Vidu. Smt. Prema Ramamurthy
Carnatic Vocalist, Music Composer, Vidushi Smt.PREMA RAMAMURTHY NEW YORK ROCKEFELLER AWARDEE CENTRAL SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI AWARDEE TOP GRADE CARNATIC VOCALIST of All India Radio & Doordarshan Smt.Prema Ramamurthy, born on 28-August-1949 at Bellary, is an outstanding Carnatic Vocalist, with over six decades experience as a performing artiste. She is one of the senior most classical musicians residing at Hyderabad, India. She was initiated into carnatic music at the age of 3, by her parents Nagaraj Subbaiah Sastry, Jayalakshmi. She trained under her grandfather Srinivasa Sastry (Zamindar & Carnatic Flute Artist in 1920s). Prema is one of the seniormost disciples of Dr.Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna. She has had a 5-decade long association with Gurugaru, during his lifetime. She also learnt 'Pallavi Singing' from Guru T.V.Gopalakrishnan and specialized 'Padams & Javalis' from Smt.T.Muktha. Under the guidance of such great masters, she had blossomed into one of the leading carnatic vocalists and composers of the world. Vidushi Prema received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from hon'ble President of India, Smt.Droupadi Murmu. She is a TOP-GRADE artiste of AIR & Doordarshan, and is a selection panel member of Prasar Bharati. She is one of the first recipients of New York Rockefeller Foundation award. She has received Ugadi Puraskar at Telangana. She is one of the earliest and leading most composers for classical productions, and has collaborated for several renowned artists & foundations across the country. She has composed music for documentary films, art Tele-films, devotional albums, thematic productions etc. She has composed music for national award winning documentary films produced by FILMS DIVISION of INDIA. She has received titles such as 'SANGEETA SARASWATI, 'AMRITAVARSHINI', 'SANGEETA RATNA', 'GANA KOKILA' - to mention a few. She was acclaimed as 'DAKSHIN BHARAT PARVEEN SULTANA' by senior critic Sri.Subbudu in New Delhi, India. Prema has performed for several prestigious concerts such as Sangeet Sammelan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Festival, National Program of Music, Dept. of Culture & Tourism festivals etc. She has toured over 50 countries in her lifetime, and has participated in several ICCR Festivals across the world. She has performed for Madras Music Academy, Tiruvaiyaru Tyagaraja Festival, Kartik Fine Arts, Gayana Samaj, Swar Sangeet Samaroh, DD Bharati, Nada Neerajanam, Etv2, C-TV and International media. She was one among the first set of artists invited to South Africa after Apartheid. She has been extensively reviewed by the media. She has released many solo & collaboration audio video albums. Prema has trained several students. Dr.Savita Namuduri is one of her seniormost disciples, an outstanding vocalist and a well established teacher, settled in Dallas/Texas area. Many of Vidushi Prema's students have established themselves as performers, teachers & organizers in various parts of the world. Prema's daughter, Dr.Jayaprada Ramamurthy is one of the leading Carnatic Flute artists.
Vid. Sri Narasimha Kikkeri
Sri Narasimha Kikkeri inspired and encouraged by his parents Smt Sathyavathi and Sri K.N. Rajarao began his violin training in Carnatic music at an early age from Vid.Sri Srinivasa Murthy, Vid.Sri Mysore S Mahadevappa and Vid.Sri Govindaswamy, disciple of Vid.Smt Lalgudi Rajalakshmi and belongs to Lalgudi Shishya parampara.
Narasimha gave his debut concert at the age of 13 and has been performing ever since. Over the years Narasimha has been a frequent performer on All India Radio & TV stations and has represented India at the festival of India during international music festivals at U.K. and former USSR. He has performed at several leading sabhas and cities in India and USA, including Gayana Samaj, Bangalore, Nada Brahma, JaganMohan palace and world-renowned Mysore Dasara Festival, Cleveland Sri Thyagaraja Aradhana, Lotus Festival at Bloomington, Indiana, He has performed solo concerts frequently at several leading universities including Bloomington Indiana, Berkeley Boston, Cornel, Purdue, Oxford Miami, Cincinnati conservatory, Norman OK, Mary Baldwin, UNT to name a few. He has also conducted several music workshops at reputed Fine Arts Conservatories and Universities such as Bloomington,Indiana, University of Cincinnati to name a few.
He has accompanied leading Indian artists such as Sangita Kalanidhi Sri T.N. Sheshagopalan, Dr T. Viswanathan, Dr Chitti Babu, Sangita Kalanidhi Sri Chitravina N Ravikiran, Sangita Kalanidhi Trichur V Ramachandran, Sangita Kalanidhi R.K. Srikantan and others. He was blessed to do a solo performance with Sangita Kalanidhi Sri Umayalapuram K Sivaraman. He has also the great fortune of accompanying legendary Bharatanatyam dance artist, Padmabhushan Sri C.V. Chandrashekar. He has accompanied with Hindustani singer Rashid Khan during US tour along with CD releases.
In addition, he has played several fusion concerts with leading Jazz & drum players such as Rick VanMatre and Glen Velez. He is well adept at playing with Western and JAZZ players and has performed at several Universities.
A very sought-after violinist based out of Dallas, devotee of Dattaguru peetam and by the blessings of Sri Sri Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji, Narasimha conducts Violin classes regularly at Frisco Hanuman Temple and several students are learning under his tutelage at his Swara School of Music.
Vid. Sri Ramakrishna Neti
Vid. Sri. Ramakrishna Neti is a popular Mridanga vidwan and teacher in the Dallas area Initial training from late Vid. M.A. Krishnamurthy of Mysore He is a disciple of Mridangam maestro, Padmashri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao Ramakrishna hails from a family of musicians His grandfather, Harikathakesari Sri Neti Lakshminarayana Bhagavathar, was a renowned Harikatha exponent and a disciple of Harikatha Pitamaha Sri Adibhatla Narayana Dasu. His uncle late Sri Neti Srirama Sarma was a top-grade Voco-Violonist at All India Radio, Hyderabad. His eldest sister Smt. Indira Kameswara Rao is a top-grade vocalist at All India Radio, Visakhapatnam. Ramakrishna has performed in various Sangeetha Sabha concerts in India and North America as well as the Prasara Bharati network in India. He has also learnt Hindustani vocal. He is a Data Analytics professional and holds MBA and Electronics Engineering Degrees.
