Aditya Kumar’sMridangam Arangetram

Sangeetha Kala Acharya Sri T. H. Subashchandran (1946–2020), affectionately known to us as “Subash Mama,” was a renowned ghatam player and konnakol artiste. Konnakol is the intricate art of enunciating percussion notes in various rhythmic cycles at rapid speeds. He was a versatile master of percussion who taught all forms of Carnatic percussion instruments.

Subash Mama built a global reputation through his spellbinding performances around the world, including at the United Nations, with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Oslo Philharmonic with Dr. L. Subramaniam, and the Moscow Philharmonic in the former U.S.S.R.

He collaborated with many all-time greats, including violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin and drummers Tony Williams and Max Roach.

Vidwan “Kanjira” Ganesh Kumar is among the world’s leading exponents of the kanjira and a senior disciple of Vidwan Sri T. H. Subashchandran. His work has been instrumental in expanding the scope of the kanjira beyond Indian Carnatic classical music. He is a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship from the U.S. Department of State and the Maryland State Fellowship for Classical & Folk Arts.

He has accompanied many eminent Carnatic music artistes, including Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and Dr. L. Subramaniam. He has also performed with many Western jazz greats in the United States and Europe. A testament to his versatility and creativity is his invention of the synthetic kanjira, released by the Cooperman Drum Company in Vermont as part of its Artists Innovation Series. The Hindu has described his collaborations as helping to develop a new genre of Indo-Western classical music.

He has released a two-volume instructional DVD titled “The Art of Kanjira” to reach students of kanjira and percussion around the world.

Murali Krishna is a Carnatic percussionist and vocalist.

His formal introduction to percussion began at the age of seven on the mridangam with Sri K. M. Vaidyanathan, an expert of the Harihara Sarma school of percussion.

He transitioned from the mridangam to the ghatam under the tutelage of Sri T. H. Subashchandran, also of the Harihara Sarma school. Now continuing advanced lessons from Sri Kanjira Ganesh Kumar, he can also claim the rare honor of being taught by three generations of percussionists from the same lineage.

Murali also learned vocal music from his mother, Smt. Radha Krishna of the Alathur school of Carnatic music. He now advances his musical education with his sister, Smt. Meera Krishna of Seattle. His dual training affords him a unique insight into the interplay between rhythm and melody.

Vishaal Sapuram is a Carnatic musician and exponent of the rare chitravina, an ancient Indian slide guitar. A disciple of chitravina maestro N Ravikiran, he began his performing career at age nine. He has performed at venues like the Chicago World Music Festival, Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam (Singapore), Navatman’s Drive East (New York), several leading sabhas in India, and so on. He has also collaborated on concepts like ‘Unfretted’, which explores the creative frontiers of the Carnatic concert format, and ‘Immersed in Infinity’, a showcase of spirituality in the art form. Vishaal is a highly proficient vocalist as well.

His music has been praised as ‘showing his musical wisdom’, its ‘sonorous sound taking the audience into a trance’. Vishaal is also a respected music teacher, and has been teaching since the age of ten. A student of the poetry of Carnatic music, he is knowledgeable in Sanskrit, Telugu, and Tamil, and has written English translations for many compositions.

Sruti Sarathy is a versatile Carnatic violinist based in the Bay Area and Chennai. Sruti is a disciple of Guru Smt. Anuradha Sridhar, a sixth-generation violinist hailing from the eminent Lalgudi family of musicians. Sruti’s music brings out the voice of the Indian violin in a contemporary and imaginative way. Sruti regularly accompanies leading Carnatic musicians including Flute Shashank, TM Krishna, Sikkil Gurucharan, Sudha Raghunathan and many others. She has received awards from the Music Academy three years in a row for her performances. She is also a Fulbright Scholar, and has trained in Hindustani music under Vidushi Kala Ramnath.

Some of her other accolades include the Mysore T Chowdiah Memorial Award for outstanding violinist from the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana in 2023, and the Rukmini Rajagopalan Memorial Award from Shruti Swara Laya in 2024. Sruti is the creator & lead composer of the project Songs for Many Lives, which tells stories of the South Asian diaspora through new Carnatic compositions.

Srikrishna Prasannan is a young, emerging ghatam artist from Portland, Oregon. He began learning mridangam from Sri Shankar Viswanathan in Portland, later transitioning to ghatam under Sangeetha Kala Acharya, the late Sri T. H. Subhash Chandran, and performing his arangetram in 2019 under his guidance. He currently continues advanced training under Kanjira Vidwan Sri Ganesh Kumar of Chennai, and also receives guidance from Sri Muralikrishna and Smt. Sreevidhya Chandramouli in Portland, OR.

Krishna performs regularly across the US, including the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, and is a recurring performer at the Chennai Margazhi Music Season, often accompanying senior vidwans. He is an Indian Raga Fellow for Ghatam.

Krishna has been recognized for his contributions to Carnatic music as a youth, receiving the "Yuva Kala Ratna" award from YADA and the "Youth Cultural Ambassador" award from ICPAO. He is also a Carnatic Ghatam and Upa-pakkavadyam Faculty Member at YADA University.

Besides ghatam, Krishna also plays kanjira for dance programs and arangetrams.

Srikrishna is studying Architecture at the University of Oregon and is an Eagle Scout.

Aditya is a rising senior at Jesuit High School and has studied the mridangam since 2019 under Vidwan Shri Ganesh Kumar and Shri Murali Krishna. He regularly accompanies Carnatic musicians at the annual Marghazhi Utsavam and other community events. He also trained in Carnatic vocal music under Guru Smt. Smitha Chakravarthy and continues to learn Carnatic violin under Guru Shri Anand Rangarajan, experiences that bring a strong sense of melody and musical conversation to his approach to rhythm.

Beyond music, Aditya is passionate about computer science, robotics and gaming. He was a member of Jesuit’s varsity robotics team, and his team placed second in the Wharton High School Data Science Competition, competing against nearly 700 teams from 48 countries.

His arangetram marks both a milestone and a beginning: a grateful step onto the Carnatic stage, shaped by his Gurus, family and community.