Amrutha Venkatesh
Amrutha Venkatesh’s creative and out-of-the-box presentations are piquing audiences’ attention everywhere she sings. Extensive research underpins her innovative pallavis in uniquely structured tALams. A polyglot who knows the meaning of every song she performs, this Carnatic vocalist uses no visual aids in presenting an enviable repertoire that includes numerous lesser-known composers and lyricists. In an art where one is constantly told to ‘sing with the mouth fully open’, she boldly modulates her voice. Not for her grimaces, scowls or other facial contortions either – she maintains an even, even cheery, countenance whilst singing. Above and beyond, she is a vAgayekkAra and a tunesmith as well.
Amrutha is proficient in veena (she is graded A in the instrument by All India Radio) and received many years of mentorship in layam from a young age. Additionally, each of her multiple gurus, though from different bANis, were open to her not only learning from others but also melding the best of all she learned and heard. This unique and unusually well-rounded tutelage has played a key role in her being a confident and self-assured performer who adroitly blends vidwat and popular appeal, satisfying experts and lay rasikas alike.
This article appeared in the September 2025 issue of Sruti magazine.
Amrutha, an only child, was born on 9th April 1988 in Bangalore. Her father, M.K. Venkatesh, loved Western music and popular Carnatic pieces. Her mother, Radha, grew up surrounded by music. It was she who inculcated in Amrutha the importance of pronouncing musical lyrics with the same clarity as the spoken word. Amrutha’s maternal grandmother, Shantha Ramaswami, had learned advanced veena. Grandfather, Dr. K.S. Ramaswami, had music around him always, thus absorbing it. “Thatha would buy every tape available and knew exactly what was in each, where it cut on each side, where the manodharmam would start – everything,” says Amrutha.
Music literally pulled Amrutha into its fold. As she was wheeled in her stroller, Amrutha unfailingly asked her mother and grandmother to stop in front of the same home every day. Realising it was the music wafting down that held the child’s attention, her grandmother went in to the lady of the house who was teaching music and explained. The teacher, Sharada Shivaram, asked then two-year-old Amrutha to sing something – out came a popular movie song accurately, background music to boot. The amused teacher immediately took Amrutha on.
Sharada Shivaram taught Amrutha basic lessons and some bhajans after which Malathi Singalachar taught her for a few months. Both teachers had to stop for personal reasons. Tagging along with her mother who was then learning veena from Suma Sudhindra, Amrutha found the veena fascinating because of Suma’s fluid fingers and her personality itself. She learned the basic lessons for a few weeks from Bimba Rani in Suma’s school, prior to transferring to Suma herself. She loved playing the instrument, practicing more than recommended and playing further than taught. “My teachers, fortunately, were never offended.” After learning from ages 7-10, she proceeded to play by herself, preferring the…..
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to Sruti magazine.
