Musicians
Vocalist:
Shree Varshenee Vepure
Shree Varshenee Vepure started her music journey at a very young age, when the melodious sounds of Carnatic music sparked her interest. Varshenee, along with her sister, formally received their title Atlanta Sisters at their vocal arangetram in August 2017 presented by Saraswati Music Academy, in the presence of Karaikudi Subramanian Sir (the founder of Brhaddhavni School) and their guru, accompanied by accomplished vidwans.
Along with vocal, Varshenee is also proficient in the veena. Currently, she is learning veena from Kalaimamani Sri Rajesh Vaidhya Sir and Veena Vidushi "Sangeetha Kala Archarya" Dr. R.S. Jayalakshmi. Varshenee has received the RagaVainika Award and the Saraswathi Ammal Memorial Award presented by the RagaChitra Foundation. Furthermore, she is a regional winner in the Sangeeth Samraat Carnatic Premier League, a top ten regional finalist in Carnatic Idol, and won first place in the Carnatic Veena Competition held in Queens, New York. She has also given many veena and vocal concerts in several reputed sabhas and has also had the opportunity to give concerts in many cities all over the US. Varshenee also regularly participates in the orchestra of several dance arangetrams and dramas, and contributes her time and knowledge generously to various community charity events and temple programs.
Mridangist: Santosh Chandru
One of the foremost disciples of Guru Sri T. S. Nandakumar, Santosh has been playing the Mridangam since the age of 11. He has been accompanying various leading artists in the fields of both dance and music. He is a graded All India Radio artist, and is equally proficient with the Ghatam and the Thavil. Santosh has been a part of numerous Thaala Vaadya Katcheris (percussion ensembles) along with his Guru, including performances at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival. He is a regular accompaniment for Padma Vibhushan Dr. K. J. Yesudas during his classical concerts in the United States. He has accompanied various other prominent artists such as A. Kanyakumari, Guitar Prasanna, TNS Krishna, Mahanadhi Shobana, Sankaran Namboothiri, Flute G S Rajan to name a few.
FLute: Prashanth Kallur
Prashanth Kallur was initiated to learn flute from Vidwan Sri A.V.Prakash, Mysore, at a very young age by his parents who noticed their child deep interest towards music . Prashanth Kallur learnt the techniques and nuances of flute playing very quickly and started performing solo concerts by the age of 16. Prashanth has been awarded the prestigious "Centre for Cultural Resource and Training" (CCRT), Delhi Scholarship from Government of India . He has given performances at many prestigious sabhas and temples . He also has represented Karnataka in flute Category for a special program called "Unity in Diversity" held at Hyderabad conducted by Government of India. Prashanth has accompanied various artists and has given performances over many places in US including New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Florida and Denver. Continuing his musical journey ,with his imaginative and artistic nature, he has been successful in fascinating the audiences by his performances. While music is more than a hobby for Prashanth, he is a Database Design Engineer by profession.
Violinist: Anand Krishnan
Anand Krishnan started learning violin at the age of 8 and is now under the tutelage of renowned violinist Shri Srikanth Mallajosyula of Maryland. He has given several solo performances, and vocal accompaniments across USA such as CAMAGA GCD, Atlanta, and numerous performances in Georgia and other nearby states. He has won several prizes including the regional and national Saptami Instrumental Competitions. Anand is a senior at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.
Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Vasanta Chivukula
Dr. Vasanta Chivukula is an Indian classical dancer with an expertise in Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, and Kathak dance forms. She started her first lessons in dance from Smt. Vijayalakshmi Narasimhan in Bharatanatyam and later continued learning both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi under the tutelage of Smt. Manjula Srinivas and Dr. Uma Rama Rao in Hyderabad. She has participated and won in many national-level competitions. She also learned Kathak from Smt. Kumud Savla. She is known for her depiction of intricacies in abhinaya and for rendering jathis and konagolu and for her adaptability for all three styles of dances. After working for 14 years in academics moving up the ranks to full professor and head of the division, Dr. Chivukula is currently working as a Bioinformatics scientist at the CDC.
