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About the Artists

 

 

Abhhishek Raghuram - Hailing from a musical family, Abhishek Raghuram is the grandson of Padmashri Palghat Raghu. Before taking up Vocal music, Abhishek had his initial training in Mridangam from his grandfather. This has helped him in appreciating the intricacies of rhythm at an early age.

Abhishek is undergoing training in Vocal music under Shri P.S. Narayanaswamy since 1994. He is also a proficient Kanjira artiste. He has accompanied various artistes and has played with Mridangam Maestros Palghat Raghu, Dr.T.K.Murthy, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, etc.

Right from young age, he has won several prizes in the competitions conducted by Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine arts, Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha etc. At the age of 7, Raghuram was awarded GOLD MEDAL for Mridangam in the MAZHALAI MEDHAI CONTEST (An all India contest organized by the Tamil magazine ANANDA VIKATAN to spot talents in various fields). He also won the first prize in the Pallavi singing competition organized by S.Balachander Trust – Madras in the year 1996.

He is a recipient of scholarship awarded by Sterling Holiday Resorts -Madras, for outstanding youngsters in Music. He is also a recipient of Bharat Kalachar scholarship and Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram scholarship awarded to outstanding students in various arts.

He has been giving Vocal performances since 1994. He gave his first performance at the age of 9 under the auspices of Percussive Arts Centre, Bangalore. Since then he has been performing all over India for various organizations in the country.

 

 Mysore K. Srikanth - is a senior disciple of Vidwan Sri H.K. Narasimha Murthy of Mysore. He started learning Violin at a very young age and has undergone rigorous training for more than eighteen years.

Srikanth Venkataraman has been giving performances from his fifteenth year. He has gained rich experience by accompanying Top Artists  like R.K Srikantan , Dr M.Balamurali Krishna , T.N Seshagopalan , T.V Shankaranarayanan , O S Thiagarajan , Trichur V. Ramachandran Hyderabad  Brothers, Flute K.S.Gopalakrishnan , Rudrapatnam Brothers , Bombay Sisters, Sudha Raghunathan , Bombay Jayashri and others.  He has also performed with great Mridangam stalwarts like Palghat Sri Raghu ,T.K.Murthy, Karaikudi R. Mani , Umayalpuram Sivaraman , Guruvayur Dorai, Vellore Ramabhadran and many others.

He is also performing with talented young artists like Malladi Brothers , Abhishek Raghuram , Ranjani - Gayathri , T .V. Ramprasadh , O.S Arun & others . Srikanth has been featured in all prestegious Music Sabhas & organizations throughout the country.

Srikanth , graded artist of AIR & Doordarshan , performs regularly for All India Radio, Doordarshan and other T.V Channels.  He has also performed for National Program of Music of Doordarshan and other TV Channels.  He has recorded many commercial CDs & cassettes with many great artists.  Srikanth has won a number of prizes , accolades and appreciation from rasikas and critics. He is the recipient  of cultural talent search scholarship of Government of India ,and has achieved distinction  in the Senior Grade Music Examination .

He was adjudjed the Best Violinist by

1..Sri Krishna Gana Sabha  1995

2.The Indian Fine Arts Society ( Sub -Senior category ) - Dec  2000  Music Season

3.Karnataka Gana Kala Parishat ( Young Musicians' Conference -2001 )

4. The Music Academy ( Madras _ - Dec 2002 Music Season

Srikanth has been conferred with the title " Kala Praveena " in Feb 2002 at Bangalore .

He was honoured with the prestigious Award for talented young Musicians - "Ananya Yuva Puraskara "  for 2004 by the organization ' Ananya " of Bangalore .

Srikanth is now regularly performing with many great artists & undergoing intensive training intricacies of violin playing and looking forward for great achievement in the filed of Music.

Sriaknth has traveled abroad widely to U.S.A , Australia , New Zealand ,Dubai , Singapore , Qatar  with Rudrapatnam Brothers , T.N Seshagopalan , Ranjani - Gayathri , Malladi Brothers , Flute Raman & others 

 

 Manoj Siva -Began his training in mrudangam under Kumbakonam Shri.Rajappa Iyer and Srirangarajapuram Jayaraman in the year 1977 and later on came under the tutelage of  Padmasri Palghat R.Raghu in the year 1992.

Is an “ A “ grade artiste of All India Radio Chennai and has been in the profession for more than 20 years. Known for his soft and accommodative style he has accompanied stalwarts like Shri.D.K.Jayaraman, Shri.K.V.Narayanaswamy, Shri.D.K.Pattamal, Smt.T.Muktha, Shri.R.K.Srikantan, Shri.P.S.Narayanswamy, Sri N.Ramani, Smt.R.Vedavalli, Shri.T.N.Seshagopalan, Shri.T.V.Sankaranarayanan.

Has won many prizes and awards notably Vellore Gopalachari award for Mrudangam accompaniment by The Music Academy, Madras, Yuva Kala Bharathi by the Bharath Kalachar, Chennai, the “Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award” by the Central Sangeeth Natak Academi for the year 2006.

Has traveled widely abroad on concert tours to countries U.S.A, Canada, London, Germany, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Australia.

 

Dr. Ravi Balasubramanian is the most sought-after Ghatam artiste in North America and is known for his energetic and sensitive accompaniment and solos. Ravi has extensive experience in Carnatic percussion, including performing on the Ghatam at top musical institutions such as the Chennai Music Academy and the Cleveland Aradhana for over fourteen years. He received the title Yuva Kala Bharathi in 2003 from Bharat Kalachar, a music organization in Chennai, for excellence and dedication in the art of Ghatam. Ravi has had the rare honor and experience of performing with leading artistes including Sangitha Kalanidhi vocalists, violinists, flautists, and mridangists in India, USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.  Ravi received his initial tutelage from Palghat Sri P. K. Sekar and Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. T. K. Murthy and later pursued advanced training from Sri V. Suresh in Chennai, India. Ravi has given lecture-demonstrations on the Ghatam in the University of Pittsburgh, PA. He recently received his doctorate in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and is a Research Associate in the University of Washington.