Had my initial vocal training, since the age of 5, from my grandfather, Sri. A. Anantharaman Iyer, and aunt Smt. A. Champakavalli of Calcutta, and my father, who are from the direct Shishya Parampara of Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Both my parents are ‘A’ grade artists in the AIR, Bangalore. Have been undergoing training under the guidance of Vid. Rudrapatnam N Thyagarajan (of Rudrapatnam Brothers) at Bangalore since 2005. Currently, also under the tutelage of Vid. Sanjay Subrahmanyan and Vid. Dr. L. Subramaniam. Have also learnt mridangam from Vid. Arjunan for 5 years.

RECOGNITIONS:
• Winner of the ‘Best Vocal Concert Award’ in 2019 and the ‘Best Individual Performance’ for
the year 2015, from The Music Academy, Madras.
• Empanelled artiste of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and an A-graded artiste of
the All India Radio and Doordarshan.
• Awarded M.S.Subbulakshmi Fellowship in Music by Shanmukhananda Fine Arts, Mumbai
and performed in ‘Rising Stars’ Series in 2015.
• Winner of the title ‘Pratibhakankshi’ and 1st prize in RTP concert organised by Sree Rama
Seva Mandali, Bangalore in 2016.
• Finalist of SPICMACAY ’NaadBhed’ competition in 2013, a national level competition which
featured around 2000 participants from across the country.
• Prize-winner of the All India Radio national level competition in the year 2009.
• Awarded the title ‘Nadakishora’ by NadaBrahma Sangeetha Sabha, Mysore on winning the
1st place in ‘Nadakishorotsava’ in 2011.
• ‘Best Concert Award’ - Sankaranti Festival from Sangita Vidwath Sabha, Kakinada
Recipient of Maharajapuram Santhanam Endowment Prize from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha,
Chennai
• Awarded Ananya-Nadajyothi Kala Pratibha Puraskara by Ananya and Nadajyoti
• Awarded ‘Promising Young Talent Award – Vocal’ from Sri Kartikeya Gana Sabha,
Hyderabad
• Winner of the Ananya Pratibhe Award for ‘Best Vocalist’ in a festival conducted by Ananya,
Bangalore.
• Recipient of Ministry of Culture, Scholarship for Young Artist from 2011 to 2013.
• Winner of Tiger Varadachari Award for Best Vocalist from Malleswaram Sangeetha Sabha
• Has been a regular performer at the Tiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana
• Performed in the Chembai Sangeetolsavam in 2019
• Performed in TTD Nadaneerajanam Program in 2014, 2015 and 2017 and as part of the
South Zone Hook up Program (SRSN) in Doordarshan in 2018.
• Has performed in several TV shows in channels SVBC, Sri Sankara TV and Doordarshan
• Has performed in the December season in Chennai in various sabhas for the past 5 years
and in various cities like Bangalore, Mysore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Trichy,
Pune, Visakhapatnam, Udupi and Mangalore etc. all over India.
• Has performed abroad in the USA (2017), Russia (2017) and Singapore (2018).
• Had the unique opportunity of sharing the same stage as world renowned artistes Dr. L.
Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam, Hema Malini, Vid. Vikku Vinayakaram, Pt.
Suresh Wadkar, Sivamani and many more artistes at the Amaravati Global Music and Dance
Festival 2017.
• Has conducted many workshops in schools and on television on music and music education
• Has taught lessons in Amritha Gurukula program (Guru-Shishya Program aired by All India
Radio, Bangalore)
• Has written music related articles in leading arts magazines like Sruti.
• Has participated in the conferences as speaker on music and music education related topics,
most recently for the International Society for Music Eduation (ISME).
• Has represented the country as a delegate to Russia at the World Festival of Youth and
Sports (WFYS) and performed in the cultural programs and presented on the topic of
International Cultural Space.

Prarthana Sai Narasimhan is among the finest young Carnatic vocalists today. Born in a musically inclined family (1983) at Suratkal, Mangalore, Prarthana had her initiation to music by her parents: Her father, Sri. P. Nityananda Rao a Yaksha Gana Singer and her mother Smt. Krishnakumari, a trained carnatic vocalist. She moved to Chennai in 1996 to learn from Padmashri Dr. Smt. Mani Krishnaswami. Later she underwent advanced training in music from Sangeetha Kala Acharya Sri. Chingleput Ranganathan (2000 to 2011). She has thus become a heir to the Alathur Bani.

