Balabhavam by Rumya Venkateswaran

09:30 AM

Rumya Venkateswaran began learning Carnatic vocal music at the age of 5 and trained in the traditional style of Sangita Kalanidhi Shri Mudikondan Venkatrama Iyer under the guidance of her mother, Smt. Nalini Venkateswaran. She then received advanced  training under Smt. Kiranavali Vidyasankar and had her Music Arangetram in 2011. Afterwards, she moved on to expand her musical repertoire and strengthen her skills in kriti rendition under the tutelage of Sangeeta Choodamani Shri   Maharajapuram Ramachandran, the eldest son and senior-most disciple of the legendary Shri Maharajapuram Santhanam. As of now, Rumya is currently taking advanced lessons in Manodharmam with Guru Smt. Kalyani Ramani of NJ. She won first-place at Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation’s Krithi Rendition competition in 2011 and second-place at Cleveland   Aradhana’s Senior Krithi Rendition Competition in 2012. Her interest in the performing arts also extends to Bharatanatyam, which she has been learning for the past 18 years.

Vishal Sowmyan

Vishal Sowmyan is a sophomore in Wissahickon High School. He has been learning violin for the past 9 years and is currently under the tutelage of Padmashri Sangeetha kalanidhi Guru A Kanyakumari in India and vocal les-sons from Sri Prasanna Venkatesh. He has won several awards and prizes in Carnatic music competitions and regularly performs concerts in the tri state area. Vishal has played for leading vocalist such as Maharajapuram Sriniva-san and Shankar Ramani. 

Srihari S. Raman

Srihari Raman hails from a music bloodline, from his uncle, Dr. Udaiyaalur K. Kalyanraman. He has learnt mridangam under Dr. Sriram Balasubramanian and then with Sri. Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan. He has won Sangeetha Bala Samraat in 2015 by Sankara TV, and many other awards in competitions at CMANA, Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, and more. He has performed in many US cities and abroad. Srihari also learns and performs vocal music. 

Musical Excellence in Compositions of  Muthuswami Dikshitar by Dr. T.S Sathyavathi

11:00 AM

Dr. T.S. Sathyavathi is highly respected in the music and literary circles, especially those of Karnataka. She was trained in Carnatic music by the veteran R.K. Srikantan and her sister Vasanta Madhavi. A Sanskrit scholar and music composer, she studied the theory of music under renowned musicologist BVK Shastry and learnt to play the mridangam from Bangalore Venkataram. Sathyavathi has earned many admirers and accolades for her concerts, lectures, demonstrations and workshops held across the country and abroad. The latest is the Musicologist Award from the Music Academy, which was conferred on her on January 1, 2018.

Sandhya Anand 

Smt. Sandhya Anand is an All India Radio graded professional Violinist and Vocalist having exposure to traditional Carnatic Music genre for around 20 years. She has performed over 1500 concerts in India and abroad having learnt and nurtured the divine art under eminent Gurus Smt. Suguna Varadachari (Vocal), Sri. T.V.Gopalakrishnan, Sri. S. Krishna Iyer, Sri. R. Swaminathan (Violin) and Sri. K.S. Suryanarayanan (Flute).

Her vocal and violin performances at several prestigious sabhas in Chennai and USA including the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt and Sringeri Sarada Mutt have won her several awards and accolades. A rank holder with postgraduation  in Music and Sanskrit she regularly featured in AIR, Doordarshan and other TV channels.

As a violinist she has accompanied top grade artistes like Padmabhushan T V Gopalakrishnan, Padmabhushan Sri R K Srikantan, Sangita Kalacharya Suguna Varadachary, Sangita KalanidhiSudha Raghunathan, Seetha Rajan, Vishakha Hari, P Unnikrishnan, Balamuralikrishna, Sikkil Gurucharan, Carnatica Brothers, Priya Sisters and Bombay S. Jayashree to name a few.

She lives in New Jersey and imparts Vocal and violin training to aspiring students. Her students have won prizes in many National level competitions including Indo American festivals and Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana.

Keerthi Venkataramani 

Keerthi Venkataramani has been learning mridangam for nearly 15 years. He received his initial training from Dr. Ramachandran Suresh of New Jersey. He has been receiving advanced training from his esteemed guru Vidwan Melakaveri Sri K. Balaji since 2009. In the past, he has received multiple prizes for percussion solo and accompaniment in several competitions including the annual Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and the Carnatic Music Association of North America (CMANA). He has been performing extensively in the United States and India, accompanying leading artistes such as Sri Vittal Ramamurthy, Sri Sankaran Namboothiri, Chitravina Sri Ganesh, Bharat Sundar, Sri D. Seshachary, Flute VK Raman, as well as his grandmother and mother on several occasions. Thanks to the blessings of his Gurus and elders, Keerthi is sought after as a mridangist by multiple cultural organizations across the United States as well as by performing artists (local and from overseas). Keerthi is a Senior in Electrical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.