Carnatic Vocal By Garimella Balakrishna Prasad: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR CARNATIC VOCAL BY GARIMELLA...

The South Indian Cultural Association (SICA), in association with the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) and the Department Of Culture, Government Of Andhra Pradesh, is organising the 600th jayanti celebrations of Saint Annamacharya, from 25th to 27th June, at the Ravindra Bharathi auditorium. The 3-day celebrations will feature some renowned music and dance artistes including Sweta Prasad, the Malladi Brothers, Dr. Anupama Kailash & Group, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, Venu Madhav and the Priya Sisters.

The second recital on 26th June will be by Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, who will enchant the audience with a Carnatic vocal concert from 7pm to 9:45pm. His son G V N Anila Kumar will be providing the vocal support.

Garimella Balakrishna Prasad is synonymous with Annamayya keertanas. Prasad, a diploma holder in Carnatic vocal music and a graded artist of AIR, has been into the fold of the Annamacharya project of TTD as a special graded vocal artist. His first and foremost gurus were his parents late Krishnaveni and late Garimella Narasimha Rao, with the latter being a music teacher as well as a vaggeyakara. He then trained under Sangeetha Kalanidhi Nedumuri Krishna Murthy. Later, he had some lessons under Padmasri Dr. Mangalampalli Bala Murali Krishna. He also had the privilege of being a disciple of Prof. D Pasupathy for some time.

He was awarded the titles of Annamacharya Vidwanmani in Chicago & Annamacharya Nada Jyothi in Los Angeles. He was also conferred upon the Gana Kala Visarada title in Vijayawada for the 7-day Sankeerthana Yagnam, where he sang 216 songs. The Academy of Fine Arts of Tirupati gave him The Spirit Of Excellence award in 1999 during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Indian Independence. The Delhi Telugu Academy conferred upon him the title Enchanting Singer in 2001.

The entry is free for invitees and members of SICA. For others, it is by donor passes of Rs. 100, Rs. 50 & Rs. 25 per head per day. Please contact R Chakrapani, Secretary of SICA, at 2742-5374/98491-24675 for further details.