Prarthana has given more than 500 concerts & conducted more than 25 workshops all over India. She has performed at the prestigious Thyagaraja Utsavam, Cleveland, USA(2009). She is also a trainer in Sustaining Sampradaya (Cleveland Utsavam, USA) 2015 & 2016 in which Senior Musicians like Sri. P. S. Narayanaswami, Smt. Suguna Varadachari, Sri. B. Krishnamurthi, were Gurus. She has served as a lecturer at Music Academy's Teachers College of Music for two years. She is one of the trustees of Mani Krishnaswami Academy, Mangalore, started in memory of her Guru, which has been encouraging upcoming artists in Indian Classical music. She is a “B High” Graded Artist of All India Radio, where she has been performing regularly.

Chiranjeevi SOORYA NARAYANAN is a 8-year-old child, who is learning Carnatic Vocal Music from his father Sri Hariharan Sivaraman (Disciple of KALAIMAMANI SRI NEYVELI R SANTHANA GOPALAN) from the age of 5. He has also started learning from Sri Neyveli R Santhanagopalan.

Soorya Narayanan started cultivating Bhakti from his very tender age. He started utilizing the lockdown period productively by learning new Krithis and presented it to the social media audience on all possible festivals and occasions.

He has his own YouTube channel (Soorya Narayanan) (https://youtube.com/c/SooryaNarayanan) and presents Krithis to make every event special.

Sooryanarayanan's specialty while singing is that, he understands the meaning and Bhavam of every Krithi he sings and brings out the composer's original feel. This make himself and one who listen feel the same Bakthi and Bhavana.

Sooryanarayanan is blessed to be a part of 'Vande Guru Paramparaam' YouTube series by Sri Kuldeep M Pai. Sooryanarayanan is also being guided and mentored by Sri Kuldeep M Pai. "Shyamale Meenakshi", "Maadu Meikkum Kanne", "Upadesha Saram by Sri Ramana Maharishi", "muthaittaru (thiruppugazh)" are some of his presentations in this channel.
Soorya Narayanan has started giving live concerts online and offline.

With God's grace and Guru's blessings, Soorya Narayanan will grow spiritually and musically in his journey.

RAHUL VELLAL

Child Prodigy – Carnatic Music

Rahul R. Vellal, started learning Carnatic Music, at the tender age of 4. He has already performed Carnatic Music Concerts at several prestigious places across India and abroad and won prizes in many music competitions. He is learning Carnatic vocal music under renowned musicians Vidushi’s Ranjani & Gayatri. He was earlier learning Carnatic vocal music from Vidushi Kalavathy Avadhoot. He is learning to play the Mridangam from Vidwan Kulur U Jayachandra Rao. He is currently pursuing his Grade 8 in Western Piano fromthe Trinity School of Music (London) under the guidance of Sri Abhishek N.

Rahul has already performed Carnatic classical concerts internationally in 7 countries Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Lagos, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa & United Kingdom.

Awards and Accolades:

• Conferred “Raga Laya Prabha” Award from the prestigious Sree Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira, Bengaluru in May 2022.
• Rahul Vellal has been awarded "Change Maker 2022" by Deccan Herald in Feb 2022, for his noteworthy achievements in the field of Classical Music, at an young age.
• Rahul Vellal has been recognised as “BYJU’s YOUNG GENIUS 2022”, presented by Padmashree
• Shankar Mahadevan from CNN NEW18 Network in Jan 2022.
• Rahul Vellal has won the “Global Child Prodigy Awards 2020” in “Singing” Category and has also been recognized as the "Top 100 Global Child Prodigies of the World" by the GCP Awards Group.
• Shanmukhananda M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship 2018 for Carnatic Vocal, presented by Hon. Vice-President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, September, 2018
• Rahul Vellal has received the “Youth Icon 2022” Award for Carnatic Music from Rotary International.
• Rahul Vellal has been interviewed by various International and National online digital and print media over the years. Prominent among them are his interviews with Padmashree Dr Sudha Raghunathan, Indian Fine Arts Academy (San Diego, California), Sarvamangala Sabha (Abu Dhabi,UAE), Sugam Culture & Heritage Foundation (Malaysia), CMC Marghazhi (Melbourne, Australia), RTHK The Works (Hong-Kong), Deccan Herald, New Indian Express, All India Radio Bengaluru, Ananya Kalasinchana - Bengaluru, Telangana Today and various other leading printed media publications.
• RISING STAR for Carnatic Music Award from LIVING, India’s premier luxury lifestyle magazine for
• Global Citizens, November, 2018
• Received the “Aalap Appreciation Award” instituted by Kappanna Angala & presented by Former
• Chief Justice of India, Sri M Venkatachaliah on 10-August-2019, in recognition of praiseworthy
• accomplishments in the field of Classical Music.
• Presented with a 5 ft 6” lamp by the Shanmukhanda Sabha, Mumbai, on December 31st, 2018, after his performance, in appreciation of his command over Carnatic Music at such a young age

