Profile of the Gurus

G.SRIKANTH – VOCALIST: 

Having the musical muse for a mother, is it any wonder Srikanth is storming to conquer the music world as a vocalist? His mother is none other than Leelavathi Gopalakrishnan, a direct disciple of the legendary Musiri Subramanya Iyer. She also learnt the nuances of music from G N Balasubramaniam’s disciple S Balasubramniam.

Srikanth learnt music from his mother from a very young age. He underwent training from T M Thyagarajan and O S Thyagarajan.

His impeccable track record includes a Masters degree in Indian music from University of Madras. He is an ‘A’ Grade artiste in Carnatic vocal in All India Radio, Mysore. He is also a ‘B’ Grade artiste in traditional devotional and devarnama music in AIR Mysore.

He headed the Tamil Nadu Government Music School at Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.

He has composed and released CDs on Haridasa sahityas. His devotional albums ‘Krishna’ and ‘Deepa Agaval’ received wide acclaim.

He anchored a quiz programme called ‘Andadhi’ in Tamil on Vijay TV.

He has toured throughout the world, including the US and Singapore. He accompanied theatre artiste Chandralekha to the US.

He has been decorated with a slew of awards. He won the Youth Excellence Award initiated by the Rotary Club of Chennai.

He is a good performer and a teacher, who combines the GNB and Musiri bani. He has many students under his wing.

TRICHY MURALI – GHATAM ARTISTE

Murali hails from a musical family: His mother K Saradha and father V R Kannappa played a pivotal role in grooming his career. Murali is a postgraduate in Commerce and Materials Management.

He had his early training from mridangam maestro Kalaimamani Trichy Thayumanavar from a young age. Initially, he learnt mridangam and then switched over to ghatam. He is an ‘A’ grade ghatam artiste of Trichy All India Radio.

Murali has accompanied the upper curst of musicians like A K C Natarajan, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, T V Sankaranarayanan, T N Seshagopalan, Hyderabad Brothers, Bombay Sisters and Ganesh & Kumaresh to name a few

He has received prizes from various music sabhas and institutions in India and abroad. He has participated in Radio Sangeeth Sammelan and Sangeeth Natak Academy programme in New Delhi. He has also participated in Puttaparthi Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s birthday ceremony. 

He has visited France, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa on musical tours.

Murali has the distinct honour of being the Asthana Vidwan of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt.

MELA KAVERI THYAGARAJAN - VIOLINIST:

An offshoot of the renowned Mela Kaveri musical tree, his father, Mela Kaveri Krishnamurthy was an acclaimed mridanga vidwan. Thyagarajan had his initial training under D R Karpagam and later under Ramanathapuram Venkatachalam in vocal and violin.

His tutelage under V L Kumar, a violin maestro, has earned him laurels as an accompanist. Thyagarajan has accompanied the upper crust in the musical fraternity like Nithyashree Mahadevan.

A globe-trotter, he has enthralled music buffs with his inimitable style in places like Thailand and the Gulf. 

He has been the recipient of several awards. He was awarded the Best Young Violinist award by Krishna Gana Sabha and the Best Violinist award by the Music Academy. He also has the title Nada Isai Selvar.

Thyagarajan regularly performs on AIR and Doordarshan. He is a ‘B’ High Grade Artiste and has many students in his fold.

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