T. M. Krishna Artist Profile

T. M. Krishna

Profile

T.M.Krishna is one of the leading artists in the field of carnatic music (Indian classical music-south Indian style) today. Born on 22nd January 1976 to Mrs. and Mr. T.M.Rangachary T.M.Krishna belongs to a family of music connoisseurs. From a very early age he was exposed to classical art, especially carnatic classical music. His mother herself was a carnatic music graduate and his father a great lover of carnatic classical music. His grand parents on both sides of the family had immense interest in carnatic music. His grand uncle Mr. T.T.Krishnamachari was one of the founders of the Madras Music Academy, a premier institution in the field of Indian performing arts. He has had the good fortune of listening to a number of concerts by stalwarts from the age of 2. This has greatly influenced his outlook and approach to Carnatic music.

From a very young age, he showed immense talent in the art of classical vocal music. He used to pick up all the songs that his mother learnt during her music classes. Taking notice of this talent, his mother put him under the tutelage of Vidwan Sri Seetharama Sharma at the tender age of 6. He has been learning from him for the past 18 years. He has also undergone special Pallavi training under Sri Chengalpet Ranganthan. Now he is continuing to learn from Vidwan Sri Seetharama Sharma and Dr Semmengudi Srinivasier.

His Music

His resonant and mellifluous voice and strict adherence to classicism have enriched his musical outpourings. His music is marked with a very high level of aesthetics in conception and execution. He is known for his tremendous Manodharma (Imagination) and Sampradaya (Traditional) Sangeetha (music). His complete involvement and his ability to unfold ragas with ease has left many a listener lost in his music. His renditions of vilamba kalam (slow tempo) compositions are soaked with bhakthi (devotion) and bhava (emotion) are a treat to every listener.

Professional Carreer

T.M.Krishna is one of the leading artists in the field of carnatic music. He has been performing from the age of 12. His first concert was at the Spirit of youth series organized by the music academy Chennai. Since then there has been no looking back. He has traveled widely in India and abroad and won applause from connoisseurs and critics. He has received numerous awards and titles from many leading organizations.

Some of the awards

Best main performer- Youth Association for Classical Music- 1989, CMANA prize for Talented vocalist under the age of 25- Music Academy -1994 CMANA prize Talented vocalist under the age of 25 – Music Academy -1995 , Best junior vocalist –Krishna Gana Sabha-1995 , Musician of the year – Narada Gana Sabha-1995 , Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar award - Music Academy- 1996, Title ‘yuva Kala Bharathi’- Bharath Kalachar – 1997 , Srirangam Gopalrathnam award – Music Academy – 1998 , G.Ramakrishna Iyer award - Music Academy – 1999 , Best senior performing artist – Music Academy - 2001 , Youth Award for Excellence – Maharajapuram Vishvanatha Iyer Trust - 2001 , Kalki Krishnamurthy Award - 2001

Tours

South Africa-1996 , U.S.A. and Canada- 1998 , U.S.A. and Singapore- 1999 , Oman- 2000 , Singapore- 2001

Other

His work in the field of music is not restricted to only performing. He was the president of the Youth Association for Classical Music (YACM) for 4 years. As its president he pioneered many innovative and far-reaching projects for the increase in listener ship of carnatic music among the youth. He has organized many lecture demonstrations in around 100 schools in Chennai City. He has conducted many workshops for the better understanding of carnatic music. Even after resigning as YACM president he has continued his work in this direction. He has also presented a number of lecture demonstrations on different aspects of carnatic music.

In December 1998, along with musicians Vijay Siva and Dr Sunder, he authored the first ever carnatic music appreciation album Titled ‘ learning to appreciate carnatic music’. This album was released by H.M.V. In December 1999 to celebrate the new millennium he as the president of YACM organized the biggest musical extravaganza that carnatic music has ever seen featuring musicians of seven generations (over 100 musicians) and 600 children. It included live performances and audiovisual presentations. It was hailed as an event unparalleled by one and all.

Recently he along with musicians Bombay Jayashree and Sanjay Subrahmanyan authored a book on Prof. Sambamoorthy an Indian musicologist of great international repute to commemorate his birth centenary. This is a publication of the Music Academy Chennai.

B U Ganesh Prasad is a young violinist who, in recent times has been making good strides in the music world. His father late B. S. Umakanth was an amateur violinist. B. U. Ganesh Prasad had his initial training under G. Nataraj of Bangalore and S. Shankar, a famous vocalist who helped shape his style. It was under the tutorage of violin maestro V.V. Subramanyam that Ganesh Prasad acquired perfect violin technique. Ganesh is known for aesthetic presentation and fluency. Ganesh’s style is basically faithful to the VVS bhani and he supplements this with his knowledge gained from learning vocal music from Shri P.S.Narayanaswamy. Tonal purity, good fingering technique and fluid style of presentation are his assets. A very promising youngster, Ganesh has accompanied veteran musicians U. Sreenivas, S. Sowmya, Bombay Jayasree, and also Shashank in concerts in India and Europe. He has toured Australia giving violin recitals. He is a recipient of many youth awards for music and is a graded artist of radio and television

J. Vaidhyanathan is a highly sought after mridangist of today. He hails from a family of leading musicians. He is the son of Sangeetha Kalanidhi D. K. Jayaraman and the nephew of Padma Bhushan D. K. Pattammal. He has received advanced training from Sangeetha Kalanidhi T. K. Murthy. He has won several prizes and awards. He has accompanied great musicians such as M. S. Subbulakshmi, D. K. Pattammal, M. L. Vasanthakumari, D. K. Jayaraman, S. Ramanathan, K. V. Narayanaswamy, B. Rajam Iyer, T. N. Krishnan and M. S. Gopalakrishnan. He regularly accompanies many top ranking artists of today. He has toured USA, Australia and Singapore.