Accompanists: Guhan Venkataraman – Veena | Vignesh Venkataraman – Mridangam
Dr. Padma Sugavanam is an A-graded Carnatic vocalist, and also an academician with a Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Music from the Madras University. Padma has served as a Lecturer of Music for ten years, in the Sri Venkateswara College of Music and Dance, Tirupati. Born in Canada, her parents relocated to India for her to train in the Gurukulam system. Commencing her training with Smt Geetha Ramachandran, she later learned from Sangita Kala Acharya Smt Seetha Rajan for over 20 years.
Padma was awarded a coveted A-grade as a special double-promotion when she was just 22 years old, which is a rare honor. She also received a gold medal in her MA degree around the same time. Padma aspired for academic scholarship alongside performing excellence and hence pursued a Ph.D. along with a faculty position in the SV college, Tirupati. She has also published several academic research papers, while simultaneously balancing a busy performing career.
Padma has performed in most major sabhas in India and has also done seven international concert tours – the most recent being a 17-concert tour of US in Spring season 2016, followed by a tour of Singapore and Malaysia. Padma was awarded the Outstanding Vocalist award in her category in 2014, at the prestigious Madras Music Academy.
Guhan Venkataraman, a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, USA, is a vainika of the Karaikudi parampara. He started learning veena from his mother Smt. Lakshmi Venkataraman at age eight, and continued his discipleship under Kalaimamani Smt. Ranganayaki Rajagopalan (herself a direct disciple of the legendary Karaikudi Sri. Sambasiva Iyer). He continues to enlarge and refine his scholarship and repertoire under the tutelage of Sri R. K. Shriramkumar and Delhi Sri P. Sunder Rajan.
