More details to follow. Key concert highlights:

10:00 AM – Carnatic Violin Duet

By “Sangita Kalanidhi” R.K.Shriramkumar and VVS Murari

Accompanied by Manoj Siva (Mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

1:00 PM – Carnatic Vocal Concert

By Kruthi Bhat (Vocal)

Accompanied by Vittal Rangan (Violin), R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam) and Samyuktha Sriram (Ghatam)

5:30 PM – Carnatic Vocal Concert

By Sandeep Narayanan (Vocal)

Accompanied by Vittal Rangan (Violin), R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

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10:00 AM

Carnatic Violin Duet

By R.K.Shriramkumar and VVS Murari

Accompanied by Manoj Siva (Mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

R K Shriramkumar

R K Shriramkumar belongs to the Rudrapatnam family of musicians, a family with a glorious musical tradition. He is the grandson of the much respected Vidvan Shri R K Venkatarama Shastri.

Having had his initial lessons in violin playing from Vidushi Smt Savitri Satyamurthy, Shriramkumar was trained in violin playing and vocal music by his grandfather Shri R K Venkatarama Shastri. He later received guidance in violin playing from Vidvan Shri V V Subrahmanyam and in vocal music from Sangita Kalanidhi Shri D K Jayaraman.

His skills were further honed through the association and knowledge that he gained by accompanying the doyens of Carnatic music like Shri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Smt M S Subbulakshmi, Smt D K Pattammal, Shri D K Jayaraman, Shri Palghat K V Narayanaswamy, Smt T Brinda, Smt T Mukta, Shri M Balamuralikrishna and others.

Shriramkumar’s discography includes, apart from his solo recordings, his violin accompaniment with reputed artistes and has had the blessed opportunity of participating in a very unique recording entitled ‘Divine Unison’ featuring the veterans Shri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Smt M S Subbulakshmi.

A recipient of many awards and accolades, Shriramkumar was recently awarded the prestigious title of Sangita Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy for the year 2025.

He has traveled far and wide on concert tours. His solo performances, lec-dems and workshops have also been greatly received and appreciated by audiences world-wide. Shriramkumar’s musicianship and endearing personality has inspired many music students and concert musicians to seek his guidance and mentorship.

Shriramkumar’s musical creations include many of his compositions, his music for many a lyric, and several dance productions as well . ‘Sri Sharada Stuti Manjari’ – a recording rendered by Smt Bombay Jayashri that contains the compositions of the Jagadgurus of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, ‘Sita Vishlesha Trayam’ – a dance production by Dr Vyjayantimala Bali and ‘Sarasvati Antarvahini’, a dance production by Kalakshetra, are a few notable works, amongst many, that feature Shriramkumar’s musical creations.

VVS Murari (Violin)

Born into a family of musicians with rich lineage and steeped in pedigree music, Vadakkencheri Srikrishna Murari popularly VVS Murari represents the fourth generation of music practitioners in his family. Maestro VVS Murari has been groomed under the guidance of his father and guru the legend ‘Nadayogi’ VV Subrahmanyam and later from the doyen of Carnatic music ‘Padma Vibhushan’ Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Murari was initiated into classical carnatic music by his paternal grand father and musician Vadakkencheri Veeraraghava Iyer, and also mentored by his mother Janaki VVS who hails from a family of great connoisseurs of music and arts in Kozhikode. Murari’s maternal grandfather Shankaranarayanan Iyer was a noted teacher and a passionate flautist from Kozhikode, Kerala.

Murari today not only bears the torch of the VVS tradition but has also evolved as a sensitive and emotive musician, giving a distinct style of his own. In his voyage as a cultural ambassador of India’s rich heritage, Murari has performed extensively in India and abroad in the most prestigious fora, drawing critical acclaim wherever he has performed. he has won several accolades from many reputed institutions.

Not only an acclaimed musician, Murari is also an art entrepreneur, donning the hats of founder director for VVS Foundation, India,Executive Director, VVS Foundation, USA and Founder, Chief Operating Officer of SaMaa Arts LLC, USA, Founding Member & Joint Secretary of Global Carnatic Musicians Association. Through these organizations he has been doing great service to art industry by encouraging and featuring young musicians of Carnatic music in various platforms worldwide. He has also been the catalyst in taking raw talents, mentoring them, and also putting them on world map by touring them across the United States and Canada. He has also been involved in several unique projects combining classical Indian music and western classical to jazz music thus bringing the world together.

