A. Kanyakumari

Avasarala Kanyakumari comes from the Vizianagaram musical region associated with Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu. She trained first under Ivaturi Vijayeswara Rao and later honed her art under M. Chandrasekaran.

Her long association with M. L. Vasanthakumari became a defining part of her career. She accompanied MLV for more than two decades and absorbed a vocal imagination that shaped her own violin voice.

Kanyakumari is admired for vocal-style phrasing, classicism, and fearless experimentation. She has also trained three generations of Carnatic violinists, with students active as soloists, accompanists, composers, and cross-genre collaborators.

In 2016 she became the first woman violinist to receive the Music Academy's Sangita Kalanidhi. Her honours also include Padma Shri, Kalaimamani, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.