2026 Judges Concert
Saturday, March 21 2026|6:30 pm EDT
Anahita and Apoorva – vocals
Kamalakiran Vinjamuri – violin
Akshay Anantapadmanabhan – mridangam
Sowmiya Narayanan – ghatam
Tickets: $35
$25 for Members of the McConnell Arts
FREE FOR 2026 ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS
Anahita and Apoorva are among the highly sought after artistes of the younger generation in the Indian Carnatic Classical arena. They have won acclaim for their musical excellence and impeccable synchrony.
Commencing their initial training under Smt Shanti Jayaraman, they currently receive guidance from the globally renowned maestro Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran . Under Acharya Ratnakara Chitravina Shri Narasimhan, they delve into intricate Tala theories and Ragam Tanam Pallavis.
Anahita stormed into the performance scene at the tender age of 9 with a full fledged concert in front of an august audience. She has repeatedly won several first prizes from a very young age including Tambura prizes and titles like Miss Voice by Carnatica, Best On stage Performer’ in Jaya TV’s Carnatic Music Idol, ‘Best performer’ from eminent Sabhas as a soloist.. Naad Bhed, a classical music show conducted by SPIC MACAY and Doordarshan, saw her bag a place among the top 3 in the country in Carnatic Music. She is among the first winners of the Excellence Award for Young Artistes from the Arts Culture India Foundation. Having won the first prize in All India Radio (AIR), she was awarded the Gold Medal at National level. She is currently an A grade artist of AIR apart from being a graded artiste in Chitravina as well. She has also been the lead Vocalist for Dr. Vyjayantimala Bali’s Dance for many years.
Apoorva gave her maiden concert when she was only 8. Also being awarded the first place in All India Radio and graded as an A grade artiste, she has won many Tambura prizes and the Super Singer Award by Muttuswamy Dikshitar Trust. She participated in Tanishq Swarna Sangeetham by Raj TV and was adjudged the runner up after rigorous rounds of selection on various parameters. Apoorva is also an an A grade artite of the All India Radio and a graded artiste in Violin too… read more
Kamalakiran Vinjamuri started learning from his grand-father, Sri. Parthasarathy Iyengar. Then he had some training from Smt. Malladi Vijayalakshmi. His father Sri.Subhash Vinjamuri, started teaching him the violin at the age of 7. He has been under the tutelage of Sangeethakalanidhi A. Kanyakumari for the past 14 years. Kamalakiran has won several prizes in different music competitions, both in India as well as in the US. In December 2010 and 2013 music seasons, Kamalakiran got the Best Performer Award from Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai. Kamalakiran was awarded the Lalgudi G Jayaraman Award, as best violinist in the 2014 Gokulashtami Series in Krishna Gana Sabha. Kamalakiran has been performing in all major venues in India and the US since 2009, including the Kennedy Center. In the 2014 Spirit of Youth series, and the 2016 and 2017 Music Seasons, Kamalakiran was selected as the best violinist in the prestigious Music Academy in Chennai. He has been accompanying several leading artists. He has also given solo concerts across the US, India, and most recently completed a tour of Europe.
Akshay Anantapadmanabhan is a reputed and sought after mridangam artiste and multi-percussionist known for his sensitive musicality and distinct tonality. A senior disciple of Sangita Kala Acharya Sri. T.H. Subash Chandran, Akshay has performed with the leading names of Carnatic music such as RK Srikantan, Sudha Raghunathan, Aruna Sairam, Unnikirishnan, T.M. Krishna, Ranjani & Gayatri and Lalgudi GJR Krishnan & Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, to name a few… read more
Sowmiya Narayanan is a disciple of Mridangam Maestro Trichy Sri Harikumar and Ghatam Sri Krishnaswami. Sowmiya a is board of trustee of Sankara Nethralaya and conducted more than 650 plus online concerts. With this online concert series he has coordinated and received donations of more than $ 1.5 million in the last 2.5 years supporting 15000 free cataract eye surgeries to poor indigent patients of Sankara Nethralaya.