D. K. Jayaraman (1928, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India - 1991, India), the renowned brother of D. K. Pattammal, was a Carnatic music singer.After learning music from his sister, he furthered his musical skills under many known masters in the field, including Muthiah Bhagavathar and Papanasam Sivan.Like his sister, Jayaraman was known for his moving krithi renditions, especially of Muthuswami Dikshitars compositions. Jayaraman also sang Tamil songs such as those of Papanasam Sivan. More »
G.N.Balasubramaniyam (6 Jan 1910 - 1 May 1965), popularly known as GNB, was a legendary vocalist in the Carnatic tradition.He became the first superstar of Carnatic music, innovating the art through emphasis on laya control & reducing the gamakas which eventually made Carnatic music appeal to the lay and the learned alike.
Balasubramanian was born in Gudalur,a small village near Mayavaram in Tanjore, India. He was the son of G. V. Narayanaswamy Iyer, who was a keen student of music. Throughout his younger years, he observed with utmost attention the techniques of the musicians of his day. Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar became his manasika guru and inspiration.While his father dreamed of living in a villa at Luz Church road through GNB becoming a successful lawyer. The young musician in G.N.B made way for greater goals in life.He completed his B.A.(Hons) in English Literature at the prestigious Christian College, Chennai, and took up a short music course at Annamalai University.under the guidance of Sri T.S. Sabesa Iyer, but discontinued due to ill health. However, he joined the diploma course in music under Madras University in the first batch and Sri Tiger Varadachariar was the Principal . Within 2 years, he was ready for concert performances. With his debut in 1928, his climb to the dizzying heights of Carnatic music was almost meteoric. More »
Jon Borthwick Higgins (September 18, 1939 – December 7, 1984), also known in India as Higgins Bhagavatar, was an American musician, scholar, and teacher known principally for his rare skill as a non-Indian in the field of Carnatic music. He lived much of his student and professional life at Wesleyan University.
Born in Andover, Massachusetts, Higgins had his high school education at Phillips Academy, where his father taught English and his mother taught music for many years. He attended Wesleyan University and received all three of his degrees from there: a B.A. as a double major in Music and History in 1962, an M.A. in Musicology in 1964, and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology in 1973. More »
Palghat Kollengode Viswanatha Ramanarayanan (November 15, 1923 - April 1, 2002), often referred to as KV Narayanaswamy was an Indian musician, widely onsidered to be among the finest Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century. He was described as the "Gentle Perfect Knight" of Carnatic music, a phrase from Geoffrey Chaucer, by V. K. Narayana Menon, prominent art critic of India and recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
KVN was born to Kollengode Viswanathayyar and Muthulakshmi Ammal in Palghat, Kerala, to a Palakkad Iyer family, a district renowned for its cultural and musical traditions, on the 15th of November, 1923. Narayanaswamy was born into a family of illustrious musicians and artists. His great-grandfather Viswam Bhagavatar was renowned for his evocative Ashtapadis and rendered services for Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal, ruler of the princely state of Travancore from 1860 to 1880. In return Viswam Bhagavatar was bestowed with government aid and hereditary royal privileges. Viswam Bhagavatar's son, Narayana Bhagavatar continued his father's legacy. His son was violin maestro, Viswanathayyar (soon came to be known as 'Fiddle' Viswanathayyar), KVN's father. K.V.Narayanaswamy learned basic music lessons under his father and grandfather. After studying in Palghat till the fifth form, he moved to Coimbatore, where he briefly dabbled in theater. KVN even managed a role as the young Kanappan in the movie Kannappa Nayanar. The movie bombed at the box office. More »
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.
Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English during a career spanning five decades.He has performed in most Indian languages except Assamese, Konkani and Kashmiri. He also composed a number of Malayalam film songs in the 1970s and 1980s. Yesudas is fondly called Gana Gandharvan (The Celestial Singer).
Yesudas has won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer seven times (the most by any Indian singer) and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer 43 times, which consists of awards by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975 and Padma Bhushan in 2002 by the Government of India for his contributions to the arts. More »
Madurai Mani Iyer (October 25, 1912 – June 8, 1968) was a Carnatic music singer, who was famous for his unique style. He was one of the most highly celebrated carnatic vocalists during the first half of the 20th century. He was renowned for his adept skills at singing kalpana swarams, neraval, and raga alapana. His music continues to be highly regarded today.
Madurai Mani Iyer, whose original name was Subramanian, was born to M. S. Ramaswamy Iyer and Subbulakshmi in Madurai on October 25, 1912. His father, a Sub-court Clerk, was the brother of the famous Vidwan Pushpavanam, who was a great classical musician himself.
Mani Iyer's tutelage in music started at the age of nine. His first guru was Sri Rajam Bhagavathar who was Disciple of Ettayapuram Ramachandra Bhagavathar. Through Rajam Bhagavathar, he came in close contact with the great musician and composer, Gayakasikhamani Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar who founded Shri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidyalayam, a music school at Madurai and became an early disciple of the School. More »
Madurai G.S.Mani
1. KALAI MAMANI - T.N. STATE AWARD
2. SANGEETHA JOTHI - SWAMI SIVANANDA RISHIKESH- 1956
3. GAN KALANIDHI - BHANDUP FINE ARTS BOMBAY
4. GANA KALAMRUTHA - CHENNAI
5. GANA KALA KAUSTHUBA - MADURAI
6. SANGEETHA RATHNA - DUBAI
7. TAMIL ISAI KADAL - KARAIKUDI
8. TAMIL ISAI VENDAR - KARTHICK FINE ARTS, CHENNAI
9. VAGGEYAKARA AWARD - MUSIC ACADEMY, CHENNAI
10. RAJA SIR ANNAMALAI CHETTIAR’S AWARD, FROM ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY, FOR THE CONTRIBUTION OF TAMIL SONGS, TO TAMIL LITERATURE, 2004 More »
D Seshachari and D Raghavachari, known as the Hyderabad Brothers, have in recent years established themselves as distinguished singers in Carnatic music. Endowed with a voice that easily aligns with the Sruti, they never swerve from the classical idiom. Their rendering of kritis is highly attractive and their neraval and kalpana swaras have a measured precision. Owing to their excellent diction, they're able to retain the Sahityabhava of the compositions. The brothers are in great demand wherever pure classical music in enjoyed and have toured many countries. More »
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