Lotus October 2011 monthly concert

Guru Shishya Special Concert Series

Srikanth Chary - Veena

Akhilesh Sista - Veena

Ravindra Bharathi Sridharan - Mridangam

Gopal Ravindhran - Mridangam

Srikanth Chary (Veena)

Accomplished Veena artiste, Srikanth Chary began his training at the age of six in Mumbai under the Veena vidwan Devakottai Narayana Iyengar. He later studied music under the auspices of Shanmukhananda Sabha from Smt. Kalyani Sarma. At the age of eight, Srikanth was presented the first prize in a music competition by the music doyen Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi. After moving to the United States, Srikanth had the opportunity to study music from the famed violinist Kum. A. Kanyakumari. This opportunity awakened in Srikanth a keen love for music that he has been pursuing ever since.

Since the early 1980s, Srikanth has been receiving advanced music training from the music Maestro Padmabhushan Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. Sri Jayaraman's bani (musical style) is well known for its purity of sound and rhythm, its emphasis on tonal perfection, and its sparkling creativity in manodharama sangitam (improvisational music). Srikanth has adapted this captivating style to the Veena, and reformed this instrument to a new melodic medium while preserving the traditional purity of Carnatic music. He has delighted audiences all over with his scintillating music.

Srikanth has given many concerts in the United States, India and Australia and has received excellent reviews. In concert at Chennai’s Narada Gana Sabha in 1989, Srikanth was felicitated by the late Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. M. L. Vasanthakumari, who presented him with a silk shawl.

Srikanth has accompanied eminent vocalists like Smt. Charumati Ramachandran, Smt. Sudha Ragunathan, Papanasam Sri Ashok Ramani and the Carnatica Brothers. He has also given jugalbandhis with Hindustani musicians. In 1999, he was invited to perform a duet with Sangeetha Choodamani Lalgudi Sri G. J. R. Krishnan at the residence of His Excellency, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. During Fall 2002, Srikanth was part of a violin-veena-venu team U.S concert tour with Lalgudi Sri G. J. R. Krishnan and Sri K. R. Subramaniam. Srikanth was awarded "The Best Veena Player Award" by the prestigious Chennai Music Academy during the 2002-2003 music festival. Srikanth frequently performs on television and radio and is a graded artiste of the All India Radio. He has released three compact discs (Janani, 1996; Tiger and Silk, 2002; Ethereal Melodies, 2007) which have won rave reviews from music connoisseurs worldwide.

In 1989, Srikanth established a music school Nada Nidhi to pass on the rich heritage of Carnatic music. His students include not only youth being brought up in the United States who wish to absorb musical aspects of Indian culture, but also seasoned vainikas (veena artistes) who want to refine and embellish their knowledge and techniques. Srikanth’s students have performed widely to critical acclaim. They have also won prestigious awards in national and international music competitions.

Akhilesh Sista (Veena)

Akhilesh Sista began his veena training at the age of 10 from Sri Srikanth Chary, his cousin and disciple of the music maestro Padmabhushan Lalgudi Sri Jayaraman. He gave his veena arangetram at the age of 17. He has since given many performances throughout the Bay Area as a soloist and accompanist. He has frequently accompanied his mother, Smt. Hema Sista, during her vocal performances and accompanied Sri Papanasam Ashok Ramani during his tour of the United States. Akhilesh has performed with his guru at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja aradhana and has been featured on KUSF, San Francisco and television station KMTV, Mountain View.

His guru and he released a CD entitled Ethereal Melodies. Akhilesh has imbibed Sri Srikanth's veena style, which drips with purity, beauty, and rhythmic precision. Creativity and musical discipline have been the cornerstones of his training. Akhilesh is an interventional radiologist, and is currently an attending physician and assistant professor at Cornell medical school in New York City, New York.

Ravidra Bharathi Sridharan (Mridangam)

Ravi hails from the well-known ‘Embar’ family known for its involvement in Music and Spirituality. He had his mrudangam initiation under Sri M.A.Krishnamurthy in Mysore in 1980. He continues to further his knowledge under Sri Neyveli Narayanan, a prime disciple of both Sri Late Thanjavur Upendran and Sri Umayalpuram K Sivaraman.

Ravi continues to accompany various leading musicians from India such as Sri Shankara Nambodari, his Mother Smt.Ranganayaki Sridharan, Sri Vidhyabhushana, Sri Ashok Ramani etc. In the Bay Area, he continues to accompany leading musicians for dance and regular concerts, including fund raisers.

He has also been running a percussion school – Nadhopasana Academy of Fine Arts where he enjoys teaching this great art to selective students. His students have been consistently winning prizes in Mridangam competitions in US at Sivan Festival and Chicago Aaradhana. Some of his students are already sought after in the junior accompaniment segment.

Ravi owes a lot to all his Gurus who have shared their knowledge, his parents for instilling passion and encouraging him in this great art, and to his family, for a wonderful support to pursue his passion.

Gopal Ravindhran (Mridangam)

Gopal Ravindhran has been under the tutelage of Sri Ravindra Bharathy Sridharan for the past 9 years. In addition, he has attended special sessions with Sri Neyveli Narayanan.

Gopal has been a sought after accompanist for various musical schools in Bay Area and has been performing regularly in Chennai for the past couple of years. He has also been a active performer in his Guru, Ravi's school, Nadhopasana Academy of Fine Arts.

He has won several prizes in competitions conducted in the bay area, Chicago and Cleveland. In 2009 he had his Mrudangam Arangetram , accompanying Vidwan Sri Delhi Sunderajan on Vocal , Vidwan Sri Vittal Ramamurthy on the violin, and Vidwan Sri A.MahaDevan on the Morsing.

Gopal is an upcoming sophomore at Irvington High in Fremont .