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Profile of Sudha Raghunathan
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Best questions will get
INRECO
CDs as prizes
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'After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.' So believes Sudha Raghunathan, one of the foremost disciples of Padmabhushan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi M. L. Vasantha
Kumari.
Sudha had her initial training in Carnatic classical vocal music from her mother Choodamani at the early age of nine and then continued training under B. V. Lakshman for a brief period. The year 1977, was truly a turning point in Sudha's career. In 1977, Sudha received the Central Government Scholarship for young artistes for advanced training in Carnatic music for two years. Sudha was fortunate to come under the expert tutelage of M. L. V. She was given an extension of the scholarship for a third year on the basis of her merit.
She provided vocal support to her Guru MLV in most of her concerts between 1978-1987 and travelled widely with her mentor to the US, Canada, U K and the Middle East.
Academically, Sudha is a post-graduate in the faculty of Economics. She won the rare distinction of being awarded the 'Most Outstanding Student' of the Ethiraj College for three years in succession. Besides music, Sudha has at college level proven her prowess in diversified fields such as debates, quiz, dramatics and essay writing. She held the post of Treasurer and later Vice-President of the Students' Union and won the 'Service to the College' Medal too.
Sudha is a top ranking artiste of the All India Radio, Madras, and performs regularly for the AIR and the Doordarshan. She had the honour of being chosen to perform for the first LIVE broadcast of the National Programme Series of Concerts in February 1998, besides performing for the Radio Sangeeth Sammelan at Hassan and for special programmes organised by Akashvani for Tamil New Year's Day, Pongal and Deepavali. Sudha has been featured by many TV Channels in numerous
programmes.
 She has to her credit a number of cassettes and compact discs of Classical and Devotional Music which are rated high on the popularity charts. Many leading recording companies and banners such as Amutham Inc. (New York); AVM-Sony Nad; Music Today, Vani Recording Co., INRECO and Super Recording Co. Ltd. consider Sudha as one of their prime artistes.
Sudha has won over 250 prizes which include music competitions conducted by various institutions at the State and National levels. She has won accolades and awards for her outstanding performances at the Music Academy and Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai, among others. Some of the most memorable and prestigious ones are the Akashvani Music Competition awards in all three categories -- Classical, Semi-Classical and light music; the Kalki Thambura Prize and the Rajaji Thambura Prize of the Music Academy and the Tamil Isai Sangam respectively.
 Sudha's concert schedules amaze many. It would be easier to mention the countries she has not performed in than the other way around.
Sudha has certainly carved a niche for herself in the international circuit. She has represented the Carnatic discipline of music at several International Festivals. Among the countries she has performed in are the US, Canada, U K, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Phillipines, Indonesia, The Middle East (Doha, Muscat, Bahrain and Dubai), Switzerland, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
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Sudha Raghunathan Titles |
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Award
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Honoured
by
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| 'Kalaimamani' |
The highest award conferred by the Tamil Nadu Government, given to outstanding artistes - 1993. |
| 'Sangeetha
Choodamani' |
awarded by Sri Krishna Gana
Sabha, Chennai in 1997. |
| 'Bharat
Jyothi' |
Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, New York in 1998 |
| 'Isai
Peroli' and VST Award for Excellence |
Kartik Fine Arts |
| 'Amudha Isai
Vani' |
Tamil
Sangam, New York. |
| 'Sangeetha
Saraswathi' |
The Mahasannidanam of
Sringeri. |
| 'Udhavum
Oli' |
Vasantha Memorial Trust,
Coimbatore. |
| 'Gana
Kuyil' |
Valmiki
Manram, Chennai. |
| 'Rasika Priya
Ratnam' |
Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Spiritual
Centre, Chennai. |
| 'Saptaswara Sangeetha
Vani' |
Sri
Bharathalaya, Chennai. |
| 'Bharaha Sangeetha
Bhushana' |
Sri
Bharathalaya, Chennai. |
| 'Swara Raga Laya
Ratna' |
Academy of Indian Music, Melbourne. |
| 'Rasika Kala
Ratna' |
Rasika
Priya, Sydney |
| 'Gana Sudha
Amrithvarshini' |
Sree Kanchi Kamakoti
Peetam. |
| 'Vasantha Gaana
Vaarithi' |
Canatic Music Association of Ohio, Michigan, U. S. a. |
| 'Gana Kala
Bhushani' |
Sankarabharanam Trust,
Chennai. |
| 'Thennisai
Thilakam' |
The Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America
& the Tamil Nadu Foundation, U.S.A. |
| 'Ugaadi
Puraskar' award |
Telugu Academy. |
| 'Yuva Kala
Bharathi' |
Bharat
Kalachar. |
| 'Youth Excellence Award' |
Sri Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Trust |
| 'Woman of Golden Substance - 1998 - 1999' |
Rotary Club, Madras. |
'TOYI' Award, 1994
(as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Indians) |
The Indian Junior Chamber. |
She received the prestigious Senior Musician Award, the 'Yogam Nagaswamy' award at the Sadas of the Music Academy on January 1, 1997 for her performance at the Annual Conference of the Music Academy.
