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.
Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and composer. She was conferred the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1994, Padma Shri (2004) and Padma Bhushan (2015) by the Government of India, and Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy in 2013.
Parakkal Unnikrishnan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and playback singer.
Nithyasree Mahadevan, also referred to as S. Nithyasree, is a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas in India. She has released more than 500 albums. She is best known for her rendition of the A. R. Rahman composition, "Kannodu Kaanbadhellam" - her playback debut song in the Tamil movie Jeans.
Sirkazhi Govindarajan was an Indian Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.
Airtel Super Singer is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language reality television singing competition, that was sponsored by KAG Tiles for the tenth season. The show is televised in India on Vijay TV, and worldwide through partner broadcasting networks. The show, together with its spin-off editions such as Airtel Super Singer Junior, are part of Vijay TV's Super Singer TV series.
Porayath Leela was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist, and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati, Marati. and also Sinhale. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration in the songs with Music Composers v.Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, G Devarajan, ghantasala, MS Viswanathan, K. Raghavan, Br Lakshmanan, LPR Varma, BA chithambara athletes, AT ummer, MK Arjun,Johnson, ouseppachan, ilaiyaraja, and with the playback singers KJ Yesudas and Ghantalasa over the years. Leela is known for her sweet and melodious voice that she named Ganamani. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006. She made her debut as a playback singer in the 1948 Tamil film Kangkanam.
Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram is a Carnatic music vocalist and cinema playback singer from Chennai.
Charulatha Mani is a celebrated Indian-born Australian Carnatic and playback singer. She has been performing Carnatic concerts since 1999. She has also sung chartbusters for Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. Charulatha has appeared in numerous TV shows and radio programmes, in India, and overseas. She has recorded many, CD and DVD albums. Her Isai Payanam TV show, aired on Jaya TV, deals with Ragas in Carnatic and film music and has completed more than 80 episodes. She recently received her PhD from the prestigious Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, on Hybridising carnatic Music and Early Opera. Charu's music is known for its impeccable adherence to the Karnatik principles. It is also known for being courageous and highly creative. It is this ongoing interplay, of newness and the vintage, that has become the hallmark of her unique performance philosophy and signature style. This interesting interweave derives from her strong belief that Karnatik music must embrace innovation, inclusivity and diversity in contemporary society.
Alka Ajith is an Indian playback singer, best known for winning season 2 of Airtel Super Singer Junior, a Tamil language music competition reality TV show broadcast on Vijay TV. She was awarded the Jaycey Foundation Best Female Singer Award in 2017.
Srimathumitha is an Indian playback and Carnatic singer who sings mainly in Tamil. She has also sung in Telugu, Hindi and Kannada songs. Some of her notable songs are "Azhage Azhage" from the movie Oru Kal Oru Kannadi, "Valayapatti Thavile" from the movie Azhagiya Tamil Magan, "Kanaa Kaanum Kalangal" from the movie 7G Rainbow Colony, and "Rathathin Rathame" from the movie Velayudham. She is one of the leading playback singers in today’s film music scenario. She has sung for leading music directors like Ilayaraja, Harris Jayaraj, Yuvan Shankar Raja, A. R. Rahman, Bharadwaj, Deva, S. A. Rajkumar, and Bharani. She emerged as the "Best Voice of 2002" in the TV Reality Show Rajageetham conducted by RAJ TV. She is the first playback singer to win the Vikadan Awards started in 2004, which was juried by late Sujatha. A. R. Rahman has featured her in two songs in the soundtrack of Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.
P. Sai Sharan is a Carnatic musician and Indian playback singer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He rose to prominence after winning Airtel Super Singer 3. He was previously a top 4 finalist in the debut season of the junior version of the show, Airtel Super Singer Junior.
Airtel Super Singer 3 – Thamizhagathil Brahmaanda Kuralukkaana Thedal – Immurai Ulaga Alavil, the third season of the Airtel Super Singer show, was a reality-based Indian singing competition in Tamil language that aired on Vijay TV. It was designed to be a talent hunt to find the best voice of Tamil Nadu. The show premiered on 12 July 2010, and episodes were telecast between Monday to Thursday each week at 9:00 pm. Persons above the age of 16 years were permitted to audition to showcase their talent on Vijay TV's platform.
Dr. Gayatri Sankaran is an Indian Carnatic musician and vocalist specialising in Carnatic vocals and violin performances. She is a recipient of the Kalaimamani award from Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu. The Government of India honoured her in 2006 with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for her contributions to music, making her the first visually impaired woman to receive the award.
Airtel Super Singer 2006 – Thamizhagathil Brahmaanda Kuralukkaana Thedal, the first season of the Airtel Super Singer show and Vijay TV's Super Singer series, was a reality TV singing competition in the Tamil language that aired on Star Vijay and was hosted by singer/voice artist Chinmayi Sripaada. The judging panel of this season includes, Anuradha Sriram, P. Unnikrishnan, and Srinivas. The show first premiered on 28 April 2006, with episodes originally aired on Star Vijay on Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday nights at 7:00 pm.
Airtel Super Singer Junior – Ithu Thamizhagathin Chellakuralukkana Thedal – is a reality TV show since February 2007 hosted by Vijay TV, a popular Tamil channel of the Star Network, and sponsored by Bharti Airtel. It is a singing talent hunt for the children of age group 6–15. This is the junior version of the Airtel Super Singer show, which premiered on 28 April 2006. Auditions are held in various parts of Tamil Nadu, India. The show attracts many kids from all over the state and rigorous multi-level selection procedures are done in order to select the contestants for the competition.
Airtel Super Singer 5 – Thamizhagathil Brahmaanda Kuralukkaana Thedal, the fifth season of the Airtel Super Singer show, is a reality-based Indian singing competition in Tamil language that aired on Vijay TV. It was designed to be a talent hunt to find the best voice of Tamil Nadu. The show premiered on 1 June 2015, and episodes were telecasted on weekdays each week at 9:30 pm. Persons above the age of 16 years were permitted to audition to showcase their talent on Vijay TV's platform. This program was sponsored by Airtel.
N J Nandini is a Carnatic music vocalist from Trivandrum. Nandini was awarded the Chembai Puraskaram, the Isai Chudar title and a M S Subbalakshmi fellowship at the young age of 23. Nandini, who comes from a family that has a musical lineage, has been nurtured by gurus such as Prof Parassala Ponnammal, Prof P R Kumarakerala Varma, Dr S Bhagyalakshmi and Dr M N Moorthy.
Dr Shobana Vignesh is an Indian classical and devotional vocalist and a former actor. She is known as 'Mahanadhi' Shobana from her role in the film Mahanadhi.
Madhu Iyer is an Indian playback singer. She has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and has established herself as a known playback singer of South Indian cinema. Madhu aspired to become a playback singer from an early age. At the age of four, she started performing on stages. Apart from playback singing, Madhu performs in musical concerts around the world. She also appears in music videos. She produces her own music videos and teaches Carnatic music.
