VIGNESH ISHWAR – VOCAL
RAJEEV MUKUNDAN – VIOLIN
SUMESH NARAYANAN – MRIDANGAM
ANIRUDH ATHREYA – KANJIRA
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VIGNESH ISHWAR
Vignesh Ishwar is one of the leading young musicians of Karnatik music. Endowed with a sonorous voice and unforgettable presence on stage, his music is fresh, energetic, and impactful. His uniqueness as a musician stems from an individual approach that combines sincerity, discipline, creativity, and perfect shruti. Born and raised in Mumbai, Vignesh trained under Palakkad Shri T S Anantharama Bhagawathar from the age of 4. His music is steeped in a strong foundation. Since 2008, he has been learning from Sri T M Krishna.
Vignesh has performed extensively in India and abroad. Being one of the leading young musicians of his generation, he has been regularly featured by all the major sabhas at the prestigious December Music Festival in Chennai for over 15 years. Internationally, Vignesh has given various performances in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, and Barcelona and has toured the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand extensively. He has also given lectures and has conducted various workshops.
Vignesh has won prizes in competitions throughout India. He has numerous awards to his credit, including the MS Subbulakshmi Award by Narada Gana Sabha 2022, MLV Award by Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, and many more. He is also a recipient of the Government of India Scholarship for Karnatik music and is a graded artist of the ‘All India Radio Chennai’ (AIR Chennai). Vignesh has been widely reviewed and is highly appreciated by critics and connoisseurs of the art.
Vignesh has had the good fortune of performing with many senior and veteran artists of Karnatik music. Holding a masters degree in sound and music technology, he has always desired to contribute to the world of art through the amalgamation of music and technology. His knowledge of music and engineering acumen made him an integral part of the research team at IIT Madras and the Music Technology Group, UPF Barcelona, working on the CompMusic project instituted by the prestigious European Research Council, developing computational methodologies for analysis, archival and retrieval of art music traditions. His research has resulted in many publications in various international academic conferences and journals. Vignesh is also a volunteer and an integral part of many initiatives such as Svanubhava, Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha, Carnatic Music in Chennai’s Public Schools. Recently, during the COVID 19 Pandemic, Vignesh was a part of the core team led by his guru T.M. Krishna which is working towards supporting marginalized artists adversely affected by the pandemic through the Sumanasa Foundation’s COVID 19 Artist Support Fund.
RAJEEV MUKUNDAN (M Rajeev)
Rajeev was initiated into this art form at the tender age of four. He is currently under the tutelage of the legendary Kalaimamani A.Kanyakumari for almost a decade.
Received scholarship from the Government of India from 2001 to 2009. One of the youngest ‘A’ graded Artiste of All India Radio (AIR).
Rajeev is a receipient of several prestigious awards like ‘Spirit of Youth Award’ given by ‘The Music Academy, Madras’ in the year 2008, “The Best Violinist Award” from ‘The Music Academy, Madras,’ in December 2011, etc.
Rajeev has given many violin duet concerts with his Guru A.Kanyakumari, and also has toured and accompanied leading artistes like Sangeetha Kalanidhi T.V.Sankaranarayanan , Dr. N.Ramani, Malladi Brothers, Vijay Siva, T.M.Krishna, Osccar nominee Bombay Jayasri, Dr Nithyashri Mahadevan & Ranjani Gayathri.
SUMESH NARAYANAN
A gifted and sought-after Carnatic percussionist of the current generation, Sumesh Narayanan has trained with Mridangam Maestro Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam for two decades and continues to learn from him. Sumesh is a rare combination of a musician who aspires to master the rich traditions of the mridangam oeuvre in the Carnatic style while retaining an open and larger world view which allows him to be part of many innovative and cross-disciplinary ventures to which he is a vital contributor and much admired for his ideas and energetic playing.
ANIRUDH ATHREYA
V. Anirudh Athreya is the great-grandson of legends Sri Papa KS Venkatramiah and Alathur Sri Subbier. His grandfather Vidwan Sri V Thyagarajan was also a renowned violinist. Seeing Anirudh’s keen interest in rhythm and percussion as a child, his grand-uncle, Kanjira Maestro Sri V Nagarajan, a pioneer in the art, volunteered to teach him to play the Kanjira. His skills were further honed and polished by Mridangam wizard Dr. TK Murthy.
Majestic in tone, his specialty is accompanying vocal music and being sensitive to the melody around him. He has performed extensively in India and across the world. Today, Anirudh has the unique distinction of being the youngest Kanjira artist to have accompanied all senior artists in Carnatic Music, along with many Violin and Mridangam Stalwarts.
He has received high recognition and numerous awards, and he’s one of the youngest Carnatic musicians to have been awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He holds the rare distinction of having performed at the United Nations in the year 2016 along with legendary Carnatic musician Sudha Ragunathan in connection with the World Non-Violence Day celebrations and stamp release to commemorate 50 years of Bharat Ratna Dr. M.S. Subbulakshmi’s performance at the UN.
