Mysore/Mysuru: Vid. Keshav Mohankumar has been selected to receive Prof. G.T. Narayana Rao (GTN) Award given for outstanding young instrumentalist within Karnataka instituted by the Bhramara Trust of Y.T. and Madhuri  Thathachari, Mysuru.

The award will be presented at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Gokulam 3rd Stage on May 25 at 6 pm followed by a vocal concert by Vid. Rajagopal Bhagawat accompanied on violin by Vid. Keshav Mohankumar, mridanga by Vid. P.S. Sreedhar and morching by Vid. V.S. Ramesh.

Vidushi Dr. Rama V. Bennur will be the chief guest. Sri Krishna Gana Sabha President B.S. Sridhara Raj Urs will be the guest of honour.

Awardee’s Profile: Vidwan Keshav Mohankumar was born on November 1, 2000 to M.K. Mohankumar and Anuradha Mohan. He has been trained in violin by Vid. H.K. Narasimhamurthy.

Vid. Keshav Mohankumar has earned a BE degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIE in Mysuru. He is an ‘A’ grade artiste in Karnatak Instrumental category of All India Radio (AIR). He has been an active music composer and has composed music for documentary movies. He has also released many music albums.

He has performed with Vid. Dr. T.K. Murthy (Vadya Vrinda 2019) and with Vid. Anoor Anantha Krishna Sharma in Laya Lavanya.

Vid. Keshav has accompanied Vid. Bangalore S. Shankar, Vid. Pattabhirama Pandit, Vid. Hemmige Prashanth, Vid. Mysore Chandan Kumar, Vid. N.R. Prashanth, and Vidu. Vasudha Ravi.

Among the many awards he has won, the notable ones are CRT Scholarship (2014), Bharat Rathna M.S. Subbulakshmi fellowship Award, Mumbai (2022) and Sangeetha Mudra  Award (2023).

He has performed in many famous sambas in India like Madras Music Academy – Spirit of Youth (2019), HCL (2023), Radel (2024), Vani Mahal, Chennai – December Festival, Global Carnatic Music Association, Chennai (2020), DD Shankara on the occasion of Adi Shankara statue inauguration at Kedarnath (2021), Nadopasana Foundation, Kottayam (2024), Gayana Samaj, Bengaluru (2019) and Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, Bengaluru (2019). He has performed in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland (2024) with Vidu. Shantala Subramanyam and  Vid. Anirudha Bhat.