R K Shriramkumar

R K Shriramkumar belongs to a family of eminent Carnatic musicians who hail from Rudrapatna, a little village on the banks of the river Kaveri in Karnataka, South India. His grandfather Shri R K Venkatarama Shastry, a veteran violinist, was one of the most respected vidvans of his times. His grand uncles Vidvan R K Narayanaswamy, Vidvan R K Ramanathan, Vidvan R K Srikantan, his uncles the ‘Rudrapatnam Brothers’, Vidvans R N Thyagarajan & R N Tharanathan and his aunts Vidushi Smt Ratnamala Prakash and Vidushi R N Srilata are all musicians of great repute.   Born in Chennai on 4th October 1966, to Smt Kusuma Krishnamurthy and Shri R V Krishnamurthy, Shriramkumar began his illustrious concert  career in 1981 and has since carved a niche for himself gaining much proficiency, acclaim, stature and popularity amongst musicians and music lovers alike.   Having had his initial lessons in violin playing from Vidushi Smt Savitri Satyamurthy, Shriramkumar was trained by his grandfather Shri R K Venkatarama Shastry. He later received guidance from Vidvan Shri V V Subrahmanyam. He also trained in vocal music from Vidvan Shri D K Jayaraman.   He has had the honour and privilege of accompanying doyens of Carnatic music like Vidvan Shri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Vidushi Smt M S Subbulakshmi, Vidushi  Smt D K Pattammal, Vidvan Shri D K Jayaraman, Vidvan Shri K V Narayanaswamy, Vidushi  Smt T Brinda, Vidushi Smt T Mukta, Vidvan Shri T Viswanathan, Vidvan Shri N Ramani, Vidvan Shri S Balachander, Vidvan Shri M Balamuralikrishna and many others. Shriramkumar has shared many a platform with renowned percussionists such as Vidvan Shri T K Murthy, Vidvan Shri Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Vidvan Shri Palghat Raghu, Vidvan Shri Vellore Ramabhadran, Vidvan Shri Trichy Sankaran, Vidvan Shri Karaikudi Mani, Vidvan Shri T V Gopalakrishnan, Vidvan Shri Guruvayur Dorai, Vidvan Shri Kamalakar Rao, Vidvan Shri V Nagarajan, Vidvan Shri G Harishankar, Vidvan Shri T H Vinayakaram, Vidvan Shri Palghat Sundaram, Vidvan Shri T H Subhashchandran and others. This priceless association with the masters led him to imbibe facets of their rich music and helped him hone his skills.   His vast concert experience includes performances for all the prestigious organizations in India.    Shriramkumar is no stranger to global audiences either. He has traveled far and wide on many concert tours with various artistes. He has been a part of prestigious festivals such as the Tyagaraja Utsavam at Cleveland, Ohio, USA accompanying Shri K V Narayanaswamy and others; the Festival of India in Mauritius accompanying Shri S Balachander, the Theatre De La Ville in Paris accompanying Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan, the Asia festival at Helsinki accompanying Smt Bombay Jayashri Ramanath and the Tropen theatre in Amsterdam accompanying Shri T M Krishna. He also holds the distinction of performing at the United Nations, New York,  in accompaniment to Smt. Sudha Ragunathan, for the World Music day, in connection with  the M. S. Subbulakshmi Centenary celebrations, coordinated by Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai    Shriramkumar’s violin solo concerts have enthralled audiences world-wide. Marked by the gayaki style of violin playing, his concerts are well renowned for tugging at the heart strings of listeners through his soul stirring renditions.   A recipient of many awards and accolades, Shriramkumar has to his credit the title of ‘Yuva Kala Bharati’ from Bharat Kalachar, Chennai, the ‘Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award’ from the Kalki Krishnamurthy Trust, the title of  ‘Nada Oli’ from Nada Inbam, Chennai,  ‘Vani Kala Sudhakara’ from Shri Tyagabrahma Gana Sabha, Vani Mahal, Chennai, ‘Isai Peroli’  and 'Tamil Isai Vendhar' from Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai, 'Kala Ratna' from Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Chennai, 'Sangita Vidyanidhi' from the Indian fine arts association of San Diego, 'Sangita Ratnakara' from Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival, the M S Subbulakshmi centenary special award from Shanmukhananda Sangita Sabha, Mumbai, 'Nada Kalanidhi' from Shanmukhananda Sangita Sabha, New Delhi, the 10th Anniversary Special Award from the Indira Sivasailam foundation, the SVN centenary memorial arts from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the 'Vidya Bharati Puraskar' from the Vidyatirtha foundation, Chennai to name a few. He is also an Asthana Vidvan of the Dakshinamnaya  Shri Sringeri Sharada Pitham and Shri Kamakoti Pitham, Kanchipuram. Shriramkumar is the recipient of the prestigious title of Sangita Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy for the year 2025.   