A Prince among Musicians and a Musician among Princes…Prince Rama Varma of the Travancore Royal Family is giving a vocal recital on Saturday, the 28th at 6 pm at Navajyothi Sabhangana, JSS Women’s  College, Saraswathipuram, under the auspices of JSS Sangeetha Sabha, Mysuru.

A direct descendant of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma and Raja Ravi Varma, he started learning music from Prof. Vechoor Hariharasubramania Iyer, a senior disciple of Dr. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Later he trained under Sangita Kalanidhis Prof. K.S. Narayanaswamy and Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna. He has had the great fortune of having the legendary Balamuralikrishna accompany him on the violin in one of the concerts with his Guru.

His repertoire of Swathi compositions is unmatched. Elegant in his presentations, the Prince is known for his novelties. A great fan of the great purist Vid. M.D. Ramanathan, he is reputed to follow the path of Shuddha Sangeeth. His talent on the stringed instrument Veena and his interest in other forms of music are exemplary too. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, our former President, was one of his avid fans.

An organiser par excellence, he was instrumental in allowing women into Navarathri Mandapam as performers and listeners.

The accompanying artistes Vid. Avaneeswaram Vinu on the  violin and Vid. Trichy Harikumar on the mridanga are most sought after performers. Here then is a veritable feast for the soul, in the offing. Welcoming all to partake of it and be blissful.

—S. Arun Kumar