Rasika is proud to present a Musical Extravaganza featuring Padma Bhushan SP Balasubramaniam, Padma Shri KS Chitra, SP Sailaja and their live orchestra band. Click here for details.

Popularly and fondly referred to as Chinna Kuyil (Little Nightingale) of South India, Chitra sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. She has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films. She has recorded more than 16,000 film songs and is a recipient of six National Film Awards (the most by any female singer), five Filmfare Awards South and more than thirty different state film awards. She is the only singer to have won all the four South Indian state awards till date.

A few video snippets from live concerts very much like this one – watch SPB’s inimitable wit between the songs:

Also, listen to their golden voices on:

Gayathri Venkataraghavan is an ‘A’ grade accredited artiste of All India Radio. She won the All India Radio National level competition in 1993. Her regular performances for the AIR include a prestigious National Broadcast in 2006. She has sung various themes for Archival purposes for the AIR.

She has been performing regularly at various centers in India. Her performances abroad include ones at the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival 2005, 2008, 2011 at Ohio State, USA and Toronto in Canada. She also performed at the SIFA annual festival at Singapore in Feb 2007. She has also toured the United States and Canada extensively for a concert tour in September and October 2007.

In 2003 she was awarded the Kalki Krishnamoorthy award and in the same year she was given the Nada Oli title by Nada Inbam, Madras. She was awarded the CMANA award instituted by The Carnatic Music Association of North America, Inc. NJ (USA) Dr. MLV Endowment by Narada Gana Sabha 2006. She has been awarded the Shanmuka Sangita Shironmani title by Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai and the Isai Peroli title by The Karthik Fine Arts Chennai.

A number of her Commercial albums have been released by Charsur Digital Workstation and other companies.

Here are a couple of recent videos.

Chitravina Ganesh, world-record setting slide instrumentalist and vocalist, is the grandson of the legendary Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar. He stormed into the world of carnatic music even at the tender age of two and a half, just like his illustrious cousin, Chitravina N Ravikiran. Trained by Chitravina maestro Narasimhan (his maternal uncle), Ganesh was able to identify and render around 225 Ragas and 175 Talas and answer numerous other technical questions with ease.

Ganesh also had the rare privilege of learning from Sangeeta Kalanidhi T Brinda for a few years and is among the best chitravina performers in the country today. In May 2004, he set a record for the longest concert by any slide instrumentalist in the world by playing non-stop for 32 and half hours in Chennai, India. An A-grade artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Ganesh has performed in tandem with Ravikiran as Asia Brothers and also accompanied top notch artistes like Smt T Mukta, Dr Balamuralikrishna and Smt Sowmya in several concerts and recordings.

Nagai Muralidharan
Kalaimamani Nagai Muralidaran is one of the top ranking violin artists today. He initially learned from his mother R. Komalavalli, and later from vidwan R.S. Gopalakrishnan. His skillful handling of the violin and excellent grasp of the raga and laya make him the accompanist of choice of all the leading vidwans. A regular on Indian radio and TV, Muralidharan is also the recipient of numerous awards and has performed in many countries.

Srimushanam V. Raja Rao
Sri Srimushanam V. Raja Rao was born in Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu and received his initial training in Mridangam from his father Sri S. Venkataramana Rao. He has trained under some of the most eminent teachers of his time and has performed extensively both in India and abroad, accompanying a number of outstanding Carnatic and Hindustani vocalists. Besides Mridangam, he also plays the Kanjira and Morsing. He has won a number of awards and honors including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

Embar S. Kannan
Embar S. Kannan is highly accomplished as a violinist and is in the forefront of violinists of the younger generation. His bowing technique is of high quality, marked by sweetness and clarity. He had his initial training in Carnatic music under Sri Subbanna Bhagavatar and Vittal Ramamurthy and in western classical music under music director, Diwakar master. He then continued his formal training in the violin under Kum. A. Kanyakumari. A recipient of many awards and honors for both his solo and his accompanying skills, he is an A grade artist of the All India Radio and has played solo concerts and accompanied many leading artists. He has traveled widely and performed in concerts in USA, Europe, and the Far East. Read more about Embar Kannan here.

Anand Anantha R. Krishnan
Anand started his musical journey on the mridangam, the principle drum of South Indian music, the Carnatic tradition. Anand started performing full-fledged concerts as a child, and has since cemented his position as a premier mridangam-ist of his generation, carrying forth one of the greatest drumming traditions. The grandson and disciple of the pioneering, venerated and award winning mridangam maestro, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Shri. Palghat R. Raghu – Anand learned the fundamentals of the mridangam under his uncle, Shri. R. Ramkumar and began an official tutelage under his grandfather at the age of five.

The following features have been planned:

• Announcement Board and/or Blog for the teacher, Sri Anandnadh. Students will be able to comment on blog posts.
• Class schedule
• A way for students to subscribe to the calendar and announcements/blog and get notified when a new announcement/blog post is added and when a scheduled class is postponed or cancelled.
• An online form for students to submit questions to the teacher.
• Video and audio recordings of Lec Dems conducted at Rasika School by visiting artists.
• …

Going forward, Members, Donors and Sponsors of rasika as well as students of the Rasika School of Music & Arts will get access to premium content in addition to other benefits like free and/or discounted tickets to concerts, special LecDems, Master Classes by visiting artists and more.

Development of the new rasika website has been made possible by a professional development grant in 2011 by Regional Arts and Culture Council.

If you have not signed up for a membership yet or if your membership has expired, please consider signing up as donors and sponsors. Donors and sponsors can claim the difference between the amount paid and the cost of a regular membership as a tax deduction.

As always members, donors and sponsors attend most concerts for free. In addition, donors and sponsors get premium seating at all concerts.

A couple of recent video clips –

He hails from a culturally strong family, and was initiated into music by his mother Smt. Jayalakshmi Ammaal. He obtained his early guidance from reputed gurus like Chembai Sri. C.S.Anantharama Bhagavathar and Srirangam Sri. Ranganathan.
Neyveli has distinguished himself with numerous successful concerts worldwide and is the recipient of many awards from music associations in India and overseas. He has been awarded the Sangeetha Kala Sarathy by Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha,the oldest Sabha in Chennai, Naada Sevitha by Naadabrahmam Music Journal, Nama Sankeerthana Rathan by G.K.Foundation, and Sri Vidya Thapasvi by the Thapas Academy. He has also received Rasika Priya Rathna award from a prominent music organization in Australia. Garnering the Aasthaana Vidwan (Primary musician) titles from the most esteemed Kanchi Mutt, Sringeri Mutt, and Sri Ganapathy Sachidananda Mutt (religious establishments) has been a great honor for this deeply religious musician.

Outside of stage performances, Neyveli has been instrumental in promoting South Indian Classical Music education in India and abroad. He is the Dean of the Nityananda Music Academy (in USA); founded ‘Nada Pata S’ala’ to coach and guide budding musicians; anchors a daily music program ‘SaRiGaMaPa’ for JayaTV and promotes Internet-based music teaching/learning via www.imi.in/elearning. He has done extensive research on ‘Nada Laya Yoga,’ a new initiative exploring the medicinal and curative effects of music.