Fall 2012 workshop/outreach programs

presents
Classical melodies with folk influences featuring
S. Sowmya and Bharat Sundar

Listen to sample music tracks

Sruti brings Sowmya and Bharat Sundar with all of their accompanists on stage together to present a traditional Carnatic format concert that will showcase this evolution of Carnatic music from the indigenous music of South India by presenting folk tunes such as the Kavadi Chindu, talattu to the dignified padams and javalis to the sophisticated and complex ragam, tanam and pallavi. Sowmya and Bharat Sundar will be accompanied by B.U. Ganesh Prasad and M.S. Anantha Krrishnan on the violin and Neyveli Narayanan and Trivandrum Balaji on the mridangam and K. V. Gopalakrishnan on the kanjira.
Saturday, November 10 at 4.30 p.m.
Montgomery County Community College
340 Dekalb Pike
Blue Bell, PA 19422
View Map and Directions
Purchase Tickets
at sruti.tix.com

$25 (General Admission)
$20 (for Sruti members)
$15 (Seniors/Students)
$5 (Child)

This program is supported by Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project

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S. Sowmya, Vocal:
A Carnatic musician by profession, Sowmya’s life has been soaked in melody from the very beginning. Growing up in a traditional South Indian family, she had her initial tutelage in music from her father Dr. Srinivasan, a Chemical Engineer with an enduring passion for Carnatic Music. Later she was singularly fortunate to be taken under the wings of Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. S. Ramanathan - exemplary musician, esteemed musicologist and extraordinary human being. She received further training from Smt. T. Muktha, of the legendary Brinda-Muktha duo. She attributes her success and achievements till today to these individuals and to the bountiful blessings of her beloved Ambal, the Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram. The desire to propagate the traditions of South Indian music worldwide led her to establish Carnatica, an institution dedicated to music & dance instruction, archival, talent search and other related activities. In addition to being an accomplished musician, Sowmya also has excellent academic credentials. She is a double postgraduate (Master’s in Chemistry as well as Indian Music) and was a top-ranked scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) and the University of Madras. Currently pursuing doctoral research under the guidance of Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy at the University of Madras, Sowmya is a widely traveled, popular vocalist who strives to adhere to the strict classical values imbibed from her gurus Dr. Ramanathan and Smt. Mukta.

SS

Bharat Sundar, Vocal:
Bharat Sundar took the Carnatic music world by storm by winning as the first Carnatic Music Idol on Jaya TV. He has been trained by Gayathri Mahesh, G. Srikanth and Leelavathi Gopalakrishnan. He is currently receiving advanced training from P.S.Narayanaswamy. He has performed at various venues in India accompanied by senior instrumentalists and has received multiple awards for a musician of great promise. These include Isai Chudar, Yuvakala Barathi and Maharajapuram Santhanam award.

BS

B.U. Ganesh Prasad, Violin:
B.U.Ganesh Prasad hails from a family of connoisseurs of classical music & his blazing talent was recognized at a very young age by his father late Sri B.S. Umakanth. He had his initial violin training under Basavanagudi Nataraj & vocal guidance from Bangalore S.Shankar during his formative years. It was under the able guidance of violin maestro Sri V.V.Subramaniam that Ganesh further honed & nurtured his skills. An accomplished vocalist himself, he is able to vocalize his violin style with fluency. He is currently the disciple of Sangeetha Kalacharya P.S.Narayanaswamy of Semmangudi School. Acknowledged as a violinist par excellence, Ganesh Prasad is an A- graded artist of All India Radio & Doordarshan. He has accompanied legendary musicians in the field of Carnatic music including ,Smt D. K. Pattamal, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, T.V.Shankaranarayanan ,Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan, R.K. Srikantan & among the present day top artists like Bombay Jayshree, Sudha Raghunathan, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, T.M. Krishna to name a few.

