Kalaimamani Jayanthi Kumaresh

Jayanthi Kumaresh, the most sought after Veena artiste of today, was born into the legendary Lalgudi family, a family replete with renowned musicians. Endowed with prodigious talent, it didn’t take Jayanthi too long to be acclaimed by many as the ‘Best and most versatile Veena artiste we have today’. Her virtuosity on the instrument, rare musical insight, rich tonal quality and strict adherence to tradition has won her the appreciation of the layman and connoisseur alike. 

     Jayanthi started learning the Veena when she was barely four years old. Her main inspiration to learn the Veena was her aunt and guru Smt. Padmavathy Ananthagopalan, who is a very renowned and accomplished artiste. Smt.Padmavathy took Jayanthi under her wings and what she made out of that child in the next ten years is the shining star that we see today in the world of Carnatic music.  

     When the legendary Veena Virtuoso Padmabhushan Dr.S.Balachander heard Jayanthi play, he said that she had a rare gift and talent and extracted a promise from young Jayanthi that she would do full justice to her potential. He started giving her advanced lessons in the art of Veena playing, which Jayanthi treasures as some of the most precious moments of her life.

     Her beloved Uncle, a giant among musicians, Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman, has also guided her in her musical journey.

‘Veenai Jayanthi’ as she is affectionately called by her rasikas has carved a very special place for herself in the world of music with her dedication and perseverance coupled with the blessings of her gurus.

     She has presented innumerable concerts all over India and abroad and has won the appreciation of audiences from all walks of life, which is reaffirmed by the fan following she has both among Indian and non-Indian music lovers.

She has performed many Jugalbandhi concerts, participated in the annual Sangeeth Sammelan concerts conducted by Akashvani and in many prestigious international music festivals.

She is the youngest artiste in Veena to receive ‘A Top’ grading from the All India Radio (AIR), the highest grade offered by the only grading institution of the country.

    Jayanthi started touring the globe since 1990 and has been featured in many international festivals in UK, Europe and USA. A frequent performer in the US, her coast-to-coast jaunt includes both regular concerts and lecture demonstrations along with music appreciation courses at various universities in the US.

      In addition to her accomplishments as a Veena performer, Veenai Jayanthi has authored a few musical productions such as ‘Thyagaraja Vaibhavam’, ‘Ruthu Soundaryam’, ‘Om Saravanabhava’, and ‘Bheema Anjaneya Samvaadam’. These productions have been successfully staged and have won her appreciation from the audience and rave reviews from the dramatists. Her latest production, Jagadguru Shri Adi Sankara was premiered in the auspicious presence of His Holiness of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Jagadguru Shri. Vijayendra Saraswathi and was blessed and appreciated by him.

     Awards and accolades have been showered on Jayanthi since her early age. This includes the recognition she got from the Music Academy, Chennai as the ‘Best Veena artiste’ on four different occasions.  Jayanthi has many labels and albums to her credit. She has recorded for companies like Music Today, HMV, Charsur, Navras etc...She was recently conferred the title of “kalaimamani’ by the Govt. of Tamilnadu.

    Jayanthi’s passion for teaching music is no less than her passion to perform concerts. Jayanthi, a brilliant singer herself has been teaching both Vocal and Veena to students around the world for the past 12 years.  Jayanthi has recently submitted her thesis for doctorate in the subject “Analytical study of different Banis of playing the Saraswathi Veena’ in the Mysore university.

Jayanthi’s vision is to create a world-class institution that would propagate, preserve and promote Carnatic music and its rich legacy to the world for posterity.

Her musical journey continues…                                                    …      www.veenaijayanthi.com

Arjun Kumar

Mridangam Maestro

Hailing from a family of Mridangam artiste, Arjun 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  mentored  by  Sri T.A.S. Mani  for a couple of years.

Arjun Kumar started  performing from a very young  age  and  was  widely  acknowledged as  a  Wonder Child,  with  the  marking  of  becoming a great artiste in the future.  Soon, awards and laurels started making their way and Arjun Kumar’s career was launched in a big way when he started accompanying world renowned artistes even at his young age.

He was awarded the Govt. of India scholarship and this opened up a great pathway of opportunities for him. He then came under the tutelage of the mridangam legend, Padmabhushan Umayalpuram Sri K. Sivaraman. Kumar soon became one of the youngest ‘A’ Grade artistes of the All India Radio and Television networks.

He has played in all the prestigious programs like the South Zone Hook Up and the All India Sangeetha Sammelan to name a few.  He has accompanied most of the leading and contemporary musicians like

Sri K.V.Narayanaswamy

Dr. N.Ramani

Sri T.N.Seshagopalan

Sri T.V.Shankaranarayanan

Sri T.V.Gopalakrishnan

Sri Doraiswamy Iyengar

Sri T.R.Subramanian

Sri R.K.Srikantan

Bombay Sisters

Sri K.J.Yesudas

to name a few.

Arjun Kumar has performed in all the leading organizations and cultural festivals of India. He has also traveled extensively to other countries like USA, France, Eastern Europe, Gulf, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and Switzerland.

Being one of the most sought after Mridangam artiste, Arjun Kumar has both natural talent and acquired skill to blend and enhance the beauty of the concert through his sensitive and sensible accompaniment. The many rave reviews in the press add to his accomplishments.

Arjun Kumar has played in several commercial records released by well-reputed recording companies.

Arjun Kumar is also an experienced tutor and has many disciples to his credit, some of them in USA too.

Sri. A. Mahadevan
on Morsing

A. Mahadevan has been involved in practicing and promoting Indian music and fine arts for several years through his association with South India Fine Arts. Mahadevan has provided percussion accompaniment on mridangam, tabla, and morsing for several musical events and dance productions. He continues to hone his skills in mridangam under the tutelage of Sri N. Narayanan.