Murari have been associating himself with many charity and giving back to community projects. In line with many of his unique projects, “Dakshinotsavam” (implying the festival of the south) was a project he came up with in December 2020 to identify and feature lesser-known musicians affected by the Covid pandemic resulting in a financial lurch. Murari took upon himself to do his small bit to reach out to 150 fellow Carnatic musicians of the southern states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, in India who do not have much access to technology to showcase their talents and those whose only source of income was music. He personally contributed generously and also collected huge sum of money and distributed to all the 150 musicians. Similarly, in early 2022 Murari curated a special one of a kind open air festival “Chalakudy Mahotsavam” at Chalakudy, Kerala to feature various traditional art forms of Kerala involving over 140 musicians and helped them weather the continued economic crisis due to Pandemic.Both Dakshinotsavam and Chalakudy Mahotsavam had a wide reach.

Manoj Siva (Mridangam)

Manoj Siva, a prime disciple of Sangita Kalanidhi Sri Palghat Raghu, hails from a family of musicians and music lovers. A Musician and a teacher par excellence he had his initial training in mridangam under Sri Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer and Sri Srirangarajapuram Jayaraman from a very young age. In the 35 plus years of his career, he has participated in many prestigious festivals across India and abroad which includes performances at the Rashtrapati Bhavan with the legendary Shri K.V.Narayanswamy, Trophen Theatre Amsterdam and Kennedy Centre, Washington DC.

Manoj is a sought after accompanist and has accompanied a gamut of artistes from the legendary Iconic Carnatic musicians Smt D.K.Pattamal, Smt.T Muktha, Sri D.K. Jayaraman, Sri K.V.Narayanaswamy, Sri T.N. Seshagopalan to name a few to today’s front ranking and upcoming musicians.

Manoj’s performances have gained recognition not just in India, but overseas too. He has performed in countries including U.S.A, Canada, London, Germany, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Belgium Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Doha, Bangladesh, Honk Kong, Latvia.

Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

Khanjira artist Anirudh Athreya has a great music Lineage. His great-grandfathers Sangita Kalanidhi-s ‘Papa’ K.S. Venkatramaiah and Alathur Sivasubramania Iyer were icons in the twentieth century. His maternal grandfather, V. Thyagarajan was a reputed violinist, and grand-uncle V. Nagarajan was a veteran khanjira vidwan. Nagarajan initiated Anirudh into the khanjira when he was but nine years old and was his guru for five years, later Anirudh came under the guidance of Sangita Kalanidhi T.K. Murthy. Since becoming Murthy’s disciple, Anirudh has not looked back. Within a year he was playing alongside the veteran who went to great lengths to encourage him. He is now a regular accompanist to accomplished artists like Bombay Jayashri, T.M. Krishna and Vijay Siva, among others. He considers it a privilege to have also participated in the concerts of the likes of R.K. Srikantan, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan, P.S. Narayanaswami, O.S. Thyagarajan, and N. Ravikiran. The senior mridanga artists he has teamed up with are his guru T.K. Murthy and Trichy Sankaran, Guruvayur Dorai, Srimushnam Raja Rao, Tiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam and Mannargudi Easwaran. He has toured many cities in India, and played abroad in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Singapore, the U.S.A. and Canada.

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1:00 PM

Carnatic Vocal Concert

By Kruthi Bhat

Accompanied by Vittal Rangan (Violin), R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam) and Samyuktha Sriram (Ghatam)

Kruthi Bhat

Vidushi Kruthi Vittal, a young prodigious vocalist in the field of Indian Classical Music, hails from a family of musicians. Kruthi, A Graded artist from the All India Radio with a double upgradation directly to A grade, she has performed extensively at Prestigious platforms all around the Globe and has numerous Titles and Awards to her credit. She is the youngest recipient of the title “Kala Ratna” by Cleveland Thyaragaraja Aradhana Committee, “Isai Chudar” from Karthik Fine Arts Chennai, & “Yuva Kala Mani” from Mani Krishnaswamy Academy. She was awarded the ”Best Vocalist” from the Prestigious Madras Music Academy, she is also the title winner of the Reality Show, Carnatic Music Idol USA Season 3 from Maximum Media Jaya TV, ” “Top 5 Voices of the Future” by Sruti Magazine, “Best Vocalist” by Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai & recently the Title Gana Visharada.Kruthi is a disciple of her mother, Vidushi Rajarajeshwary Bhat & maternal uncle Vidwan Vittal Ramamurthy. She has had the privilege to learn from the legendary Padmabhushan Sri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and Sri T. R. Subramanyan. She is also blessed to receive guidance under renowned musicians, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, S. Sowmya, Abhishek Raghuram, Kalyani Sharma & Trivandram G. Seethalakshmi. A computer science graduate from University of Houston, Kruthi is also an exponent of Carnatic & Western Violin, Bharathanatyam & Pastel/Acrylic Painting.

