Mysore/Mysuru: Two veena concerts are being held during this weekend at the residence of Mysore Vasudevacharya near Agrahara in city.

Vidu. S. Meenakshi, a veteran vainika and guru, and Vidu. Archana Kumaraswamy, now settled in Singapore, will present a Veena Duet on Saturday (July 27). They will be accompanied by Vid. G. Subramanya Kumar on mridanga.

Ishaani Ramaswamy, an 8th Grade student from San Diego, US, and a promising young girl, will be presenting a Solo Veena Concert on Sunday (July 28). She is being supported by Vid. V. Nikshit Puttur on mridanga and Vid. R. Karthik on kanjira. Both the concerts, scheduled to start at 10.30 am, are open to all music lovers.

PROFILES

Guru S. Meenakshi hails from a proud lineage of musicians. She grew up mostly with her maternal grandfather Calcutta Sri Anantha Krishna Iyer   who was a very well-known Veena player. She learnt Veena from her grandfather and her mother.

In her college in Chennai, where she pursued a degree in music, her gurus were Kalyana Krishna Bhagavathar and Kalpagam Swaminathan. She has also learnt pallavis under Vid. D.K. Jayaraman.

An A-Grade artiste of AIR, she has performed widely in Indiaand overseas during the last five decades. She has been conferred with many honours and awards.

Archana has been learning Veena from Guru Meenakshi since the age of 11 at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS). She has performed at various temples and during the SIFAS festivals. She has also performed with her Guru as part of the Nadaneeranjanam programme in Tirupati.

Vid. G. Subramanya Kumar, trained under Vid. V.S. Ramesh, is a popular percussionist in the city, with over a decade of stage experience.

Ishaani has been learning Veena since the age of 8 under the guidance of Kalaimamani Nirmala Rajasekar and is currently under the tutelage of Sangeetha Kalacharya Dr. R.S. Jayalakshmi. Ishaani has participated and won several competitions in India as well as the US.

Vid. Nikshit, born at Puttur, is one of the most sought after mridanga artistes among the youths. He initially learnt under Vid. Kukkila Shankara Bhat and continued under Vid. Mannarkoil J. Balaji, Chennai.

He was directly conferred Grade-A from All India Radio. He  has performed at major Sabhas all over the country and has accompanied star artistes.

Vid. R. Karthik has been a disciple of Vidwans Vyasavittala, V. Praveen, K.N. Krishnamurthy and M.G. Gopalakrishnan.

He is an A-Grade Kanjira artiste of AIR and is a recipient of several honours and awards. He has been performing concerts since two decades along with various musicians in India and abroad.