Yollay - Carnatic Vocal Concert by Abhishek Raghuram

Arjun Kumar
Music
He is among the most respected Mridangam artists of today, having enthralled music lovers over the past four decades with his inimitable style, novelty, fine aesthetics and precision. Born in a family of Mridangam artistes, Kumar was initiated into the art of Mridangam playing at the young age of five by his father Sri Arjunan, who is one of the very senior artistes in the field of percussion and later was mentored by Sri T. A. S. Mani. He then came under the tutelage of the mridangam legend, Padmabhushan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman. Kumar is one of the youngest 'A' Grade artists of the All India Radio. His natural talent and skill help blend and enhance the beauty of the concert through his sensitive and innovative playing, and his accompaniment and tani avartanams in any concert never becomes predictable and stereotypical. In addition to Carnatic concerts, he has widely played jugalbandhis and other forms of music across the globe. The recipient of numerous awards, he has accompanied most of the leading and contemporary musicians and he is also an experienced and lively tutor and has many promising disciples to his credit.

Abhishek Raghuram
Music
Hailing from a family of legendary musicians, as the grandson of the late mridangam legend, Palghat Raghu and with the Lalgudi family name on the mothers side, music is in Abhisheks blood. Abhishek started learning the mridangam from his grandfather and then moved on to vocal training under Vidwan P. S. Narayanaswamy. He has also trained under the legendary Khanjira vidwan Sri Hari Shankar. In 1999, he gave his first international concert while on tour in the U.S with his grandfather, Palghat Raghu. Today, Abhishek is one of the most heard Carnatic vocalists in India and abroad. He has performed with several eminent musicians including T. K. Murthy, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Karaikudi Mani, Trichy Sankaran, G. Harishankar, Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, Ganesh & Kumaresh, Mysore Nagaraj & Manjunath, Shashank Subramanyam, Guitar Prasanna, Shujaat Khan , Jayateerth Mewundi and Sanjeev Abhyankar. In 2014, Abhishek was presented by Ustad Zakir Hussain in the Barsi festival dedicated to his father Ustad Alla Rakha. Possessing a combination of virtuosity, aesthetics and intellect, Abhishek has created a new genre in the field of music that, according to critics is food for the intellect, mind, heart and soul. He could well be on his way to creating a new Gharana, something that could have a big impact in the Indian music world. Abhishek enjoys working with students of the art, strongly believing in the need to teach. He has participated in the Karunbithil Shibira - an annual music camp organized by Vittal Ramamurthy & family and held in the remote village of Nidle, India. Abhishek directed the Children's Carnatic choir organized by Bhoomija trust as a fund-raiser for Drishti Eye Care, Bangalore. He has also joined Indian Raga as the instructor for a series of Raga Labs in the United States. Recently Abhishek was involved in the making of the album Kaadalan Bharathi, an album comprising exclusively Subramanya Bharati's songs and also gave a Mridangam recital along with Anantha R Krishnan for the 70th birthday celebrations of Mridangam Vidwan Karaikudi Mani. Abhishek is an A grade artiste of All India Radio since 2012.

H N Bhaskar
Music
H.N. Bhaskar (HNB) is the son of HKN Murthy. He was only 3 years old when I became disciple of my teacher HKN. He was present at the time when my vocal teacher T. R. Srinivasan introduced me to my guru in the April of 1980. He already had a very well developed sense of shruti. I remember vividly, his presence during my practice in the morning hours of those early years. Holding a small violin fit for his size, he used to sit with me and valiantly attempt advance scales (or sathakas) and quite frequently pull it off. As he grew past 7 years, he was a regular practice mate, and this continued for the next 15 years whenever I was in town. I distinctly remember one morning when he was 9 years old, we played Mandari Varnam 25 times without let up, to Bhaskars mothers (Rajalakshmi madam) tala. HKN, one of the gentlest among people I know, had a slightly different side to him, with those students who he thought had genuine musical talent and will go somewhere. He was very strict about standards without wearing it on his lapels. I was one of those chosen ones who got it from my teacher often, but the toughest treatment was reserved for his son HNB. I never once remember HNB, a model child in many ways, responding back. After many years of advance training under his father, he left Mysore to study with MSG. HNB made rapid strides and has gone on to become one of the top violinists of his generation in all aspects of violin playing; accompaniment, solo and experimentation in new genre. I have heard MSG tell me on more than one occasion what a brilliant violinist HNB is. He has won top prizes several times at the Madras Music Academy, once fittingly, Parur Sundaram Iyer Prize for best violin accompaniment. He was recently awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar by the Sangeet Natak Academy. A much sought after violinist, he has accompanied many of the major figures in Carnatic music. Just last year he has accompanied some of them at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House.

Carnatic Vocal Concert by Abhishek Raghuram

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