The South Indian Cultural Association, popularly known as "SICA", has been doing
service for the preservation and propagation of classical art forms for the last
43 years. Apart from organizing monthly concerts on a regular basis, the association
organizes annual art festivals at the beginning of every year, in which top class
artists both from the Hindustani and the Carnatic music world perform under the
banner of SICA.
Today, as part of its month-end program schedule, SICA is arranging Sangeeta
Sandhya, a Carnatic vocal and Hindustani santoor recital concert by R Visweswaran
and S Venu Madhav.
R Visweswaran
Hailing from a family of musicians, Visweswaran is the nephew of the legendary Carnatic musician, the late G N Balasubramaniam. A chartered accountant by education, Visweswaran gave it up to pursue his saadhana in music.
Multidisciplinary in his musical skills, he is one of the senior-most disciples of Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. He has the rare distinction of being the only South-Indian to play the Kashmiri Santoor in a professional capacity.
A graded artist of the All India Radio and an empanelled artiste of the ICCR, he has performed extensively all over India and abroad on the santoor. He has to his credit several noteworthy concerts all over India. At an international level, his concerts at the South Bank Kufa Gallery and the Bhavan Center, London, and his participation in the International Jazz Festival at Rouen and the Montelimar, House of World Cultures, Berlin, deserve special mention.
He is also a Carnatic Vaineeka and a vocalist-composer. Married to the celebrated Bharatanatyam danseuse Padma Chitra Visweswaran, his vocal accompaniment and music compositions for her dance have contributed considerably to the richness and the aesthetic sensitivity of the dance presentation.
S Venu Madhav
A bright and rising star on the firmament of Carnatic music, Venu Madhav is one of the illustrious disciples of D Raghava Chari (of the Hyderabad Brothers). He has completed his certificate course under Guru Haripriya (of the Hyderabad Sisters) and Diploma under the late Vasa Padmanabham, and is known for his perfect sense of Sruti and Tala.
Endowed with a deep voice, he takes great care to get the right diction of the lyrics of the songs he sings, laying emphasis on the bhava and the rasa of the raga and the song. He has performed in major sabhas and festivals. He also lends his voice for the dance performances of Ananda Shankar Jayant, and has recently returned from an ICCR tour of South Africa, Mauritius, Zambia and Kenya.
Please contact Chakrapani 761-4374 at for further details.