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Ragam Thanam Pallavi
Songs from the Veena
Musicians
Ramana Balachandhran is a Veena player in the Carnatic tradition. Son of Carnatic music practitioners, Balachandhran and Sharanya, his talent for music was noticed when at a young age he could identify ragas and point out nuances.
Ramana’s bani or style is now acknowledged to be unique and his own adaptation.
Being a trained percussionist too, he brings in laya or percussive complexities into his elaborations and is adept at Ragam Thanam Pallavi (RTP, a structure that epitomises simultaneous melody and rhythm complexities in Carnatic music) renditions; also, the possibilities of musicality that come at very high tempos are an acknowledged contribution.
As a trained vocalist, he sings along to express the lyrics that underlie the emotive melody.
Musicians
Ramana Balachandhran
Ramana started learning vocal and Veena under his mother and then pursued Veena under Vidushi B Nagalakshmi (granddaughter of Karaikudi Sri Subbarama Iyer). He also took his initial Mridangam lessons under Vid Satyakumar and Vid Nagendra. He learnt vocal music from Sangita Kala Acharya, Smt Neela Ramgopal, Mridangam from Laya Kala Pratibha Mani, Sri Ranganatha Chakravarthy. He is currently learning from his father Sri Balachandhran.
Considered a prodigious talent, Ramana was directly awarded an A grade by All India Radio (AIR, the only grading authority in India) after auditioning at the age of sixteen.
At the age of fourteen, he was invited to perform at Rashtrapathi Bhavan (official residence of the Honorable President of India), in the presence of the Honorable President, Honorable Prime minister, Cabinet and African Heads of state. He has performed for a number of prestigious institutions throughout the country.
Ramana is one of the most sought after instrumentalists in the country now. He has performed nearly four hundred solo veena concerts in many of the leading concert halls, chambers and music festivals across the country. At the age of sixteen, he completed a 24-concert spring tour of the USA in 2018.
S N Narayana Murthy
S N Narayana Murthy learnt under the expert tutelage of Palghat C K Iyya Mani Iyer and later with Guru Ganakala Bhushana Vidwan T A S Mani. He has toured with musicians across Malaysia and Singapore and was part of the Independence Day celebrations held under the High Commission of India in Slovenia.
B S Prashanth
A disciple of Vidwans Sri KN Krishnamurthy and Sri CP Vyasa Vittala, Prashanth is currently under the tutelage of Mridangam Maestro Dr. Patri Satish Kumar. He is an ‘A’ grade artiste from Prasar Bharathi and has performed at several prestigious sabhas in and outside the country, alongside reputed musicians. He has received many awards and accolades namely ‘Best Mridangam Artiste’ by The Music Academy, Madras; ‘Best Mridangam Accompanist’ by Sri Shanmukhananda Fine arts, Mumbai; and the CMANA endowment award by Percussive Arts Centre, Bangalore. He has been awarded the title ‘Nandi Vidya Visharada’ and the Asthana Vidwan honour by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam.
