About the Artists
Sikkil Gurucharan
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.
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