Mysore/Mysuru: As part of its monthly music programme, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), Mysuru Kendra, has organised a music concert by Vid. Siddhartha Belmannu at its premises in Vijayanagar 1st Stage here on June 15 at 6 pm.

He will be accompanied by Roopak Kallurkar on tabla and Bharat Hegde on harmonium.

Siddhartha Belmannu is a musical prodigy and a flourishing avant-garde Indian classical musician. Hailing from the town of Karkala in Udupi district of Karnataka, he was born on Oct. 2, 1996 to his music enthusiast parents, Usha and Prasad Belmannu, who recognised quite early on that he was blessed with a gifted voice, fluent in 3 octaves.

Discerning his musical talent, his parents initiated the inception of his musical journey through basic training in Karnatak Classical Music. Later, he was exposed to Hindustani Classical Music and continued his studies under the tutelage of P.R. Manjunath, a well-known Hindustani musician. Subsequently, Siddhartha trained under the legendary musician Pandit Vinayak Torvi, a doyen of the Gwalior and Kirana Gharana and a disciple of the exponents of the two styles, Gayanacharya Gururao Deshpande and Bharat Ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi.

He continues to undergo extensive Gurukul system training since the last 13 years under Panditji, incorporating tradition while constructing his own unique style and musical identity.

Siddhartha recently graduated with a Masters in Global Music from Vishwakarma University, Pune & Lakshminarayana Global Centre of Excellence (LGCE) University, in the process of which he got the opportunity to learn from various acclaimed artistes. In the course of this, he also worked on a research on ‘The theory of time and seasons in Indian Raagas.’

Siddhartha was honoured a special mention in Forbes ‘30 under 30’ – 2021 list under the music category and has also been a recipient of awards such as ‘Shanmukha Sangeet Shiromani Award-2023’, ‘Hayavadana Award’ by Hayavadana Dasa Sahitya and the Karnataka State Award-2018. Siddhartha has been performing at many prestigious platforms and events across the globe.

Roopak Kallurkar is one of predominant classical tablists in India. He is the disciple and son of Tabla Maestro Dr. Rajgopal Kallurkar. He started off his musical journey at a tender age of 5. He also learns Karnatak Layakaaris from Mridangam Maestro Kulur Jayachandra Rao to inculcate and practice it in his form of playing. He has performed with eminent musicians like Pt. Venkatesh Kumar, Sangeetha Katti, Pt. Vinayak Torvi, Vid. Mysore Manjunath, Vid. Mysore Nagraj; Got featured in one of the most famous Indian bands ‘Layatharanga’ and many more. He was one amongst few artistes to receive CCRT Scholarship in 2019 for his enormous contribution to the field of music at a very young age. He has showcased himself in most of the Television channels such as DD Chandana, Shankara TV to name a few. On an average, he has given 500 plus concerts in various prestigious platforms across India.

Bharat Hegde received his early training in harmonium playing from Vid. Shambu Bhat and Vid. Prakash Hegde in both accompaniment and solo techniques. His later training has been under Pt. Vasant Kanakapur, Dharwad and now Bharat is learning under Pt. Sudhir Nayak, Mumbai. He has travelled widely in India accompanying classical as well as light classical vocalists.