IMSOM Concert: Sikkil Gurucharan (Carnatic Vocal)

Vocal artiste Sikkil C.Gurucharan has been a disciple of Vaigal Sri S.Gnanaskandan (retired as producer of All India Radio Chennai, and a disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer) for more than 12 years. Guru Charan is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, the eldest of the well-known flautists, and the nephew of Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar, another famous flautist. Born and brought up in a music family, there was a natural environment to learn Carnatic Music at a very early age. Gurucharan became a graded artist of All India Radio Chennai in 2000 by winning their All India Competition.

His first concert was under the banner of Gnanaskandan trust at the Music Academy in Chennai in 1994. Since then he has been performing at all the important sabhas in Chennai. Since 2005, he has been touring the USA, the UK, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East frequently for concerts, not to mention his busy schedule in India as well.

His sonorous voice and a style that does not assault tradition, but adds glamour to the concert, has been applauded by all. The fact that he has been accompanied by several stalwarts like Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Dr T K Murthy, Vellore Ramabhadran,Guruvayur Dorai, Parur MS Anantharaman, Thiruvarur Bhaktavasalam, Srimushnam Raja Rao, Nagai Muralidharan, and Mannargudi Easwaran attests to his ability.

Gurucharan has won numerous awards from several organizations including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy, Sri Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, and Kalki Memorial Trust. He has released several albums like Thiruppavai, Thiruvembai , Bhajans, Gaana Prabhavam, Kaaveri Pattinam, Ramayanam, Ganapatyam, Madirakshi(with Piano), Peranandam and many more.

Nagai Sriram:

Nagai Sriram hails from a family of musicians. He was initiated into Carnatic Violin music at the age of 10 by his grandmother, Smt R. Komalavalli. Currently, Nagai Sriram is receiving advanced training from his uncle Vidwan Kalaimamani Nagai Shri R. Muralidharan and is an A-grade artist of All India Radio.

Nagai Sriram started his career as an accompanist at the age of 12 when he played for Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan in New Delhi, India. Since then, he has been accompanying various leading artists including Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, K.V. Narayanaswamy, T. N. Seshagopalan, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, O. S. Thyagarajan, Hyderabad Brothers, Dr. N. Ramani, Sanjay Subramaniam, P. Unni Krishnan, and T. M. Krishna, to name a few.

Nagai Sriram has many awards and laurels to his name including, Shanmukha Sangeetha Sironmani (Shanmukhanandha Sabha, Mumbai, 2007), Best Violinist (Music Academy, Chennai, 2001 through 2008), Best Violinist (Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer Trust, 2004), and Yuvakalabharathi (Bharath Kalachar, Chennai, 2002).

Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan:

Born in the family of percussionists, Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan took to Mridangam very early in life. His first teachers were his grandfather Sri Thiruvarur Kunju Iyer and his uncle Sri Tiruvarur Nagarajan. He then became a disciple of Mridangam maestro Shri Karaikudi Mani. Under Sri Mani's guidance, Vaidyanathan grew into a full-fledged mridangist with a capacity to accompany all the leading musicians. He has accompanied many leading musicians such as Dr. Balamuralikrishna, Smt. M.L. Vasanthakumari, Dr N. Ramani, Sri Maharajapuram Santhanam, Sri K.V. Narayanawamy, Smt. D.K. Pattamal, Sri Nedunuri Krishanmoorthy, Sri T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Sri M.S. Gopalakrishnan, Sri T.N.Krishnan, Sri U.Srinivas, Smt. Sudha Raghunathan, Smt. Padmavathy and Jayanthy, Sri Ravikiran, et al.

He served SIFAS, Singapore as a full-time teaching faculty member from 2001 to 2003. During this period, he identified many talents and groomed them to perform extraodinarily.

Sri Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan is an A-Grade artiste of All India Radio. He has several awards to his credit such as "Kalaimani," "Laya Gyana Bharathi," "Yuvakala Bharathi," to mention a few. Recently He was awarded by the renowned "Raga Sudha," the title Nada Oli which is given to the best performing artist annually. He has toured across the globe and has performed in the USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Phillipines, Indonesia, and South Africa.