He has provided violin accompaniment in several commercial recordings and has been blessed to participate in a unique recording entitled ‘Divine Unison’ featuring the great veterans Shri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Smt M S Subbulakshmi. His many solo recordings are also widely popular.    A prolific tunesmith and a composer himself, ShriramKumar’s work resonates with the cognoscenti and the lay person alike. His compositions are regarded for the enjoyable blend of erudite language and dulcet music. He has had the privilege of directing the music for special television presentations on the Sringeri Sharada Pitham. He has set to music numerous compositions of the Acharyas of the Sharada Pitham.  The albums ‘Bhakti Sudha Tarangini’, Guru Suvarnamala’ (both rendered by Sringeri sisters, Smt Sharada, Smt Srilakshmi & Kum Bharati) and the ‘Sharada Stuti Manjari (rendered by Smt Bombay Jayashri) contain an exquisite collection of stotras and gitams composed by the Jagadgurus of Sri Sharada Pitham set to tune by Shriramkumar. The composition 'Sharade Karunanidhe' set to tune by Shriramkumar is extremely popular and greatly admired by many.   His creative endeavours also include composing music for several dance productions. Some of the notable amongst them being the music to the verses of the Valmiki Ramayana for the production ‘Sita Vishlesha Trayam’ by the renowned Dr. Vyjayantimala Bali, the music for ' Sarasvati Antaravahini', a production by Kalakshetra, Chennai, compositions for ‘Sayujya’, a collaborative production by Smt Priyadarsini Govind & Shri T M Krishna, music for compositions in the productions by Silambam, Phoenix,  a premier dance school headed by Smt Srimathy Mohan in Phoenix, AZ, the music for ‘Madhaviya Shankara Digvijayam’, a production on the life and times of Shri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada by the Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation, Stroudsburg PA, the music for the Yuddha Kanda of the Ramayana and Navavidha Bhakti from the Bhagavatam, by Shri Kishore Mosalikanti for the Cleveland music festival and the music for many presentations by renowned dancers at the Natyarangam festival of the Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai.   Shriramkumar is also highly sought after for his inimitable vidvat which shines through in his lecture demonstrations and talks.  He has an intuitive and in-depth understanding of music, language and religion, and hence a holistic approach to music deriving from all these perspectives.  His lec-dems include a panoply of insights encompassing melodic and linguistic nuances of compositions.  He is acclaimed for his lucid and engaging presentations on Carnatic music that span a wide range of topics including “An insight into the sahitya and sangita of Shri Muttusvami Dikshitar’s compositions”, the Guruguha Vibhakti Krtis, Kamalamba Navavarana Krtis, the greatness of the Musical Trinity, the Caturdasha Ragamalika, “Translating vocal music into violin playing”, to name a few.     The appeal of his presentations easily transcends all boundaries as evidenced in his Fall 2013 lecture demonstrations in the Boyer College of Music and Dance at the Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania to an audience that included world music students and the school faculty.   A combination of keen musical insight, rich repertoire, unassuming wisdom, experiences, as well as fresh simplicity and accessibility draws many a performing musician to consider Shriramkumar as his/her mentor.   An alumnus of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, Chennai, Shriramkumar graduated from the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai with a Bachelors degree in Mathematics. He is also one of the founders of the YACM (Youth Association for Classical Music), a premier forum for the promotion of classical music amongst the youth and has been an active member of the renowned SPICMACAY.