Musician Coimbatore R Sundar: Coimbatore Profile

Musician Coimbatore R Sundar's Self Narrating Profile

I was born into a family where Carnatic music, in some form and degree, was part of day-to-day life. While my grand parents and parents were knowledgeable listeners-connoisseurs of Carnatic music, I had in my aunt Smt. Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan a reputed concert musician, who had had her training under stalwarts like Sathur A.G. Subramania Iyer and Semmangudi Sriinivasa Iyer. All these set the tone for what was to become an integral part of my life.

The initial lessons and several kritis were taught by my aunt and I had the privilege of singing with her in a few of her concerts. She, apparently, saw in me a sincere yearning to pursue music and since she visited us only for a couple of months in a year, she persuaded my parents to put me through rigorous training under a guru in Coimbatore. At that time Sri. T.N.Seshagopalan was setting out in his career as a performing musician and it was Smt. Ambujam Krishna, a close friend of the family, who suggested to my aunt that I should learn from TNS. My parents Smt. Vijaya and Sri.A.N.Ramaswamy put my sister Radha and myself under TNS�s tutelage in 1971. That was a turning point in my pursuit of music. My sister and I had our debut in concert at a marriage reception in Pazhani in May 1974. We performed together for a few years until our srutis dictated a separation.

There were a few sabhas in Coimbatore that hosted concerts regularly, giving me memorable moments of listening to musicians like Semmangudi, DKP, MDR, Chembai and so on.

My five years at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Madras gave me opportunity to compete in the music competitions in Chennai and also listen toattend music concerts regularly.Participating in the competititons helped build both my repertoire and confidence. After securing my bachelors degree in Engineering, I joined IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Ahmedabad for an MBA in Finance and Computer Systems. Despite the excruciating schedule, I had opportunities to both practise and perform.

After my MBA, I branched off into information technology as my mainstay. Padma and I got married in Aug 1985. We have been residents of USA since 1989. We have a son Sai Karthik (b 1998) who is a student of the Mridangam Maestro Dr.Trichy Sankaran

I pursue a dual career - of IT Manager and musician-cum-teacher. My wife and myself run a school by the name Trinity Academy of Fine Arts and offer one-on-one lessons in vocal music.

When I am not singing or teaching, I enjoy a quiet moment reading novels (English and Tamil, especially Tamil) or watching tennis and basketball or riding an exer-cycle. Another favorite past time of mine is long distance driving with my family, while listening to good music.

Coimbatore R Sundar

Please check out his profile in his personal website

Coimbatore Mani Iyer - Carnatic Music Singer from Coimbatore

Coimbatore Mani Iyer (1912-1968) was a famous Carnatic music singer, who was famous for his unique style. He was one of the celebrated carnatic vocalists during the first half of the 20th century.

Coimbatore Mani Iyer, whose original name was Subramanian was born to Sri Ramaswamy Iyer and Smt.Subbulakshmi in Coimbatore on October 25, 1912. His father Sri.M.S.Ramaswami Iyer, a Sub-court Clerk, was the brother of the famous Vidwan Pushpavanam, who was a great classical musician himself.

Mani Iyer's tutelage in music started at the tender age of nine. His first guru was Sri Rajam Bhagavathar who was Disciple of Ettayapuram Ramachandra Bhagavathar.

MS Subbulakshmi from Coimbatore - Coimbatore Carnatic Vocalist

Coimbatore Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (Maturai Cha?mukava?ivu Chuppula?chumi), popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S.) (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.

M.S.Subbulakhsmi was born to Shanmukhavadivu (Veena Vidwan) and Subramaniya Iyer on 16 Sep,1916 in a musical family, in the temple town of Coimbatore situated in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. M.S. started learning Carnatic music from a very early age and released her first recording at the age of 10. She then began her Carnatic classical music training under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and then Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Her first public performance was during the Mahamaham festival at Kumbakonam. Then, she performed countless musical forms in different languages such as Hindi, Bengali , Gujarati , Marathi, Tamil , Malayalam, Telugu , Sanskrit and Kannada.

M.S. met T.Sadasivam|Sadasivam, a freedom fighter, and a follower of Rajaji, in 1936. She married him in 1940 and their marriage spanned over 50 years. They had no children. Sadasivam had children from his previous marriage that M.S. treated as if they were her own children. They were named Radha, Vijaya. M.S and Sadasivam also raised Radha who frequently sang with M.S. in concert while Vijaya played the Tanpura.

Subbulakshmi had participated in music concerts all over the world,but her participation in the concerts at New York in 1970,London in 1982 and Moscow in 1987 had a special significance in her life.17 January,2001 was a very important day in karnatak classical music when M.S.Subbulakshmi was given a national award by Ramaseva Mandal in bangaluru.She was the first woman who recived this prestigious award

Read more here in wikipedia