Akshay Koushik

Akshay Koushik comes from a family with a rich and deep-rooted musical heritage: his great-grandfather, Vid. Sri Mysore C. Rangaiah, a disciple of Sri Mysore Vasudevacharya, was a distinguished composer who created works in all 72 Melakarta ragas and pioneered several new ragas. Both his grandmother, a trained vocalist, and his mother, a vocalist and veena teacher, nurtured his early interest in music. Growing up in this environment, Akshay was surrounded by music at home and received parallel training from his mother alongside his formal lessons. He began learning the violin at the age of nine under Vid. Jyothsna Manjunath, and later continued his training with Vid. Moodnur V. Raghuram. For advanced tutelage, he came under the guidance of Vid. Sri H. K. Venkatram, who remains his role model—not only in music, but in life. Inspired by his guru’s example of balancing dual passions in engineering and music, Akshay aspires to follow in his footsteps. In addition to the violin, Akshay has also received vocal training from Vid. Rohini Manjunath, a disciple of Vid. Neela Ramgopal, further enriching his grounding in Carnatic music.