Sikkil Gurucharan | |
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Background information | |
Born | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | 21 June 1982
Genres | Carnatic Music |
Occupation | Carnatic musician – vocalist |
Years active | 1995–present |
Website | sikkil |
Sikkil C. Gurucharan (born 21 June 1982) is among the foremost young performing musicians of Carnatic music in India today. He is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, elder of the internationally acclaimed flautists the Sikkil Sisters. Gurucharan has been under the tutelage Vaigal Shri S. Gnanaskandan and is currently being mentored by Shri B. Krishnamurthy. He is an 'A' grade All India Radio artist. The magazine India Today featured him among 35 Game Changers Under (the age of) 35 in India, a list of young achievers from different walks of life. [1]
In 2020, he acted in a tamil anthology film, Putham Pudhu Kaalai.
Around 1987, as a 5-year-old, Gurucharan was casually coaxed by his grandmothers, the Sikkil Sisters, to sing some tune. After a little cajoling, he sang a popular film song. The sisters, especially Smt. Neela, were amazed at the "sruthi sudhham" or tonal perfection in his singing and also the near-perfect alignment of the notes. Together they decided that he must pursue vocal music. Almost every second member in the family had been trained in flute. But they were insistent that this boy should pursue singing, especially since he had shown immense promise at that age.
This was how Gurucharan made his initial forays into Carnatic music. Soon after the initiation, his family had to shift base to Hyderabad. At this juncture, his mother Mythili Chandrasekaran decided to impart the bala padam (initial exercises) and popular songs like Mudhaakaratha modhakam, Madhuraashtakam and Kurai ondrum illai among others. He began to involuntarily register the lessons that his sister learnt to play on the flute as well.
In 1990, the family returned to Chennai and the Sikkil Sisters wasted no time in ensuring that Gurucharan began serious music training under the aegis of Vaigai Shri S. Gnanaskandan, disciple of Dandapani Desikar and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Guru Gnanaskandan was then the producer of All India Radio. Being a strict disciplinarian, Gnanaskandan ensured that Gurucharan took music seriously, especially when the people at home had created an ambience filled with Carnatic music to build his interest in singing.
Sikkil Gurucharan was a student of Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Mylapore, Chennai.
Gurucharan graduated from Vidya Mandir as the Best Outgoing Student in recognition of his achievements as an all-rounder. Following this, he enrolled himself at the prestigious Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College which became integral to him pursuing music as a career due to the encouragement he received from all sides.
On the music front, he was by then more in tune with concert-related techniques and had begun singing during the Madras Music Season. His college professors were knowledgeable in Carnatic music and were very supportive of his development. In 2002, Gurucharan graduated with a gold medal for excellence in academics and was awarded the Best Outgoing Student once again.
By this time, Gurucharan had realised that his destiny was to pursue music. Regular outstation concerts and other assignments forced him to further his education through correspondence. He completed his master's degree in Financial Management from Loyola College, Chennai in 2004.
After completing post-graduation, Sikkil Gurucharan did a brief stint as a radio jockey at Worldspace Radio. In this profile, he was in-charge of presenting programmes, interviewing artists and doing voice-overs for the 24-hour Carnatic music channel "Shruti". Later when the channel shifted base from Chennai to Bangalore, Gurucharan decided to stay in Chennai, the seat of Carnatic music, and pursue his passion.
Sikkil Gurucharan's first concert was held at the Music Academy, under the aegis of the Gnanaskandan Trust in the year 1994. From the time he decided to devote himself to Carnatic music as a full-time professional, there has been no looking back. In a span of close to 13 years, Gurucharan has performed extensively in India and abroad, spanning prestigious venues such as the Music Academy (Chennai), Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha (Mumbai), Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (Singapore), Riverside Theatres (Sydney), Korean Arts Management Centre (Seoul), the Sangeet Natak Akademi (New Delhi), Chowdiah Memorial Hall (Bangalore) and also at popular festivals like the Tyagaraja Aradhana (Tiruvaiyaru), Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival (USA), Rabindra Utsav (Kolkata), to name a few.
Apart from performing the traditional Carnatic music concerts conforming to the Paddathi style, Sikkil Gurucharan and pianist Anil Srinivasan, have brought together the classical piano and Carnatic vocal music to create a format which has been termed as "devastatingly beautiful" by the guitarist, John McLaughlin. Their music which has gathered followers in India, Singapore, Australia, USA and Europe in a short span of time, presents and preserves classical music in a way that reaches out to the younger listeners of music but at the same time, satisfies the puritans who look out for the aesthetic value. They have several albums to their credit. The duo has performed with renowned artists like the Dhananjayans, Anita Ratnam, Anandavalli, Ramli Ibrahim and Muraad Ali among others.
