H K Narasimhamurthy

Vidwan H.K.Narasimhamurthy (HKN) was born to freedom fighter and social worker, Sri H.S.Krishnamurthy and Smt Jayalakshmi couple at Holenarasipur of Hassan District in Karnataka on 04.05.1946. After learning from some music teachers at Holenarasipura, Hirisave and Chennarayapatna in Hassan district, HKN was sent to Mysuru, for formal education and continuing his music training at Mysuru. He did his B.Sc. from Sharada Vilas College, Mysuru and pursued violin from Vid. Muthanna @ Venkatanarayana and Vid. T. Puttaswamaiah, brother of Sangeeta Kalanidhi T. Chowdaiah. During the period, he got opportunities to hear music from great stalwarts of those days and got attracted by the violin playing style of Padmabhushana, Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Parur M. S. Gopalakrishnan. He approached MSG sir and on watching his performance, MSG sir accepted him as a student and HKN moved to Chennai. Prf. Parur Sundaram Iyer, father of MSG sir who was also adept in Hindustani music, fine tuned HKN’s fingering skills and playing styles in Parur bani, with rigorous practicing. HKN had the privilege of learning from him as well as from both of his illustrious sons, M. S. Anantharaman and M. S. Gopalakrishnan. He did Music Vidwan course at Central College, Chennai, where he was under the tutelage of legendary musicians and scholars of carnatic music such as T.M.Thyagarajan, Prof. T.N.Krishnan etc. As a musician: During the next few years HKN became a well sought after accompanist in Chennai. He had accompanied eminent musicians of the period such as: Vidwans Shemmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Nedanuri Krishnamurthy, D.K.Pattammal, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer, M. L. Vasanthakumari, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, D.K. Jayaraman, Dr. N. Ramani, R.K. Srikantan, K.S. Narayanaswamy, M.S. Gopala-krishnan, Dr. S. Ramanathan, Kalyanaraman, Alathur Srinivasa Iyer, B. Rajam Iyer, K.J. Jesudas, Maharajapuram Santhanam, Sikkil Sisters, T.K. Govinda Rao, B. Devendrappa, Aruna Sairam, R. Vedavalli, T.N. Sheshagopalan, T.V. Shankaranarayanan, Ayyalur Krishnan, K.B. Sundarambal, Bombay Sisters, Trissur V. Ramachandran, S. Rajam, T.V.Gopalakrishnan, O.S. Thyagarajan, Prof. T. R. Subrahmanyam, Veena S. Balachander, Gotuvadya Ravikiran, Mandolin U. Srinivas, S.P. Natarajan, Bombay Jayashree, K.S. Gopalakrishnan, Sudha Raghunathan, Kadri Gopalanath, Hyderabad Brothers, Mani Krishnaswami, Malladi Brothers, Hyderabad Sisters, Unnikrishnan, P.S. Narayanaswamy, Rudrapatnam Brothers, K.V. Krishnan, S. Shankar, B.N. Suresh, Prapancham Seetharam, Thitte Krishna Iyengar, R.Visweswaran, Vidyabhushana and many more. After a few years as per the wishes of his father, he returned to Mysuru and joined All India Radio as a staff artist in 1969 and served up to 2006 with dedication. As a teacher par excellence: HKN is a rare artist who excelled as a performer as well as a great teacher. Teaching is a passion for him and he will normally do not skip his schedule even on a concert day, but rather call the students for an early class. Number of students trained by him would definitely cross several hundreds. It is a matter of pride for any teacher that, at least about 30 professional violinists are his disciples. Many top ranking violinists in carnatic music are mentored by him. Transforming a student as masters in the field can happen only with utmost commitment and love for the art and teaching them without looking at the clock. HKN’s observing eyes will never miss a talented hand and for them classes will not be limited to the time schedule. Such of them will be slowly find a place in concerts and made to gain the experience of accompanying. It is true that in Mysuru, HKN’s house is called as a “violinists’ factory”, always busting with the sound of violin. His wife Vidushi H.N.Rajalakshmi is also a musician and teaches vocal music even today. Disciples of HKN, who are graded artists of All India Radio and Doordarshan: 1 H.N.Bhaskar 10 Mysore Srikanth 2 A.P.Srinivas 11 Mysore R. Dayakar 3 Sindhu Suchethan 12 N N Ganesh kumar 4 Smitha HM 13 Venkatesha Josyer G 5 Aditi Krishnaprakash 14 Deepa Krishnamurthy 6 Veena Suresh 15 Sathish S. 7 M. Keshav Mohankumar 16 C.V.Shruthi 8 Sangeetha Dilip 17 Krithik Koushik 9 K.T.Udayakiran 18 Prithvi Bhaskar As an organiser: Deeply concerned by the situation of upcoming musicians finding hard to get opportunities, he, along with few like minded artists, founded Sri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Sabha Charitable Trust in 1987, which has become a household name in Mysore spreading music in all corners of the city holding 2-4 concerts every month. Some of the present acclaimed musicians of Karnataka are initially introduced by the Sabha. Guru with a human approach: HKN’s house resembles a gurukul, always open for students and the couple taking care of their holistic development. The entire house resonates music always with students learning and practicing. The house is also always open for music lovers. The couples are highly respected for their yeomen service as efficient teachers and also for their selfless service to the society and down to earth approach.