H. V. Krishnamurthy

Prof. H. V. Krishnamurthy was born on October 13, 1926, in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, to Smt. Subbamma and Sri H. Venkataramaiah. He came from a musically gifted family shaped by his maternal uncle L. S. Narayanaswamy Bhagavatar, a vocalist and violinist, and Sri L. S. Seshagiri Rao, a distinguished percussionist and violinist.

Krishnamurthy began learning violin before the age of seven, training under L. S. Narayanaswamy Bhagavatar and Seshagiri Rao. In 1943, he gave his first performance at the Narasimharaja Colony Rama Mandira, accompanying his guru, and soon began performing regularly with his mentors and other celebrated artists.

In 1942, he met Vidwan A. Veerabhadriah, who had come to train under Sri Bhagavatar. Within two years the two debuted as a violin duet, beginning a celebrated musical partnership and lifelong friendship. The duet later grew into a trio with Sri Anoor S. Ramakrishna.

The trio was widely acclaimed and performed with leading percussionists including Palghat Mani Iyer, Palghat Raghu, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Karaikudi Mani, M. S. Ramaiah, and M. L. Veerabhadriah. Their association with Palghat Mani Iyer was especially cherished, including several mike-less concerts in later years.

Alongside music, Krishnamurthy pursued Zoology, earned a master's degree, served as Professor of Zoology at Bangalore Medical College, and later became Principal of the Government College in Kolar. He married Smt. Sarala in 1960, and their children are Raghavendra, Venkatram, Ganesh, and Vatsala.

He was a founding member of the Karnataka Ganakala Parishath and served as Chairman of its Experts Committee. Through initiatives such as Chintane, lecture-demonstrations, multimedia presentations, weekly bhajana sessions, and musicological productions, he worked to make Carnatic music more accessible to students and rasikas.

In 1971, he directed a musical feature based on the Valmiki Ramayana, set to tune by his guru L. S. Narayanaswamy Bhagavatar and performed by his students and guru-bandhus. He later established the Narayanaswamy Bhagavatar Memorial Trust, which organized Ganavahini youth concerts, Tyagaraja and Purandaradasa Aradhana events, and Dikshitar festivals.

After L. S. Narayanaswamy Bhagavatar passed away, Krishnamurthy assumed leadership of Vijaya College of Music. He trained hundreds of students in violin, veena, vocal music, and flute, and inspired senior disciples to build music institutions across Karnataka. His son H. K. Venkatram now carries forward this musical vision.

Krishnamurthy toured the United States in 1984 and 1993 with solo concerts, lecture-demonstrations, and advanced training sessions, and toured Singapore and Malaysia in 1985 with his sons H. K. Raghavendra and H. K. Venkatram. His honours include Karnataka Kala Tilaka from the Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy and Sangeeta Kalaratna from the Bangalore Gayana Samaja.