Title / Award | Presented By | Year |
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Kala Rathna | Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival | 2014 |
Vocational Excellence Award [2] | Rotary Club of Madras Downtown | 2012 |
Isai Peroli [3] | Kartik Fine Arts | 2012 |
Ritz Youth Icon Award | Ritz Magazine | 2012 |
Thandava Sangeetha Bharathi [4] | Gopalakrishna Bharathi Festival Committee | 2012 |
Nedunuri Krishnamurthi Puraskar [5] | Visakha Music Academy | 2011 |
Yagnaraman Award of Excellence [6] | Sri Krishna Gana Sabha | 2010 |
CMANA MLV Award for Best young Musician | Narada Gana Sabha | 2008 |
Nada Sri | Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Foundation | 2008 |
Best Concert of the season | Indian Fine Arts Society | 2008 |
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar [7] | Sangeet Natak Akademi | 2007 |
Shanmukha Sironmani Award | Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha, Mumbai | 2007 |
Tchaikovsky Award for the best young musician of the year [8] | Russian Cultural Center | 2006 |
Yuva Kala Bharathi [9] | Bharat Kalachar | 2005 |
Isai Chudar | Kartik Fine Arts | 2005 |
Naada Oli | Naada Inbam | 2005 |
Best Vocalist proficient in all aspects of Music | Indian Fine Arts | 2005 |
TAG corporation's Ramabhadran Centenary Award for most promising young artiste of the year | TAG Corporation | 2005 |
Kalki Memorial Award [10] | Kalki Memorial Trust | 2005 |
Dharmatma memorial Award | Raja Annamalaipuram Sabha | 2005 |
Swarna Venkatesha Dikshitar award | Music Academy Conference | 2004, 2003, 2002 |
Best Concert | Music Academy Conference | 2003 |
Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer award for best raga renditions | Sri Krishna Gana Sabha | 2002 |
Best Performer in Sub Senior Category during Music Season | Indian Fine Arts Society | 2002 |
Best Vocalist Award | Sri Krishna Gana Sabha | 2000 |
Special Talent Award | Thyaga Bramha Gana Sabha | 1997 |
Special Talent Award | Thyaga Bramha Gana Sabha | 1997 |
Sangeetha Bhaskara | Gnanaskandan Trust | 1994 |
He has also won several prizes in the competitions held at Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts etc. during the years 1995–1999
Sikkil Gurucharan is among young musicians who stand as youth ambassadors for the future of Carnatic Music. In bringing this art to students and aficionados alike, he has opened the gates to a larger and interested audience having a welcoming attitude towards innovation while retaining the spirit of the original art form. This is evident in his active participation in youth festivals, lec-dems and his concerted effort at recording theme-based albums that have greater appeal with listeners.
Gurucharan has worked on an album with John McLaughlin, Mandolin U. Srinivas, Louis Banks called "Miles from India" which was nominated for the Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the 51st Grammy Awards. [11]
His album "Ramayana" is a musical dramatisation of the epic, drawing on ragas and kritis to portray the various episodes. This album has been the underlying theme in Gurucharan's concerts in Singapore and Indonesia and received critical acclaim. On the other hand, his album "Madhirakshi", together with Anil Srinivasan, is the first of many a contemporary experiment with piano and voice. The album "Parama", has recently received a nomination for the category 'Best Carnatic Classical Album – Vocal' at the Global Indian Music Awards 2011. [12]
Here is a comprehensive list of his albums.
Sikkil Gurucharan's mother Mythili, the daughter of Sikkil Kunjumani, is a retired flute teacher from the Government Music College, Chennai. His father Chandrasekaran, a consultant with a leading pharmaceutical distribution firm, is a popular Tamil theatre artist who has also done cameo roles in films like Sivaji. Gurucharan married Janani Lakshminarayan on 23 May 2010 [13] and the couple resides in Chennai. They have a daughter, Hridya, and son, Aadyant. His maternal aunt Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar is an acclaimed flautist and is married to Chandrasekar, grandson of the singer M. S. Subbulakshmi.
Natesan Ramani, commonly known as N. Ramani or N. Flute Ramani, was an Indian Carnatic flautist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1996. Ramani is also credited with introducing the long flute into Carnatic music.
Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar is a noted South Indian carnatic flautist. Mala Chandrasekhar was born to a musical family.
Sikkil Kunjumani and Sikkil Neela were sisters who played the carnatic flute, called Venu flute. Together they are more famously known as the Sikkil Sisters. Their father Azhiyur Natesa Iyer was a mridangist. Kunjumani started learning music from her father initially and then learnt flute from her maternal uncle Azhiyur Narayanaswami Iyer. Neela learnt flute from her sister Kunjamani. Kunjamani, began giving concerts from the age of nine and Neela from the age of seven. Sikkil Sisters have been giving concerts together since 1962. They are top artistes of the All India Radio and they have been giving hundreds of performances at all the sabhas, television and elsewhere, both within India and abroad. The sisters blend the tone and play on their flutes and the merger is total and the effect remarkable. They are known for the chaste, orthodox style in rendering raga, kriti and swara.
"Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung songs in multiple languages, including for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth generation of music practitioners in her family. Trained by Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.R. Balamani. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2021. In December 2023, she was awarded the most prestigious award in the Carnatic music field, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi, by the Madras Music Academy. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (Oscar) for Pi's Lullaby from Life of Pi movie. She has become one of the most sought-after Carnatic musicians today.
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Sangita Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam is an Indian classical vocalist and carnatic music singer. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy by the Government of India until 2022. In 2011, Aruna was the first Carnatic musician to perform at the BBC proms in London. She is also the first Carnatic musician to perform in Oud Festival of Israel (Jerusalem).
Anil Srinivasan is an Indian pianist and an education entrepreneur. Born in Chennai, India and educated at the University of Southern California and at Columbia University, New York, he is well known for his collaborative work with Carnatic vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan and for his pioneering work in music education in South India. Anil Srinivasan was awarded Kalaimamani by the government of Tamil Nadu for the year 2019.
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