Vittal Rangan (Violin)

An acclaimed violinist, Vittal Rangan is well known for his flair for innovative ideas while simultaneously maintaining the traditional aesthetics. A disciple of the legendary Sangeetha Kalanidhi Kum A Kanyakumari and Sri RR Keshavamurthy. An ‘A’ graded violinist of the All India Radio, Vittal is a recipient of numerous awards – Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Shironmani Award , Best Violinist Award from the Music Academy etc. Vittal has performed and shared stage with great stalwarts and senior musicians across four generations all over the world, and is a fine solo violin artist as well.

R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam)

Vidwan R. Sankaranarayanan* is an Internationally acclaimed performer, collaborator, educator, and scholar, known for his refined musicianship marked by tonal clarity, rhythmic precision, and aesthetic sensitivity.

He hails from an illustrious musical lineage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Papanasam Sri Sivan. *He began receiving his foundational training at the age of three* under his uncle Vidwan Sri Papanasam Kumar and Melattur Sri L. Balasubramaniam. He further honed his artistry under the *legendary vidwan Sangeet Natak Awardee, Naadabrahmam Srimushnam Sri V. Rajarao Sir*.

*Sri Sankaranarayanan began performing in professional concerts at the age of nine* and is the recipient of several prestigious honours, including the *Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from Sangeet Natak Akademi,*

*Mridanga Naada Mani & Asthana Vidwan from Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam*

*Yuva Kala Bharati from Bharat Kalachar, Chennai*

*Mridanga Bhupathy from KKSF-USA at Dallas on April 5th 2026,* along with numerous awards and accreditations from major sabhas across India. He is also a graded artiste of All India Radio, Chennai.

*A globe-trotting artist travelling abroad since age eleven*, he has performed in over 30 countries, accompanying leading musicians worldwide. His performances have resonated in prestigious venues such as the *Sydney Opera House during Festival Of India, Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, The Esplanade, Singapore, Queen Elizabeth Hall and BBC Studios, London, as well as Broadway theatres and Carnegie Hall, New York*, among many others.

Sankaranarayanan is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring several young and aspiring students, many of whom are now active in the Carnatic concert circuit across the places. He serves as the *Founder, Director, and CEO of Naadalayam Arts & Music Inc., Toronto,* where he actively nurtures emerging talent across the GTA & visiting artistes. As a research scholar continues to make significant contributions to the North American Universities such as UT Austin, University of Toronto & few western percussion schools across USA & Canada with his research papers & articles on Mridangam resourcefully.

Samyuktha Sriram (Ghatam)

Samyuktha Sreeram is a disciple of the late Ghatam and Konakkol vidwan, Sangita Kalacharya Sri TH Subash Chandran. She is currently under the guidance of Ghatam Vidwan Sri N. Guruprasad and Sri Akshay Anantapadmanabhan. Samyuktha has over 13 years of Ghatam percussion experience and also learns Carnatic vocal music from Kalaimamani Smt. Charumathi Ramachandran.

Samyuktha has performed as a Ghatam accompanist across the United States, Canada, and India and has earned awards at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana in the U.S., along with the Yuva Kala Bharathi from Bharat Kalachar Sabha (Chennai), Yuva Pratibha from VVS Foundation (Chennai), and most recently Nada Pallava award from Nadasudha Sabha (Chennai).

Samyuktha has had the privilege of accompanying several eminent artists, including Sangita Kalanidhis Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, Sangeet Samrat Chitraveena N. Ravikiran, Kalaimamani Sri R. Suryaprakash, Sri Abhishek Raghuram, Sri Vittal Ramamurthy, Akkarai Sisters, Sri VVS Murari, Sri BU Ganesh Prasad, Smt. Aishwarya Shankar, Smt. Kruthi Bhat, the Carnatica brothers, and Smt. Vasudha Ravi.

Samyuktha recently graduated from Duke University and currently works in Washington DC.

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5:30 PM

Carnatic Vocal Concert

By Sandeep Narayan

Accompanied by Vittal Rangan (Violin), R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

Sandeep Narayan

Sandeep Narayan is a celebrated musician and vocalist of the South Indian classical tradition known as Carnatic Music. He is known for his melodious voice, his mastery over intricate musical renditions, and his deeply emotive performances, all while connecting to the sensibilities of modern audiences. Though he was born in Los Angeles, California, Sandeep went against the norms and moved from America to India in 2006, to pursue his dream of beinga musician full-time. His reverse migration was a first of its kind for an aspiring artiste in Carnatic Music.

In 2024, Sandeep co-created the album Arul with Canadian based artiste “Yanchan Produced,” which featured a combination of Carnatic with Hip-hop and Afro-beats. The album earned the duo a Juno Award nomination, Canada’s highest musical honor. Following this, Sandeep was invited to become a GRAMMY®️ Voting Member of The Recording Academy in 2025, an exceptional recognition shared by very few.

