We are proud to announce that this year's SAMUR residency will be graced by the presence of our esteemed guest lecturers Ramesh Vinayakam, V.S. Narasimhan, S. Murali Krishnan, Patri Satish Kumar and Anil Srinivasan.
Ramesh Vinayakam - Gamaka Box
Trained in both Carnatic and Western music and a precocious autodidact. He has composed in the classical, devotional, cinema, fusion and experimental styles. He was trained in the piano too. He is apopular music director in both Hyderabad and Chennai and has even composed for Hollywood. His most recent hit film was "Ramanujan" about the mathematical genius of the 20th century, for which he recorded the soundtrack with the German Pops Orchestra in Frankfurt and others. He has composed songs, arranged music, presented lec-dems on global music and composed ringtones for Nokia. He has collaborated extensively with V.S. Narasimhan and the Madras String Quartet. Founder of Music Temple Academy which is a group of musicians, teachers and scholars dedicated to music education,
performance and theory through Gamaka Box, the first notation system in history to accurately and effectively capture the detailed melodic nuances of Indian music for practical use.
Website: www.musictempleacademy.com
V.S. Narasimhan - violin
Born in Karnataka and was trained in South Indian classical music since the age of five as well as in Western classical music from his teenage years. He has played violin for movies as well as part of orchestras and in solos and he is at home in many styles of music including North Indian, folk and jazz. He is the leader of the Madras String Quartet. The Madras String Quartet has generated several innovative albums interfacing Indian and Western classical music. As a violinist in films, his interest in the theory of Western Music made him work on various versions of classical compositions which gave rise to the idea of playing traditional music compositions against a background of Western harmonies. He has performed throughout India together with musicians from UK, Germany and USA, and all over the world and has received critical acclaim in the press as a highly accomplished musician with originality. He has scored music and conducted for movies, albums and other projects with leading musicians in India and abroad.
S. Murali Krishnan - drums & percussions
Synonymous with his drums is one of the most sought after percussionists in south India, be it a live show or a film recording. Murali plays several percussion instruments including Western Drums, Timbales, Darabukka, Cajon, Djembe, Marching Drums, Cymbals and Bells. In fact, he can generate mesmerizing music beats from literally any surface. Murali is proficient in various musical styles like Jazz, Classical, Fusion, Rock and Pop. He is known for his stage presence and has played widely
across the globe for many Indian festivals. His show with the Japanese drummers is still one of the most spoken about ones. Murali is a qualified teacher and has completed 8 Grades in Drum Kit from the Trinity college of Music - London. His work for the Indian film industry is another subject worth mentioning in his musical journey. Murali’ s brain child, Jus Drums is one of the premier institutions in India imparting the art of Drumming, having trained over 800 students in the last 13 years, across the age group of 5-85. Murali has also been running his fusion band “Jus Fusion” for over 13 years. Murali conducts motivational lecture demonstrations and interactive drumming sessions for corporates and students using rhythm as an effective tool.
Website: www.jusdrums.com
Patri Satish Kumar - mridangam
Patri Satish Kumar is an Indian Carnatic musician and player of the mridangam.Born into a family steeped in Carnatic music, Satish Kumar was initiated into learning mridangam at a young age by his mother and performed his first concert at the age of 7. Satish Kumar was trained by three mridangam artists and teachers from Andhra Pradesh. Apart from mastering the art of playing the Mridangam he also learnt to play and excel in other percussion instruments like the Thavil , Kanjira , Ghatam and Moorsing. Satish Kumar has performed alongside many artists including Dr. Balamuralikrishna, Ganesh and Kumaresh, Chitraveena Ravi Kiran, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Jasraj, Flute Maestro Shashank Subramanyam, Sudha Raghunathan, Bombay Jayashri, Aruna Sayeeram, Nithyasree, TN Seshagopalan, Sikkil Gurucharan and many more. Over the years, he has evolved a style of his own which blends seamlessly with various instruments and voices, alike. Satish has broadened his creative skills by experimenting on the fusion playing of the percussion instruments by forming a Percussion Ensemble. He has formed his own group of professional instrumental and percussion Artistes and leads them in Talavadya Katcheris. Today his percussion ensemble has not only given several performances but also won great applauds and acclaim for its uniqueness. He has been a part of many musical confluences of Classical, Fusion and Jazz genres. Satish has toured extensively, performing in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Middle-east, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and Mauritius. He has performed at venues such as Festival of France, Miami Beachfront Festival, Madrid Jazz Festival, India Gate Festival, and Harbourfront Festival. His performances have been featured in many national and international broadcasts such as Radio France, Radio Germany, Radio South Africa, All India Radio and Ceylon Radio. Satish Kumar's name features in many CD/DVD recordings in India and abroad. He was one of co-artists in Margazhi Raagam - first ever Carnatic music concert movie. This apart he has released a CD titled Dimensions - A solo presentation and Dancing Drums - a percussion ensemble presentation. Satish conducts regular workshops on Taalam and also imparts training to several young aspirants in the field of Mridangam. Satish Kumar is a recipient of the Mridanga Naada Mani and Navayuga Nandhi titles.
