Bay Area, including the Silicon Valley LOTUS program, and several temples and cultural organizations. He has participated in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and the Papanasam Sivan festival songs competition, where he has won several prizes.
He made his debut in the Chennai music season in 2018, with concerts at “Art on Terrace”, Charu Shree Musik Academy, and the Hamsadhwani NRI festival.
Kesav is a rising junior at the University of California, Berkeley, studying electrical engineering and computer science. He is involved with Laya of Berkeley, an on-campus organization that promotes Indian classical music in Berkeley and the surrounding community. He is also an International Master of chess, representing the US at several international events.
Saaketh Nandakumar is an 10th grader in Evergreen Valley High School. He has been learning Mridangam under the tutelage of Shri Ramesh Srinivasan of Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center for over six years.
Saaketh’s Mridangam arangetram was held on June 2018 in Chennai where he accompanied distinguished artist Smt. Vasudha Ravi. He has also accompanied several leading Bay Area artists and schools. He has participated in numerous events in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, Naadaneeranjanam in Tirupathi, various Sabha in Chennai season 2018-2019 and various other events in the bay area.
He is a runner and has won awards in various running meets in the Bay Area. He was the Valedictorian of Chaboya middle school’s class of 2018.
Sharadh has been learning Carnatic Violin at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society since he was seven, and he is currently under the tutelage of Guru Nellai Ravindran, since July 2010. He completed his 8th Year Diploma in 2013 for Carnatic Violin and achieved the ‘Vadhya Visharad’ title the same year. He also achieved the Best Student Award for his 5th Year exams in 2010. Prior to Guru Ravindran, Sharadh was also taught by Guru N. N. Ganesh Kumar and Guru Shertalai Sivakumar. He has played solo in the SIFAS Festival of Music and Dance since 2012. He is also an accomplished accompanist, having accompanied several artistes on the violin in temple performances, in the SIFAS Chennai Music Festivals, SIFAS Festivals of Music and Dance since 2013, Giri Fine Arts Festival 2018, Hamsadhwani NRI Festival 2018 and the Melbourne Trinity and Tyagaraja Festival 2019.
Sharadh has achieved top places for both Carnatic Vocal and Violin in the National Indian Music Competition organised by the National Arts Council, Singapore in the Intermediate category in 2014, and the Open category in 2017.
Sharadh is currently an undergraduate student at the National University of Singapore, and is pursuing a double major in computer science and physics.
Varun Viswanath learnt the art of playing Mridangam starting at a young age from Layakala Ratna Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan, a leading disciple of Mridangam Maestro late Vellore Sri.G.Ramabhadran, and has trained under him at Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center, San Jose, for over 12 years.
Varun performs widely in the San Francisco Bay & Sacramento area and provides accompaniment for youth and adult vocal and instrumental concerts at various venues under the auspices of several organizations, Swaralahari-TV programs, temple events and fundraisers; Taala-Vaadya programs and dance programs in the bay area.
Varun had his mridangam arangetram in Chennai at the age of 11, where he accompanied Sangeetha Choodamani Vidwan Sri. O.S.Thyagarajan, presided and blessed by late Sangeetha Kalanidhi Vellore Sri. G. Ramabadhran.
Since then, he has performed at various venues during the December Music season in Chennai, accompanying leading musicians and their disciples, and has performed at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana for music ensembles and concerts.
He is privileged to have accompanied visiting AIR graded artists like Smt Bhargavi Balasubramanian, Sri G.Ravikiran, Sri. Tejasvi Raghunath, Sri. Srinivas Meduri, Sri V.V.Ravi & Smt Jayalakshmi Sekhar,Sri. Dushyanth Sridhar for Sangeetha Upanyasam, and double mridangam with a Senior Artist Trichur Sri.Narendran for Dr. Palghat Ramaprasad concert.
Varun is an undergraduate sophomore majoring in cell biology at UC Davis , CA.
