Anuradha Suresh Krishnamurthy For SICA

One of the big problems of ageing is finding more and more people of your own age getting much bigger than you. This lady was doing it to people even in their teens and their 20s.

Anuradha Suresh Krishnamurthy, the shining star of the Indian Carnatic music horizon, is blessed with correct concoction. She is the daughter of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Professor K V Narayana Swamy, whose music is a mirror image of that of his great guru, Ariakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, the undisputed leader of the modern age of music. She is inspired by the old masters, but reshapes her nostalgia into fresh sounds, reinventing and personalizing every raga while adapting the earlier melodic styles.

Anuradha began singing at the age of 3, and was initiated into the grammar of music by the time she was 10. Her first guru was her mother, Padma Narayanaswamy. In 1991 she was awarded a scholarship by the Ford Foundation, and underwent training for six months under the tutelage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr T Vishwanathan and Padmabushan T Brinda. Subsequently, she learned from Dr Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Anuradha frequently warms the foyers of Padmabushan M S Subbalakshmi to seek her advice.

The girl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of Madras. At the age of 18, in 1986, Anuradha gave her first solo public performance under the auspices of the Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai, during the December Music Festival. She has since given performances in big cities across India, as also overseas in places like the Middle East, the United States, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia.

She has received several awards and recognition - some of these are: the Best Junior Vocalist at the December Music Festival organized by the Naradha Gana Sabha in 1991, the D K Pattamal Award for music in 1997 awarded by the Music Academy, Madras, the Best Raga Alapana Award by the Indian Fine Arts Society in 1997, the Valarum Kalaignar Award by the Tamil Isai Sangam, Madurai, in 1998 and the Best Neraval Award by the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in 1997.

The A-grade artiste with AIR, Chennai, also has several albums and cassettes to her credit. Her album "Rupkala" cut for HMV is an expression of a genius. Her cassettes "Andal Thiruppavai" and recently "Sri Venkateswara Suprapadham" map a path to the puzzling souls in every South Indian household. "Amritha Ranjani" and "Raga Anuragam" have been rendered with vividness and musical energy.

She is all set to perform for the music lovers of Hyderabad today, in this concert organized by SICA. Please contact Chakrapani at 761-4374 for further details.