Sudha received a Junior Fellowship for two years (from February 1993 to February 1995), from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, given to outstanding Artistes in the field of Performing Arts.
She had the coveted honour of performing to a packed auditorium at the Theatre de la Ville, Paris, France on 19th January 2000.
Sudha had the privilege of participating in the celebrations to earmark the completion of 50 years of the Indian Republic. She had the unique honour of rendering the 'Vande Mataram' at the Central Hall of Parliament, New-Delhi on 27th January, 2000 to a full house in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries.
She had the exceptional honour of being the only Indian, in fact, the only Asian to perform at the 'International Festival - ECHTERNACH' at Luxembourg on June 3, 1995. After that, she had 19 performances touring France, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland and U K.
Sudha participated in the 8th World Tamil Conference held in Thanjavur in January 1995 and performed two concerts on January 2nd and 3rd, 1995.
She had the honour of participating in the 22nd I.T.C. Sangeeth Sammelan organised by the S. R. A. Calcutta held at Siri Fort, New Delhi in April 1993.
She was invited by the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi to participate in the 'Yuva Utsav' 1992 at Hyderabad, and at the India International Festival, Bombay on March 12, 1993 in collaboration with the ICCR. She also had the honour of performing at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Centre, New York Broadway on September 18, 1998 for Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New York to commemorate 50 years of its inception.
 Sudha launched a Trust for social welfare activities on July 20, 2000. The trust has been named the 'Samudhaaya Foundation'. She takes pride and responsibility in playing the role of the Managing Trustee. The Trust covers a wide spectrum of activities ranging from music to education, as also many charitable causes. As the first project, Samudhaaya Foundation collected Rs. five lakh and donated the money to the KARGIL DEFENCE PERSONNEL RELIEF FUND. The target was mobilised through a benefit concert by Sudha on the inaugural day. As the second project, Samudhaaya Foundation donated a sum of Rs. one lakh to the cyclone-stricken victims of Orissa in December 1999. She performed a Jugalbandhi concert with Aparna Panshikar of Pune in aid of this project.
A very famous critic
SUBBUDU writes as follows:
(A translation from Tamil to English.)
"If I were left deserted on a lonely island, and if I were granted permission to hold three products that I liked very much, I would list the following in order of my preference:
A. An audio-visual cassette of singer Sudha Ragunathan;
B. Betel leaves and tobacco to chew on while I listen to the music
C. Poet Kannadasan's works.
There is absolutely no doubt that Sudha has undergone musical training from the great genius and maestro, the late Dr. M. L. Vasanthakumari. There is little equal to Sudha's creative expression in Carnatic Music. If there is one female musician who can sing at par with a male vocalist, it is certainly only Sudha. Sudha's music gets packed with both melody and power. If I listen to one artiste on two occasions within a short span at the December music season in Chennai, it is only Sudha - The first time to review her music and the second time to just enjoy her music. I always tell myself-'Oh my God! I must get good words to describe her music'."
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