Charumathi Raghuraman (Violin)

Charumathi Raghuraman is a young and vibrant violin virtuoso gifted with a refreshing candour of combining the elements of traditional music from India’s exalted Carnatic tradition, with modern performance. She belongs to a special pedigree of artists who search for the beauty in creating and sharing the art as a live experience.​

A precocious talent, she started learning from her mother Smt. Rama Raghuraman, then continued formalised training with the respected Guru Smt. T.R. Balamani in Mumbai, and soon thereafter, at the suggestion of the iconic violinist of South India, Padma Bhushan Prof. T. N. Krishnan, Charumathi became his ardent disciple in 1995. She has also studied Carnatic vocal music with the renowned teacher Padma Bhushan Sri. P. S. Narayanaswami.

​She played her debut concert along side Prof. T. N. Krishnan in 1998 and since then has been performing regularly both as a soloist and accompanist.

The salient features of her musicianship include the rare combination of a pure sound and erudite content. She not only excels in the instrumental technique of the violin but is equally adept in reproducing vocal nuances mellifluously.​

She has been awarded the CCR&T, Govt. of India scholarship from the age of ten. She is the recipient of many awards; some of the notable ones include the ‘Yuva Kala Ratna Award’ from Rasika Ranjani Sabha in 2023, ‘Best Senior Violinist Award’ from the Madras Music Academy in 2023, ‘Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award’ for the year 2016, ‘Ramabhadran Centenary Award’ for the Most Promising Young Musician of the Year 2013 from Tag Corporation, India; ’Young Achiever award’ from Rotary Club; multiple ‘Best Violinist’ awards for the years 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006, and the ‘Outstanding Young Violinist’ award in 2007-08 from The Music Academy (Madras); and ‘Best Violinist’ awards from various institutions like Narada Gana Sabha, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Indian Fine Arts Society etc.

She is an ‘A grade’ artist of the All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Charu has traveled widely across India and abroad to perform in prestigious music festivals and institutions over the last two decades. Charu is also a sought after teacher in both violin and vocal. Academically, she holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Xavier Institute.

Anantha R Krishnan (Mridangam)

A rare phenomenon in the world of music, Anantha started his musical journey on the mridangam, the principle drum of the Carnatic tradition. The grandson and disciple of the great mridangam maestro, Shri. Palghat R. Raghu, he first learned the fundamentals of the mridangam under his uncle, Shri. R. Ramkumar and then began an official tutelage under his grandfather at the age of five. He performed his first concert at the age of seven and before the age of twenty performed alongside a rare generation of Indian classical musicians like, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Prof. T.N. Krishnan, Dr. KJ Yesudas, Mandolin Srinivas, among many others. 

During this period, he received numerous awards from traditional organizations of classical music in India. Most notably, he has won the categorical Best Mridangist Prize from the flagship institution for promoting classical Indian music, the Music Academy, Madras, five times. He was awarded the State of the Arts Award from the New Jersey government twice in 1997 and 1998 as part of the National Endowment of the Arts' effort to promote cultural awareness in the U.S.A. He is also a special interest student of tabla under Ustad Zakir Hussain.

Anantha holds a B.A. in Western Music and Philosophy from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Electronic Music and Percussion from Mills College, California. He appears on Intakt Records, Echo Music and ACT Records. He currently serves as faculty of percussion at A.R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India.