Parur M. S. Ananthakrrishnan, Violin:
Being the fourth generation violinist of the Parur family and great grandson of Parur A Sundaram Iyer, he started learning from his grandfather Sangitha Kala Acharya Prof.Parur Sri M S Anantharaman. His maiden concert was at the age of seven with his grandfather at Sri Thyagaraja Vidwath Samajam. He also performs Quartet Violin programs with his father Sri M A Sundareswaran and his uncle Sri M A Krishnaswamy. He is a vocalist. He had his initial training from his aunt Smt.Lakshmi Krishnaswamy and Smt.Kalpagam Raman. Now he is learning from Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan. He has been performing for the last fifteen years and has accompanied many leading vidwans. A B-High grade artist of the All India Radio Chennai, he has performed in radio and television programs. He has performed in India and other countries like USA, Canada. He was the only Indian artist in the Awesome Africa Music Festival conducted at Durban, South Africa. He recently rendered solo violin concerts in Germany and Denmark. He is a part of a fusion band called Zinx who perform contemporary fusion music blending the Indian and the Western styles. They were the winners of Ooh La La La which was judged by Oscar winner A R Rahman. They were judged as one of India's top 5 bands in Yamaha Asian Beats. He has worked in the movie "3" which was famous for 'Why This Kolaveri Di' song. Has also played violin for many music directors.

Neyveli Narayanan, Mridangam:
Neyveli Narayanan was initiated into the art of Mrudangam playing at the young age of seven, under the guidance of Sri S.K. Ganesa Pillai. He made his debut at the age of 11 and ever since, he has been rising in his art by furthering his horizons and making a mark in the field of carnatic music. An intensive training under the Maestro Late Thanjavur Sri Upendran brought about a great amount of professionalism in Narayanan's playing. His guru taught him the intricacies and specialities of the Tanjore Style of playing on the mrudangam. Narayanan is now blessed with the rare opportunity of being one of the favorite disciples of the Mrudangam Legend Padmabushan Umayalpuram Sri K.Sivaraman. This great influence has brought in a great amount of clarity, precision and perfection in Narayanan's style. He has accompanied almost all the veterans and present day stars of carnatic music, to name a few, M/S. Madurai T.N Seshagopalan, K.V. Narayanaswamy, Flute Ramani, Chitravina Ravikiran, Sudha Ragunathan, Sowmya, Aruna Sairam, Hyderabad Brothers, Malladi Brothers, and others.

Trivandrum Balaji, Mridangam:
Trivandrum K. Balaji had his initial training under late Sri B. Doraiswamy of Trivandrum, Sri K.Krishna Iyengar of Trivandrum, Trivandrum Sri R. Vaidyanathan and later had his tutelage under the legendary Vidwan Padmasri Sangeetha Kalanidhi Palghat Sri R. Raghu. He has the privilege of accompanying various leading stars in the Carnatic Music Industry like, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. Sri N.Ramani, Sangitha Kalandhi Sri T.V.Sakaranarayanan, Sri.O.S.Thiagarajan and others. He is presently an ‘A’ Grade artist in The All India Radio, Chennai. Apart from accompanying Carnatic artists, he is also a much sought-after Mridangist in the Cinema Industry and has worked with famous music directors like Mr. Vidyasagar, Mr. Deva, Mr. Haris Jayaraj and others. At present, Balaji is training lot of keen students in India, as well as in USA and Australia.

K.V. Gopalakrishnan, Kanjira:
K.V. Gopalakrishnan started learning kanjira under his father and Guru Sri K.V.R.S. Mani. He is currently undergoing advanced training under 'Sangeetha Kalanidhi' Dr.T.K. Murthy. He has accompanied many leading artistes such as Sri T. N. Seshagopalan, Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Sri T.M. Krishna, Sri P. Unnikrishnan, Malladi Brothers, Smt. Bombay Jayashri, Smt. S. Sowmya, Smt. Ranjani & Smt. Gayatri, Smt. Sudha Raghunathan, Smt. Aruna Sairam, Dr N. Ramani (Flute), Sri R. Ganesh & Sri R. Kumaresh (Violin duet), Sri Kadri Gopalnath (Saxophone) and many others. He has received awards such as the 'Harihara Sarma Award' for the Best Kanjira artiste from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in the Gokulashtami series for the year 2002. He was honoured by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam as the 'Asthaana Vidwan' in October 2007. He received the title 'Yuva Kala Bharathi' from Bharath Kalachar in December 2007.