Mysuru:  Ganabharathi is organising Vidushi Veene Chokkamma Memorial Veena Concert at its premises in Kuvempunagar on Dec.11 at 6 pm. 

Vidwan Prof. R. Visweswaran will give a Veena recital accompanied by Vidwan Mysore A. Radhesh on mridanga and Vidwan Sharath Koushik on ghata. 

Profiles: Prof. R. Visweswaran is an eminent Veena player, composer and teacher. He belongs to an illustrious family of musicians and scholars, and was groomed in his art by his brother R. Seetharam. Visweswaran’s achievements and contribution to music lie across the fields of pedagogy, scholarship, compositions and practical music.

Holding a Master’s degree in Indology, he headed the Department of Instrumental Music at the University College of Fine Arts in Mysuru for the greater part of his career. This was the locus of his work as a teacher and the arena for the development of his musical pedagogy.

He has written and published extensively on the subject. As a practical musician, he has performed in India and other countries, some important engagements being those at the National Veena Festival in Bhopal, the International Music Conference in London, the Edinburgh Music Festival, the Aberdeen Music Festival, and the Queen’s Festival at Belfast.

His new raga compositions include Enakshi, Smriti, Antarakaisiki, and Rajarajeshwari. Among his students are Suma Sudhindra, N.R. Prashanth and Nagamani Srinath. Among his publications are Vaaggeya Visweswari, Facts of Music and Sangeethashastra Rasaayana.

For his wide ranging work in music, Visweswaran has been honoured by several organisations. These honours include the title of Sangeetha Choodamani conferred by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai and K.K.M.M. Chowdiah National Award by the Academy of Music, Bengaluru.

He received Sangeeth Natak Akademi Tagore Award for his contribution to Karnatak instrumental music (Veena).

Mysore A. Radhesh, a leading mridanga player, learnt under Vidwan P.G. Laxminarayan and now he is taking his advanced training from Vidwan Mannargudi Eswaran. He has made a name for himself in the field of music for his subtle playing.

Vidwan Sharath Koushik is a disciple of Tumkur B. Ravishankar. A young percussionist,  Sharath has earned a place in the field of percussion playing.