Vasudev Raguram began his Mridangam journey at the tender age of 9 with Guru Ramamoorthy Dharamala and then transitioned to Guru Erode Sri Nagaraj. Vasu performed at his first concert at the young age of 12 at a Kalakendra Annual Community Music Concert. Since then Vasu has performed at several local events, such as, Thyagaraja Aradhanas in Portland, Seattle and Corvallis, annual Marghazi Utsavam at the Portland Balaji temple and Kalakendra sponsored music concerts.
Vasu continued his musical training with Guru Sri Ravi Balasubramanian. With Guru Sri Ravi's training and guidance, he performed at his own Arangetram in August 2016, accompanying professional artists such as Neyveli Santhanagopalan(vocal) and Sri Vittal Ramamurthy (violin).
Vasu had the opportunity to participate at the Chennai Music Festival in India during the 2017-2018 seasons and performed with several local and other NRI artists.
Vasu has also played for dance arangetrams for students of the Nartana School of Kuchipidi Dance and Navarasa School of Dance.
Vasu is receiving advanced Mridangam training under the tutelage of Guru Sri Mannarkoil Balaji.
Vasu is a college freshman at the University of Washington from the fall of 2019.
Vignesh Thyagarajan hails from a family of musicians belonging to the lineage of Flute Maestro Brahmashri Sarabha Sastrigal and started learning Carnatic vocal and violin at a very young age with his mother Smt. Rama Thyagarajan, a renowned Bay Area music teacher. He also under-went training in the violin from Sri. Susheela Narasimhan for a few years. He is currently under the guidance of his uncle and guru Vidwan Delhi Sri P. SunderRajan, and has been learning vio-lin and vocal from his guru for 14 years. He has regularly accompanied in the Chennai December Music Festival for the past 6 years in leading sabhas such as Naradha Gana Sabha, Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, Kapali Fine Arts, Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai Cultural Academy, Trinity Music Festival, Asthika Samajam (Tiruvanmyur), Papanasam Sivan Sabha (Madipakkam), Cleveland Festival in Chennai, and Maarga. He has also performed at the Madras Music Academy for the 2016 Spirit of Youth series, 2017 HCL series, 2018 Radel Mid-Year Concert series, and its prestigious Annual December Music Conference.
Vignesh has also performed widely throughout the USA, in various states like New Jersey, Cali-fornia, North Carolina, Washington, Oregon, Nebraska, and Ohio for chamber concerts and fes-tivals, notably the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival held annually in Cleve-land, Ohio. He has performed many solos throughout the US and provided violin accompaniment to many visiting artists from India.
Vignesh has had the privilege of accompanying his guru, Vidwan Delhi Sri P. SunderRajan, in multiple concerts as violin support and violin accompaniment.
Vignesh had his solo violin arangetram in the year of 2014 accompanied by Vidwan Neyveli Sri R. Narayanan on the mridangam and Vidwan Adambakkam Sri K. Sankar on the ghatam.
Anjali Prabhala is an All India Radio (AIR) B Grade artist in Carnatic Vocal music. Anjali started her initial training with her parents, Srinivas and Uma Prabhala, who are vocal and veena musicians. She has been undergoing intensive training under esteemed guru, AIR A grade artist, Vizianagaram D Vardhani garu.
Anjali has been performing in various prestigious Sabhas and venues across India and USA. She was the IndianRaga Regional ambassador for USA, where she recorded several albums including a youtube video album titled ‘Kapi with Krishna’. She has won numerous prizes in national level competitions in Manodharma category and has received recognition from esteemed artists like Sudha Raghunathan, Neyvelli sir and Carnatica brothers. She has recorded several albums both classical and devotional, including a recording for an independent film ‘Vindhya Marutham’.
Anjali has a Diploma in Carnatic music from PS University Hyderabad. She is currently pursuing her Computer Science engineering from the University of Texas Dallas.