Thiruvaiyaru Sri S.R.Krishnan (Main Artist)

krishnan@sankeertanam.com 
 

Thiruvaiyaru Krishnan was trained as a Carnatic musician under
legendary musicians such as Kumaramangalam Srinivasaraghavan, and
Sangita Kalanidhis Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Madurai Mani Iyer
and G.N. Balasubramaniam.   A performer and teacher for over four
decades, Krishnan is a renowned exponent of 'Divya Naama
Sankeertanam,' a classical divine music tradition handed down by
eminent Indian musical saints spanning the last five centuries.
Krishnan has presented this ancient form, which includes Carnatic and
Hindustani systems of music, for over four decades, and across four
continents. His gurus in the Sankeertanam tradition include his father
 Kumaramangalam Srinivasaraghavan, Srirangam Nathamuni Narayana
Iyengar, Brahmasri Narayana Sastri, and the legendary Swami Haridoss
Giri with whom he has performed many Sankeertanams.  Krishnan's
musical Harikatha series on Indian musical saints is very popular.

A disciple of Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, (Paramaachaarya
in the Adi Sankara Order), Krishnan is a Vedic scholar from Sanskrit
College, India. He is also a lyricist, composer, poet, journalist, and
a popular storywriter. His earliest musical compilation, Triveni
Ramayana, also titled "Sitayascharitam Mahat," (supervised by Sangita
Kalanidhis Musiri Subrahmanya Iyer and Mudikondan Venkatarama Iyer,
and choreographed by Dr. V. Raghavan) was critically acclaimed by
musicians and honored by Sir C.P Ramaswamy Iyer.  Lyricist and music
choreographer of a full opera, 'The Lord of Sabarimala,' Krishnan has
many musical compositions to his credit in various Indian languages.
An International Banking Executive for forty years, he is the founding
partner of a Fiduciary Corporation working for several Federal
Agencies of the US Government for over thirteen years, and resides
with his wife in Orange County, California.

 


Disciples 

spk@narada.org 

 

Providing vocal support for Sri Krishnan will be his disciples Dr. R.
Jayakrishnan, Dr. Hari Asuri & his daughters The Krishnan Sisters
(Padmapriya, Harini & Subhapriya).


Hemmige V. Srivatsan (Violin)

sri@narada.org
 

Hemmige V. Srivatsan is widely regarded as one of the leading Karnatic
violinists of the younger generation. He had advanced training under
Prof. Anoor S. Ramakrishna, Principal of the Ayyanar Music College in
Bangalore.  For nearly two decades, Srivatsan has been a disciple of
renowned vocalist Sangeeta Kalanidhi K.V.Narayanaswamy, learning vocal
music under him as well.  Srivatsan is also regarded as the leading
male torch-bearer to The KVN and Ariyakudi Traditions of Music. 
Srivatsan's playing is noted for its classical purity and painstaking
attention to fine detail. As an accomplished performing vocalist, he
is especially careful about preserving the lyrical element in his
playing.  Srivatsan has accompanied leading musicians such as K.V.
Narayanaswamy, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M.S. Subbulakshmi, T.
Viswanathan, N. Ramani, and D.K. Jayaraman to name a few. He is an "A"
Grade All India Radio artist.  He has toured and performed all over
the U.S., India, Australia, Europe and has many albums and recordings
to his credit.  Srivatsan is a Computer Scientist and resides in the
bay area with his family.

 


Vadiraja Bhatt (Mrudangam & Dolak)

laya_vadi@yahoo.com 
 

Vadiraja Bhatt was initiated into Mridangam by Vidwan B.R.Sridhar,
currently a station artist in AIR Badhravati. As an aspiring young
performer at the age of eleven, he gave his first public appearance.
Since then, there has been no looking back for him and for the past
two decades, he has been performing regularly and has accompanied
leading musicians like Prof. Nookala, Prof. T.V.G, Sangeetha Kalanidhi
T.K. Govinda Rao and numerous musicians in India and the Bay Area.A
regular on AIR Mangalore, he has won several awards including
recognition at the state level. He also accompanied a veena artist for
a CD recording.According to Prof. Nookala , "Vadiraja sings with the
Mridangam". Currently he is undergoing advanced training under
Mridnagam Maestro Prof. T.V.Gopalakrishnan.

 
Ravi Gutala (Tabla)

rgutala@hotmail.com

Ravi Gutala is originally from Hyderabad, India and has been initiated
at a very early age into Tabla by Shri P.Anjaiah, a senior staff
artiste at AIR, Hyderabad, India. Currently he resides in San Jose,
California and has been studying Tabla under Maestro Swapan Chaudhuri
at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA for the past 12
years. He also has been teaching Tabla to a number of aspiring
students in the Bay Area.

Ravi has won numerous awards and is a recipient of All India National
Talent Search Scholarship. He had been a regular performer at AIR,
Hyderabad, India between 1982-1986. He has accompanied many noted
artistes such as, Pt.Jasraj, Smt.Lakshmi Shankar, Sisir Kanadhar
Choudhary, Pt.Sachdev, Dr.Rajeev Taranath, Dr.Laxmi Tewari, Smt Veena
Sahasrabuddhe, Dr.L.Subramaniam, Pt.Buddhadev Das Gupta, Pt.Budhaditya
Mukherjee, Pt.Madhav Gudi, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Shri
Tejendra Mazumdar, Shri Sanjeev Abhayankar, Ms Shweta Jhaveri etc. He
has 4 CD recordings and many cassette recordings to his credit.

Ravi designs semiconductor chips for a living.