Gayathri Vasantha Shobha was born on November 9th 1959 in Madras. Her earliest musical memories are of her mother teaching veena at home. “I had no dolls. The veena was my doll,” she says. As soon as her mother’s students left, Gayathri would ensconce herself by the instrument, holding it…
Senior Saraswathi Veena exponent Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh is a sixth generation musician and one of the youngest vainika-s to receive All India Radio’s highest rating of A Top. In this podcast, she reflects on the situation at large, talks about doing online concerts, continuing her popular Cup O’Carnatic series, teaching…
This year’s Sangita Kalanidhi designate, Dr. S. Sowmya, is a musician’s musician – at 50, the second youngest female recipient evokes the epithets ‘scholarly’, ‘erudite’, ‘cerebral’ etc. among fellow artistes, old or young. Given her long list of award winning academic and musical accomplishments, it is no wonder that many…
He is a refreshing presence in the world of Carnatic music, which has its own idiosyncrasies. Prince Aswati Tirunal Rama Varma is a member of the Travancore royal family and a direct descendant of Maharaja Swati Tirunal and Raja Ravi Varma. He is a vocalist, vainika, organiser, musicologist, world traveller,…