KALPANA KISHORE

A multi-faceted Indian classical violinist, Kalpana Kishore is a descendant of the legendary Chathapuram Sri Subba Iyer, one of the first gurus of the percussion wizard Palghat Sri Mani Iyer.Kalpana started her initial training in Veena under her mother Smt.Seetha Kishore.She switched to violin and started training with Sri Narasihmalu,Sri Seshagiri Rao,Sri V Sundaresan and eventually came under the tutelage of Sangeetha Kala Acharya Sangeetha Kala Acharya Smt. T . Rukmini. She further trained in vocal music under Settalapathi Balasubramaniam and later under Padmasri K.V. Narayanaswamy and Padmabhushan P .S. Narayanaswamy.Her accomplishments in both violin and vocal music have won her admirers worldwide. She started performing at the age of 9 and went on to win numerous awards as a child artiste.In the recent years Kalpana is also training in Hindusthani music from Dr.Vishnuchittan Balaji violinist and vocalist and a Professor in the music faculty of Benaras Hindu University. Kalpana has performed with Dr. Balaji in violin concerts in both Hindustani and Carnatic styles.She has also played numerous jugalbandhi concerts with leading Hindustani musicians both in India and the US. Kalpana has won several awards from The Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha and Narada Gana Sabha,Indian fine arts as the best all rounder musician. Kalpana has performed numerous solos & duets with her Gurus and alongside great veterans like Smt. D.K.Pattammal, Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna, Smt. Nithyasree Mahadevan, Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan ,Aruna Sairam,Sri T S Sankaran flute,Chitraveena Ravikiran and many others & Percussion Maestros like Sri Palghat Raghu. She lived and performed for several years in the USA. She has also given concerts, workshops and lecdems in Europe, Middle East, South Africa,Canada and Singapore. She holds a Master’s degree in Music from Madras University. Her recorded music is available in digital and online formats. She features regularly on AIR as an ‘A’ grade artist and her interviews and concerts have been broadcast on many TV channels. She was also a compere for programs on DD Chennai.She also performs in fusion concerts. Kalpana also has a flair for singing devotional music and has given Bhajan programmes in a few cities in India. Kalpana is a practitioner of Raga Chikitsa, healing through classical music, under the tutelage of Dr. Rajam Shankar. Deeply dedicated to sharing her knowledge, Kalpana trains students in violin and vocal in India & abroad through KalpanaSwaram School of Music.