Sunday, June 17, 2001, 5:30 pm
Sudha Ragunathan (Carnatic Vocal)
with
Embar Kannan (Violin)
Palladam R. Ravi (Mridangam)
R. Raman (Morsing)
Venue:
HHH Cowles Auditorium
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
About the artists:
Sudha Raghunathan, the leading female vocalist of South India, was initially trained by her mother Smt. Choodamani since the age of nine. She continued training under Sri. B.V. Lakshmanan. She then had the good fortune to be trained by the late Dr. M.L. Vasanthakumari. As a student, Smt. Sudha received the Central Government Scholarship for Young Artistes for advanced training in Carnatic Music. Smt. Sudha had a meteoric rise in her career since the demise of her mentor Dr. M.L. Vansanthakumari in 1990. Today she is considered the topmost female Carnatic vocalist. She is a top- ranking artist of All India Radio and a frequent per- former on television. She has to her credit, a number of recordings of Classical and Devotional music. Many leading recording companies such as Amutham Inc., Music Today, INRECO and Super Recording Company consider Smt. Sudha as one of their prime artists. She has won over two hundred and fifty awards, which include music competitions conducted by various institutions at the state and na- tional levels in India. Smt. Sudha has represented the Carnatic discipline of music at several Interna- tional Festivals. She had the coveted honor of performing to a full house at the Theatre de La Ville, Paris on January 19, 2000. She has the exceptional honor of being the only Indian to perform at the International Festival ECHTERNACH at Luxembourg on June 3, 1995. She also performed at the Alice Tully Hall, New York on September 18, 1998. Smt. Sudha can astound the most demanding audience, with her brilliant sketches of Raga, her vast repertoire, and her stamina to provide energetic concerts from start to finish. By virtue of her innate talent and hard work, Smt. Sudha has received several titles from leading Sabhas such as ‘Sangeetha Kalasarathi’ from Parthasarathy Sabha, ‘Sivan Isai Selvi’ by the Sivan Rasikar Manram, ‘Amudha Isai Vani’ by the Tamil Sangam, New York and ‘Isai Peroli’ by Karthik Fine Arts, to name a few. Smt. Sudha has received critical acclaim from many leading music critics and publications. “Sudha Raghunathan is always supremely sure of herself, of her technique and the depth of quality in her music - all of which enables her to shine continuously through the seasons” Indian Express.
Embar Kannan has come to be recognized as a leading violinist of today. Trained under the renowned violinist Smt. Kanyakumari, he has lived up to the expectations of a promising violinist of great potential. Embar Kannan is in the forefront of violinists of the younger generation. His bowing technique is of high quality, marked by sweetness and clarity. Kannan is the recipient of many awards and honors for both his solo and accompanying skills. He is an A-grade artist of the All India Radio (AIR) and has played solo concerts and violin duets with his Guru. He has accompanied many leading artists such as T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Trichur Ramachandran, T. N. Seshagoplann, Sudha Raghunathan, Kadri Gopalnath, Unnikrishnan, and Sowmya. He has also traveled widely and performed in concerts in USA, Europe, and the Far East.
Palladam R. Ravi hails from a family of musicians wedded to traditional classical music. His great grandfather was the flute maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Palladam Sanjeevi Rao, and his father the renowned Mridangam Vidwan Palladam Ramachandra Rao. Even as a child he had an innate aptitude to play the Mridangam . Thanks to the rigorous and systematic training, and encouragement from his father, he gained the required confidence and skill to share the performing platform with reputed musicians over the last ten years. He has accompanied musicians in all lead- ing music Sabhas in India as well as overseas. His keen observation of the different techniques adopted by other leading Mridangists, has helped him imbibe and de-velop his own style. Sri Ravi has won several awards such as ‘Best Mridangist’ from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai, as also from Music Academy, Chennai. Ravi is pres- ently an A-Grade artist of All India Radio, Madurai.
R. Raman started learning percussion instruments like Mridangam, Ghatam, Kanjira, Muhursing (morsing) and Konnakol at the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya, organized by Sri T. R. Harihara Sharma, Shri T.H. Vinayakram and Sri. T. H. Subashchandran. He has given many demonstrations like Talavadyam , Ghatamala and Konnakol. He accompanied Dr. L. Subramaniam and the Russian Orchestra in The Festival of India, U.S.S.R. from July 5, 1988 to August 20, 1988, inaugurated by the former President of India Mr. R. Venkataraman. He has also done several radio and television recordings with American Jazz Orchestras. Sri Raman has accompanied Smt. Sudha Raghunathan during her recent concert tours of Germany, France, Switzerland, Finland and Denmark. Sri Raman has several recordings to his credit, accompanying leading musicians such as Mandolin U. Srinivas, Ganesh and Kumaresh, and the late Maharajapuram Santhanam, among others. For the past eight years, Sri Raman has been teaching percussion at the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidayalaya.
© Copyright 2001 Indian Music Society of Minnesota