Vidu. Smt. Neyveli Ramalakshmi
Neyveli Ramalakshmi (aka Ramaa) is a disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Neyveli Santanagopalan. She started her musical training at the age of five under her mother, Smt. Trichy S. Premavathy and later under Guru Sri O.S.Tiagarajan(OST). Ramaa is a Carnatic vocalist gifted with a mellifluous, captivating voice and abundant musical talent. Her performances are a connoisseur's delight. Her music is marked by a deep insight into raga-bhava, sincerity in approach, and total involvement in the aesthetic beauties of Carnatic music. Ramaa has perform across United States, Cleveland Aradhana Festival and Music Season in Chennai. Ramaa also specializes her knowledge in Tevaram and Tiruvasagams, age old Pann's from the Shaivaite age. As a well accomplished music teacher, Ramaa has the distinction of teaching a great number of students in New Jersey and Dallas, some of whom are performing concerts and winning music Competitions.
Vidu. Smt. Nandita Padmanabhan
Nandita Padmanabhan is a Dallas-based Carnatic vocalist and teacher. She is an 'A' grade artist of All India Radio in Carnatic Music. Nandita’s parents have been instrumental in shaping her music career. Her Gurus are Vidhushi Madhavi Rajagopalan, Dr Nagavalli Nagaraj, and Dr T.S.Sathyavathi.
Nandita won the first prize in the national level All India Radio music competition in Carnatic Music. She is a Vidwath grade holder in Carnatic Music exams conducted by Govt of Karnataka. She was a recipient of CCRT and HRD scholarships sponsored by the Government of India. She was awarded by ITC Sangeeth Research academy, Mumbai, for excellence in music. She has performed regularly in All India Radio and TV channels in India. She has performed in several cities across India including Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Tirupathi, to name a few. She is an active performer here in the USA, having performed in New Jersey, Bay Area, Austin, Pittsburgh, Denver, to name a few. She is an active participant in local music events in Dallas. She has performed for KaryaSiddhi Hanuman Temple, IndianOctaves, Sapthami Foundation, PurandaraDaasa Aradhane, to name a few. She also regularly sings for Arangetrams. She is proficient in the art of rendering Ragam Taanam Pallavis, and has also performed the Avadhaana Pallavi.
Nandita holds a masters degree in computer science from Syracuse University, New York and is currently working as a Principal Engineer at Palo Alto Networks.
Vid. Sri Kiran Kumar Manda
Vid. Sri. Kiran Kumar Manda - Started learning at the age of 12 from a reputed Violin teacher Smt. M. Bharati Prasad. Later on he learnt the advanced techniques of this art form from Sri Mutnuri Srinivasa Narasimha Murthy that made him as an accomplished Violin Artiste from accompaniment and solo perspective. Kiran Kumar is currently under the tutelage of renowned violin vidwan Sri TH Subrahmanyam. Kiran Kumar received numerous awards for his skills and ability in this art form, such as the ‘Ugadi Puraskar’ from Madras Telugu Academy from Hon’ble Governor of Tamilnadu - Sri Rangarajan in the year 2001. As a ‘B’ grade artiste in Violin.
Vid. Sri. Shankar Rajagopalan
Shankar Rajagopalan started his mridangam journey at the age of 9 under the tutelage of Kalaimamani Shri Kutthalam Viswanatha Iyer, and had his arangetram at the age of 12 in the presence Shri Maharajapuram Santhanam, Shri MS Gopalakrishnan, Tanjavur Upendran, Veenai Pichumani Iyer, Flute N. Ramani and many other leading musicians. He has won various competitions conducted by The Music Academy, Mylapore Fine Arts, and YACM. He had the opportunity to accompany leading artistes like Veena Gayathri and Dwaram Mangathayaru along with Guru (double mridangam). He was fortunate to accompany Shri TV Gopalakrishnan for a concert in BITS Pilani. He is also an AIR graded artiste and recipient of center government scholarship awarded by the Government of India. Shankar moved to Dallas in 2014 and has been actively involved in the community teaching mridangam to children and also accompanying various local and visiting artistes.
