Ramakrishnan Murthy

Ramakrishnan Murthy is a Carnatic Music vocalist from India. He regularly performs in the annual Madras Music Season besides being featured in music festivals world over that focus on Indian Classical music. He is an A-grade artist of the All India Radio and Doordarshan, Chennai.

Ramakrishnan Murthy
Background information
Also known as	RKM
Born	1989
Genres	Indian classical music
Occupation	Carnatic Vocalist
Website	http://www.rkmmusic.in/

In this Indian name, the name Murthy is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Ramakrishnan.

Early life and tutelage

Ramakrishnan Murthy began his Carnatic music training from Smt. Padma Kutty in Irvine in 1997. In 2001, he began to take advanced lessons from veteran violin artist Delhi P. Sunder Rajan. Ramakrishnan also spent brief periods of time learning from Vairamangalam Lakshmi Narayanan, CR Vaidyanathan, Vaikom Jayachandran and Chengleput Ranganathan.^[1] He is currently under the tutelage of R. K. Shriramkumar.^{[citation needed][when?]}

Education

Ramakrishnan Murthy is an Informatics graduate from the University of California, Irvine.^[1]

Concert career

In June 2011, after completing his undergraduate education, Ramakrishnan moved to Chennai permanently and began pursuing Carnatic music full time.^[2] He has, since, performed regularly in Indian and international music festivals and famous sabhas, including the Madras Music Academy^[3] and has been accompanied by virtually all the notable names in the field of music today.^[4]

Ramakrishnan has also done playback singing for films, debuting with the song "Nalla Nanban" under composer Harris Jayaraj for Shankar's 2012 film Nanban.

Style and influences

His wise sense of aesthetics, his alignment to pitch(shruthi shuddham), enunciation of words, the clarity of his gamakas and his patanthara are often appreciated by critics.^[3][5]

Some critics have noted a coarseness in his voice, but this texture of his voice is also seen to lend a husky texture to certain ragas like Sahana.^[3]

The influence of Ramnad Krishnan, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, and K. V. Narayanaswamy has been observed in his music.^[6]

Awards and titles

• Yagnaraman Award of Excellence, Shri Krishna Gana Sabha, 2016^[7]
• Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award, Kalki Krishnamurthy Trust, Chennai, 2014^[8]
• Shanmukha Sangeetha Shironmani title from Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai, 2013.^[9]
• Outstanding Vocalist for four consecutive years from the Madras Music Academy, 2011-2014
• Best Senior Vocalist, Madras Music Academy, 2016
• Asthana Vidvan, Sringeri Sharada Peetham, 2017
• Senior Outstanding Concert Award, Madras Music Academy, 2017
• Senior Outstanding Vocalist, Madras Music Academy, 2019
• Isai Peroli title from Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai ^[10]

References

1. G. Swaminathan. "Artists are highly sensitive", The Hindu Chennai, 28 August 2014.
2. Srinivas Ramanujam. "Is Carnatic music a viable career", The Times of India Chennai, 24 February 2012.
3. Balantrapu, Mihir. "A suitable boy for the prime slot". The Hindu.
4. N. Jayalakshmi. "Sound of Music Hits a High", Deccan Chronicle Chennai.
5. K. Ganapathi. "Treading the classical path", The Hindu Thiruvananthapuram, 27 May 2014.
6. P.N.V. Ram. "Nuanced rendition", Sruti Blogspot Chennai, 31 Dec 2011.
7. "Yagnaraman July Fest", Sruti Blogspot Chennai, 8 July 2016.
8. Special Correspondent. "The enduring works of a master", The Hindu Chennai, 10 September 2014.
9. "Shanmukha Sangeeta Shiromani Award".
10. "Titles conferred on dancer, Carnatic vocalist" The Hindu Chennai, 02 December 2019.