Sri Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha, JLB Road, Mysuru, will be holding its Annual Youth Fair – Suresh Mohan Memorial Nadakishorotsava – this weekend. Generally conducted  around Krishna Janmashtami, participants are selected from across the State in both Hindustani and Karnatak styles. This State-level competition will be held at the Mini Hall of the Sabha on Aug. 18,19 and 20. Two Hindustani and 8 Karnatak artistes have made to the top ten.

On 18th at 5 pm, Kavana Hegde will start the event with Hindustani vocal supported by Bhimashankar and Deepak on tabla and harmonium. Kavana started playing keyboard and light music under Mangala and Prakash Chakravarti. Subsequently, she started playing harmonium under Pt. V.M. Nagaraj. For the last decade she is a serious student of Ustad Faiz Khan. She has completed Vidwat from Karnataka and Praveshika Poorna from Gandharva University. The 20-year-old vocalist is doing her Company Secretary course after completing B.Com.

This event will be followed by another Hindustani vocal by Anagha Shyam with the same accompanists at 6.20 pm. Still a teenager, Anagha has shown keen interest in Hindustani. He started learning music under Mounesh Kumar Chavni of Mangalore. Currently he is learning under Sripad Hegde Kampli.

The last concert on 18th at 7.40 pm is a veena recital by Aishwarya Manikarnika supported on mridanga by Shreesha R. Shankar. Aishwarya is a student of Karnatak classical music, both veena and vocal. Hailing from a family of accomplished musicians, she has been under the tutelage of eminent artistes from a tender age — her grandmother  Vidu. M.K. Saraswathi and  mother  Vidu. Rajyashree Josyer Shrikanth. Aishwarya has completed her Senior Music exams with distinction and is a recipient of CCRT scholarship. She has participated in many State-level competitions in both vocal and veena winning accolades and praise from music-lovers.

On 19th (5 pm to 6.15 pm), Srikanth Radhakrishnan will play violin solo accompanied by Nikshit Puttur on mridanga. A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Srikanth having keen interest in Music has been performing both on violin and vocal. Brought up in Singapore, he learnt music at SIFA from Mangalam Shankar, A.K. Karunakaran, N.R. Prashanth, Poorna Pragna Rao, K.Sivaraman and Srividya Sriram. After moving to Bangalore, he learnt vocal under Neela Ramagopal and currently under S. Shankar. He has nurtured his violin under Charulatha Ramanujan, B. Raghuram and currently under Nalina Mohan. He is a B-Grade vocalist in AIR Bangalore.

Anjana P. Rao will give a vocal recital between 6.20 pm and 7.35 pm accompanied by Srikanth Radhakrishnan on violin and Nikshith Puttur on mridanga. A B.E. Telecommunication Graduate, Anjana was born and brought up in Shivamogga. She started her musical lessons under H.S. Nagaraj which gave not only a good foundation but also passion to music. After she moved to Bangalore, she started her musical lessons under S.R. Maruthi Prasad, while currently her musical skills are honed by Dr. T.S. Sathyavaty. She works at Shankar Mahadevan Academy, Bangalore, as a Content Developer and teaching for past couple of years.

Next on the day (7.40 pm to 8.55 pm) is a vocal concert by R. Sindhu with the same accompaniments. A 2nd semester student at BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore, she is being trained in music by R.A.Ramamani since 14years. As a child artiste, she has participated in many AIR programmes. A Karnatak Sangita Nritya Academy Scholarship awardee, Sindhu has completed senior exam in music.

On 20th (10.30 am to 11.45 am) R.S. Akshata will give a vocal concert with Krithik Kaushik on violin and R.Srinidhi on mridanga. Akshata, a 1st year student  of B-Design at PES University, is a keen student of Music. She has been learning under R.K. Padmanabha for over 14 years. A CCRT scholar, she has  won many laurels at various prestigious festivals.

This will be followed by a veena performance by Vinayak Vaidyanathan with mridanga support by R.Srinidhi (11.50 am  to 1.05 pm). Vinayak Vaidyanathan is a class 10 student who has keen interest in music. He started learning under Mythili Suresh at the age of 6. He is now under yoga Vandana who has groomed him as a good artiste.

In the evening on 20th (5 pm to 6.15 pm), Bhumika Madhusudan will be on vocal accompanied by Krithik Kaushik on violin and Pavan Madhav Masur on mridanga. Young Bhumika of 1st PUC at Kumarans Bangalore is highly passionate in music. She is under the tutelage of S.Yashasvi. A CCRT scholar, she performs regularly at prestigious sabhas, on AIR and TV channels.

The final concert of the series will be a vocal concert by H.S. Bhavya to the same accompanists (6.20 pm to 7.35 pm). Bhavya started learning vocal under her mother Susheela and veena under her father H.K. Subbanna. She completed the State-level exams in Music with high grades. She did her graduation and  Post Graduation from Bangalore University with Music as a major subject. She has done track recording for many Music Directors and teaches light music at Sadhana Sangita Shale. Being a B-High graded artiste of AIR, she performs on Akashvani and various TV channels. Presently she is improving her music under Ganakala Bhushana R.K. Padmanabha.

NOTE: The results of the competitions will be announced at 8 pm on Aug. 20.