His talent has been recognized across India, including with the “Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar” from the SangeetNatak Akademi, Government of India, “Isai Peroli” from Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai, and “Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani” from Sri Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai. Adding to his honors, he was named “Artiste of the Year” in 2024 by the Shrinivas Institute of World Music, in tribute to the legendary Mandolin Shrinivas.

Sandeep’s musical journey began at the age of four under the guidance of his mother, Smt. Shubha Narayan, in Cerritos, California. He later received advanced training from esteemed gurus Shri KS Krishnamurthi and Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan.

Over the years, he has captivated audiences worldwide. As a dedicated music educator, he continues to inspire and mentor students globally in the art of Carnatic music. Today, Sandeep serves as a cultural bridge, connecting traditional Indian music with global audiences.

Vittal Rangan (Violin)

An acclaimed violinist, Vittal Rangan is well known for his flair for innovative ideas while simultaneously maintaining the traditional aesthetics. A disciple of the legendary Sangeetha Kalanidhi Kum A Kanyakumari and Sri RR Keshavamurthy. An ‘A’ graded violinist of the All India Radio, Vittal is a recipient of numerous awards – Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Shironmani Award , Best Violinist Award from the Music Academy etc. Vittal has performed and shared stage with great stalwarts and senior musicians across four generations all over the world, and is a fine solo violin artist as well.

R. Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam)

Vidwan R. Sankaranarayanan* is an Internationally acclaimed performer, collaborator, educator, and scholar, known for his refined musicianship marked by tonal clarity, rhythmic precision, and aesthetic sensitivity.

He hails from an illustrious musical lineage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Papanasam Sri Sivan. *He began receiving his foundational training at the age of three* under his uncle Vidwan Sri Papanasam Kumar and Melattur Sri L. Balasubramaniam. He further honed his artistry under the *legendary vidwan Sangeet Natak Awardee, Naadabrahmam Srimushnam Sri V. Rajarao Sir*.

*Sri Sankaranarayanan began performing in professional concerts at the age of nine* and is the recipient of several prestigious honours, including the *Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from Sangeet Natak Akademi,*

*Mridanga Naada Mani & Asthana Vidwan from Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam*

*Yuva Kala Bharati from Bharat Kalachar, Chennai*

*Mridanga Bhupathy from KKSF-USA at Dallas on April 5th 2026,* along with numerous awards and accreditations from major sabhas across India. He is also a graded artiste of All India Radio, Chennai.

*A globe-trotting artist travelling abroad since age eleven*, he has performed in over 30 countries, accompanying leading musicians worldwide. His performances have resonated in prestigious venues such as the *Sydney Opera House during Festival Of India, Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, The Esplanade, Singapore, Queen Elizabeth Hall and BBC Studios, London, as well as Broadway theatres and Carnegie Hall, New York*, among many others.

Sankaranarayanan is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring several young and aspiring students, many of whom are now active in the Carnatic concert circuit across the places. He serves as the *Founder, Director, and CEO of Naadalayam Arts & Music Inc., Toronto,* where he actively nurtures emerging talent across the GTA & visiting artistes. As a research scholar continues to make significant contributions to the North American Universities such as UT Austin, University of Toronto & few western percussion schools across USA & Canada with his research papers & articles on Mridangam resourcefully.

Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira)

Khanjira artist Anirudh Athreya has a great music Lineage. His great-grandfathers Sangita Kalanidhi-s ‘Papa’ K.S. Venkatramaiah and Alathur Sivasubramania Iyer were icons in the twentieth century. His maternal grandfather, V. Thyagarajan was a reputed violinist, and grand-uncle V. Nagarajan was a veteran khanjira vidwan. Nagarajan initiated Anirudh into the khanjira when he was but nine years old and was his guru for five years, later Anirudh came under the guidance of Sangita Kalanidhi T.K. Murthy. Since becoming Murthy’s disciple, Anirudh has not looked back. Within a year he was playing alongside the veteran who went to great lengths to encourage him. He is now a regular accompanist to accomplished artists like Bombay Jayashri, T.M. Krishna and Vijay Siva, among others. He considers it a privilege to have also participated in the concerts of the likes of R.K. Srikantan, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan, P.S. Narayanaswami, O.S. Thyagarajan, and N. Ravikiran. The senior mridanga artists he has teamed up with are his guru T.K. Murthy and Trichy Sankaran, Guruvayur Dorai, Srimushnam Raja Rao, Tiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam and Mannargudi Easwaran. He has toured many cities in India, and played abroad in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Singapore, the U.S.A. and Canada.

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