Anahita and Apoorva (https://anahitaapoorva.wixsite.com/anahitaapoorva)  (https://m.youtube.com/c/AnahitaApoorva) are among the highly sought after artistes of the younger generation in the Indian Carnatic Classical arena. They have won acclaim for their musical quality and impeccable synchrony.

They started their initial training with their paternal grandmother, Smt. Shanti Jayaraman, a respected Guru and Vainika. They are currently under the guidance of world renowned Musician-Director-Composer Sangeet Samraat Chitravina Shri N Ravikiran.

They have enthralled audiences in India, with performances in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Shimoga, Udupi, Mysore, Manipal, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Thrishur, Kumbakonam, etc. apart from their hometown, Chennai. They have been invited to perform in prestigious events such as HCL concert Series @ Music Academy, Uttar Dakshin Festival, Bharat Sangeet Utsav, Kalavanta, Pallavi Darbar, Yuva Sangeet Utsav, besides the Chennai December Festival and in venues such as Madras Music Academy, Shanmukhananda Hall - Mumbai, Chowdiah Hall - Bangalore, IIT Madras, Sawai Gandharv Smarak -Pune, Kalaivanar Arangam - Chennai, Rabindra Mandap - Bhubaneswar, Samutkarsh - Ahmedabad, Gayana Samaja - Bangalore, Chennai Mathematical Institute, etc. They have travelled widely across USA, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and have been invited to perform in major festivals such as the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival and San Diego Festival.

They are regularly featured in leading media publications as well as on popular TV and radio channels. Both of them regularly present lecture demonstrations and thematic presentations on various topics. They are both passionate Gurus, with students across the globe who are blossoming into competent and knowledgeable musicians and music connoisseurs.

Anahita and Apoorva, still in their 20s, have bagged a number of National Awards including recognition from the Govt of Tamil Nadu for performing and propagating Tirukkural, besides Best Performer awards from diverse cultural institutions. Some of the titles and awards they’ve
received include –

All India Radio Gold Medals at the National Level in their teens
Govt of India CCRT Scholarship
Rising Stars of 2019 from Shanmukhananda Sabha Mumbai, India
M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship from Shanmukhananda Sabha Mumbai, India
Youth Achievers award from the Lions Club
Sangeetha Mudra title - Mudhra
Isai Chudar title - Kartik Fine arts
Isai Arasi title - Trinity fine arts
Bala Kala Ratna - Bala Kala Sagaram Trust

They have been involved in their Guru’s world music collaborations with frontline artists and orchestras, anchored on his Melharmonic creations, an avant garde form of music that explores new chords and counterpoints based on melodic progression.

Their first audio CD ‘Divine Equations’ was premiered in the Chicago Music Festival and they have released several more audio-video productions on various platforms. They were the lead singers in projects with legends of dance and music like Pt. Birju Maharaj, Shri C V Chandrashekar, Dr. Vyjayantimala Bali, Dr. Leela Samson, Smt. Sudha Raghunathan, among others. Their collaboration with Harikatha exponent Shri Dushyanth Sridhar have been welcomed by sell out audiences across India. They are also composing music for several
projects.

While Anahita is proficient in playing the Chitravina, Apoorva is a Violinist as well. Their music has garnered the appreciation of both afficionados and audience alike. Their expositions of challenging Ragam Tanam Pallavis and presentation of concerts with an emphasis
on manodharma and rare conmpositions puts the among the elite few who preserve and carry the richness of this ancient tradition of Indian Classical music.

As senior faculty members of the International Foundation for Carnatic Music, they are passionately involved in creating a culture of deep interest and discernment in classical music by being part of projects that take Indian classical music to grassroot levels.