Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1978. He has garnered two National Film Awards, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor in 1991, for his contribution towards arts, the Mahatma Gandhi Silver Medal from UNESCO in 1995, the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 2005, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy, and the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani in 1991, by the Fine Arts Society, Chennai to name a few.
Uppalapu Srinivas was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. Because he was a child prodigy, he was sometimes called the Mozart of classical Indian music.
Madras Music Academy is one of the earliest established music academies in South India. Before the concept of infrastructure was introduced to India in the early 1920s, it was a gathering for elite musicians simply called Music Academy It plays an important role in encouraging and promoting primarily the Carnatic Music Indian art form. It played a vital role in the revival of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam in the 1930s when it faced near extinction due to a negative connotation caused by conservative societal standards.
Chennai Music Season is an event hosted every Mid November–January in Chennai Tamil Nadu. Spanning some 9 weeks, it comprises top-flight professional and amateur musicians. The traditional role of the Music Season is to allow aficionados of Carnatic music to appreciate performances by renowned artists, and to allow promising young artists to display their talent and skill. Audiences and artists come from across India and her diaspora to enjoy the season.
Kadri Gopalnath was an Indian alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument.
Lalgudi Gopala Jayaraman was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin trinity of Carnatic music. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001.
Tiruchy L. Saravanan, also known as Flute Saravanan, is a prime disciple of Dr. N. Ramani, one of India's pioneer Carnatic flautists.
Narasimhan Ravikiran is an Indian slide instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and orator, who created the concept of melharmony. He is the son of gottuvadhyam player Chitravina Narasimhan and the grandson of Narayan Iyengar, who was also a Carnatic musician.
Kavi Kunjara Bharati (1810–1896) was a Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He was born in a family with long involvement in music and scholarship.
Maharajapuram Santhanam, was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Koteeswara Iyer, was a pioneer composer of Indian classical music Carnatic music. He was a grandson of Kavi Kunjara Bharati(1810–1896) attributing to a strong lineage of accomplished musicians. He was born in Nandhanur to Nagarathinam iyer who was a Sivagangai Samasthana Sangeetha Vidwan. His ancestors lived initially in Tirunelveli and later in Raja Hiranya Garba Thirumalai Sethupathi's village in Perungarai (Ramanathapuram). Koteeswara Iyer studied music under Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (1860–1919) and Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845–1902). He composed mainly in the Tamil language and used the mudraKavi Kunjara Dasan in tribute to his grandfather. While studying his BA in English Literature in Trichy, Koteeswara Iyer started performing in small Kutcheries singing Kavi Kunjara Bharathi's Skanda Puranam, Perinba Keerthanaigal. Noted devotional singers K. Somu (Somasundaram) and K. Veeramani were the grandsons of Koteeswara Iyer, and thus the great-great grandsons of Kavi Kunjara Bharathi.
Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana was a Carnatic musician, a classical vocalist, musicologist, author and teacher, a great administrator and motivator. He was a performer on All India Radio and Doordarshan who participated in Sangeeta Sammelans, outdoor broadcasts and national programmes innumerable times. His radio lessons and Bhakti Ranjanis were very popular. He was awarded Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 2010.
Shashank Subramanyam is a Grammy-nominated exponent of the Bamboo Flute from India and specialises in Indian Classical Music. He is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi's senior award by Govt. of India bestowed by the Hon. President of India for the year 2017 at an investiture ceremony held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi. He was a child prodigy and began performing from his age of 6 in 1984 and has performed for four decades.
Umayalpuram Kasiviswanatha Sivaraman is an Indian musician and exponent of the Carnatic percussion instrument, the mridangam. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Vempati Chinna Satyam was an Indian dancer and a guru of the Kuchipudi dance form.
Paul Poovathingal, popularly known as the 'Padum Pathiri' or 'singing priest of India', is a carnatic music vocalist, composer and lyricist and is the first vocologist in India. He is an ordained priest in the religious congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI). He has composed around 1000 songs and released 35 music albums. He is a disciple of the legendary Carnatic musician and playback singer Padmabhushan K. J. Yesudas and of Chandramana Narayan Namboothiri. He is the first Indian Christian priest in the world to earn PhD in Carnatic music. He has performed classical music before A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India and before Bharat Ratna M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar (1912–2004) was a Carnatic musician, musicologist, Harikatha exponent and composer.
R. Suryaprakash is a Carnatic vocalist, composer, and lyricist. An 'A Grade' artist of All India Radio, he has travelled extensively and received accolades for his performances.
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.
