Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram - Grammy Award–winning Indian percussionist.

Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (born June 24, 1944), also known as Vikku Vinayakram is a Grammy Award–winning Indian percussionist. He plays Carnatic music with the ghatam, an earthen pot, and is credited with popularizing the ghatam. He was awarded the Padma Shri, given by Government of India in 2002, and later the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the performing arts conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. Finally he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2014.

Early life of Vinayakram

Vinayakram was born to Kalaimaamani T. R. Harihara Sharma, a musician and teacher. He took up playing at a very young age.

Career of Vinayakram

Vinayakram's concert career began at the age of 13. His first performance occurred on March 5, 1957 at the Sri Rama Navami festival in Thoothukudi. While proceeding for the arangetram the tuned ghatam instrument was broken by a child named Ganesh, which by itself had been a good omen for his bright career. where he accompanied V.V.Sadagopan. He was soon accompanying many famous vocalists in Carnatic music at the time, including Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, G. N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M. S. Subbulakshmi and Maharajapuram Santhanam, among others. His brother, T. H. Subhash Chandran, also excelled in the field. The Ghatam followed the master by rising to fame as a percussion instrument that required nimble fingers and strong stomach muscles to control the mouth of the pot.
Vinayakram's tryst with the international music platform came in the early 1970s when he joined Shakti to play along with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain.
He has also performed at Basant Utsav, the annual fund raiser for the Banyan. Vinayakram is Principal of Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya in Chennai, India - the academy established by his late father and teacher in 1958. It continues to produce new stars of Carnatic percussion. Vinayakram's son V. Selvaganesh is a successful percussionist, especially after tours with John McLaughlin's group, Remember Shakti.

Discography of Vinayakram

• A Handful of Beauty (Shakti Album) (1976)
• Natural Elements (Shakti album) (1977)
• Planet Drum (1991) – Mickey Hart
• Mysterium Tremendum (2012) – Mickey Hart Band

Awards for of Vinayakram

Vinayakram was conferred the Hafiz Ali Khan Award for “unmatched contribution in the field of music” in 2000.[citation needed] He is also the first South Indian musician to be awarded the Grammy for Best World Music Album for his participation in Mickey Hart's Planet Drum, in which he played ghatam and morsing.[citation needed] He donated all the proceeds from the award to a charity organization in south India.[citation needed] He was also nominated for the 1996 Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album for his participation in 'Raga Aberi' along with L. Shankar on the ten string double violin and Zakir Hussain on the tabla (the piece is set in the tala cycle of 4¾ beats). The Indian Government decorated him with the Padma Shri Award in 2002.
Finally, he was awarded the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna), the highest award in performing arts in India, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Acdemy for Music, Dance and Drama. In 2014 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Government of India.

Dr. N. Rajam - Violinist

N. Rajam (born 1938) is an Indian violinist who performs Hindustani classical music. She remained Professor of Music at Banaras Hindu University, eventually became Chair of the department and the Dean of the college. She was awarded the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the performing arts conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Early life and training of Dr.N. Rajam

N. Rajam was born in Ernakulam-Kerala in 1938 in a musical family. Her father, Vidwan A. Narayana Iyer was a well-known exponent of Carnatic Music.[1] Her brother, T. N. Krishnan, is also a famous violist. Rajam started her initial training in Carnatic music under her father. She also trained under Musiri Subramania Iyer, and learned raga development from vocalist Pandit Omkarnath Thakur. Rajam received the prestigious titles of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan from the Government of India. People often refer to her music as the "Singing Violin".

Performing career of Dr.N. Rajam

Rajam started playing violin at age three. By the age of nine, she was a professional musician. With guidance of her father, A. Narayana Iyer, she developed the Gayaki Ang (vocal style). Rajam has performed across the globe and in numerous places throughout India. She has performed in various countries in Europe, extensively toured the USA and Canada, and performed in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Netherlands, to name a few. Rajam was a Professor of Music at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the Faculty of Performing Arts for nearly 40 years. She has been the Chair of the department and the Dean of the college at BHU.
Performed along with Ustad Zakir Hussein on 3rd Feb 2014 for A Homage to Abbaji - Ustad Allarakha.

Students of Dr.N. Rajam

She trained her niece, Kala Ramnath, her daughter Sangeeta Shankar, Pranav Kumar of Super 30 and her granddaughters Ragini Shankar, Nandini Shankar. Many of her students from BHU are famous violinists, including Satya Prakash Mohanty, V. Balaji and Swarna Khuntia.

Awards for Dr.N. Rajam

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1990
• Padma Shri, 1984
• Padma Bhushan, 2004
• Puttaraja Sanmaana, 2004
• Pune Pandit Award, 2010, by The Art & Music Foundation, Pune, India
• 2012: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna)

Discography of Dr.N. Rajam

• Violin Dynasty (Raga Bageshri)
• Dr. (Mrs.) N. Rajam (Violin Recital)

Raag mein ki todi by Dr. N. Rajam