Flute & Mandolin Duet By B V Balasai & U P Raju

Sharada Cultural Trust is organising its 21st Annual Cultural Festival of Music & the 164th Aradhana of Sadguru Sri Thyagaraja Swamy from 31st January to 6th February at Keyes High School. The 7-day festival will feature several renowned Carnatic musicians from all over the country - T N Seshagopalan, N Vijay Siva, Rajani & Gayathri, Lakshmi & Subiksha Rangarajan, Manda Sudha Rani, and Balasai & U P Raju - providing a musical fiesta for the Carnatic music lovers of the twin cities.



On the penultimate day, the 5th February, B V Balasai on the flute with U P Raju on the mandolin will perform a Carnatic duet.



Balasai was born in a family of rich musical tradition, and started his initial training at the age of 9 from his father B Sudarsana Rao. He further refined his skills under the guidance and direction of great masters like T Sanjeevi, Sangeetham Meera Sahib, C G Venkatesh and Dr. Prapancham Seetharam.



As a soloist and an "A" grade artiste, he has performed for many prestigious sabhas and organizations all over the country. He has had the privilege of accompanying great mridangam stalwarts like Palghat Raghu, Karaikudi R Mani, Guruvayur Durai and Vellore Ramabhadran. He has also recorded many cassettes & CDs to his credit. As a composer, he has composed music for dance ballets & devotional albums, and has also given music assistance to many reputed music directors.



U P Raju learnt music at a young age under R Subbaraju, and underwent 7 years of rigorous training through the Gurukulavasam system. Thereafter, he received advanced training from Calcutta K S Krishnamoorthi. He has received many prizes and awards including a special prize by the Krishna Gana Sabha for distinguished performance, the K S Mahadevan Endowment for Best Junior Artist Playing A Foreign Instrument by the Narada Gana Sabha, and the Yuva Bharati Award from Bharat Kalachar.



His wife P Nagamani is also a very renowned mandolin player, and together, they have performed extensively around the globe in countries like South Africa, USA, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, France, Switzerland and Germany, besides all over India.



The Sharada Cultural Trust is an all-women voluntary organisation that has been working for the last 19 years in the field of cultural activities. The programs conducted by the organisation include the annual music festival and Thyagaraja Aradhana, the annual music competitions, donation of rice to veda pathashalas, and donating money to the Sri Vidya School For Special Children and the Devnar School For The Blind.



Entry is free for everyone. Please contact Sharada Krishnan at 98851-44412 / 97034-44542 for further details.