Website: www.mridangamsatish.com
Anil Srinivasan - piano
A classical pianist born in Chennai and educated at the University of Southern California and at Columbia University. He is best known for his collaborative work other musicians and his pioneering work in music education in South India. As a pianist, Anil has performed at various venues in the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the US, Canada, Korea, Indonesia and the Middle East apart from performances all over India. He is very well known for his path-breaking collaboration with vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan, with whom his output includes 6 published albums and several national and international tours. He is also known for having organized alternative performing arts platforms and festivals. He composes and scores music for several productions in the theatrical space as well. He is also the music composer on special audiobook projects for children (Karadi Tales, 2011 and 2012) in collaboration with several well-known artists. In 2013, Anil embarks on a new project with the Southbank Centre's famed Alchemy Festival, where he will be training teachers of Western Classical music in the nuances and pedagogy of Indian music in classrooms. Anil is passionate about music education for children across all strata of society. His work with schools is in association with Rhapsody – Education Through Music. Rhapsody now reaches over 60,000 children in South India. Anil speaks regularly on music and its effect on human behavior, organizational processes and related topics at various forums. His workshops and seminars have been received extremely well. He continues to write about music for various publications and media.
Website: http://anilsrinivasan.com
Ramesh Vinayakam - Gamaka Box
Trained in both Carnatic and Western music and a precocious autodidact. He has composed in the classical, devotional, cinema, fusion and experimental styles. He was trained in the piano too. He is apopular music director in both Hyderabad and Chennai and has even composed for Hollywood. His most recent hit film was "Ramanujan" about the mathematical genius of the 20th century, for which he recorded the soundtrack with the German Pops Orchestra in Frankfurt and others. He has composed songs, arranged music, presented lec-dems on global music and composed ringtones for Nokia. He has collaborated extensively with V.S. Narasimhan and the Madras String Quartet. Founder of Music Temple Academy which is a group of musicians, teachers and scholars dedicated to music education,
performance and theory through Gamaka Box, the first notation system in history to accurately and effectively capture the detailed melodic nuances of Indian music for practical use.
Website: www.musictempleacademy.com
V.S. Narasimhan - violin
Born in Karnataka and was trained in South Indian classical music since the age of five as well as in Western classical music from his teenage years. He has played violin for movies as well as part of orchestras and in solos and he is at home in many styles of music including North Indian, folk and jazz. He is the leader of the Madras String Quartet. The Madras String Quartet has generated several innovative albums interfacing Indian and Western classical music. As a violinist in films, his interest in the theory of Western Music made him work on various versions of classical compositions which gave rise to the idea of playing traditional music compositions against a background of Western harmonies. He has performed throughout India together with musicians from UK, Germany and USA, and all over the world and has received critical acclaim in the press as a highly accomplished musician with originality. He has scored music and conducted for movies, albums and other projects with leading musicians in India and abroad.
S. Murali Krishnan - drums & percussions
across the globe for many Indian festivals. His show with the Japanese drummers is still one of the most spoken about ones. Murali is a qualified teacher and has completed 8 Grades in Drum Kit from the Trinity college of Music - London. His work for the Indian film industry is another subject worth mentioning in his musical journey. Murali’ s brain child, Jus Drums is one of the premier institutions in India imparting the art of Drumming, having trained over 800 students in the last 13 years, across the age group of 5-85. Murali has also been running his fusion band “Jus Fusion” for over 13 years. Murali conducts motivational lecture demonstrations and interactive drumming sessions for corporates and students using rhythm as an effective tool.
Website: www.jusdrums.com
Patri Satish Kumar - mridangam
Website: www.mridangamsatish.com
Anil Srinivasan - piano
Website: http://anilsrinivasan.com