“Useful chapter on voice training” – A History of Singing

Ludwig Pesch, The Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999) is a lengthy introduction to Carnatic music, with a useful chapter on voice training. John Potter and Neil Sorrell, A History of Singing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. (Sources and references, p. 310)isbn 9780521817059

Find a copy of The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music

Used as textbook for this course, The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music is readily available. For order details please visit the publisher’s websites. Critical acclaim from India and beyond:“Pesch’s sumptuous Illustrated Companion is a delight”, “the most thorough study of Carnatic music”, “a marvellous work”, “a thorough, and scientifically accurate companion to our classical … Read more

Indian music and the west – an account by Sangita Kalanidhi Trichy Sankaran

Tiruvarur to Texas, Carnatic musicians have transcended global cultures, echoing the seven notes to the West. Trichy Sankaran,to be honoured with the Sangita Kalanidhi today, summarises Carnatic music’s history in America in a chat with critic Veejay Sai While everyone is aware of how Hindustani music became popular in the West, especially America, with maestros like … Read more

Mahakavi Bharati: The Man, His Poetry, Those Times

In commemoration of the 100th death anniversary of poet C. Subramania Bharati, join us on this virtual event as we celebrate the life and works of Mahakavi Bharati. Usha Rajagopalan is a writer, translator, and lake conservationist. Geetha Srikrishnan hails from a musically inclined family, and is a Classical Carnatic Musician. An independent writer who … Read more

Muthulakshmi Reddy – A Trailblazer in Surgery and Women’s Rights: Biography of a “reformer from the inside” by VR Devika

Muthulakshmi Reddy – A Trailblazer in Surgery and Women’s Rights is the story of a pioneer path-creator for women. She was the first girl student in Maharaja’s School for Boys in Pudukkottai, the first Indian woman surgeon from Madras Medical College, the first Indian member of the Women’s Indian Association, the first woman member of … Read more

“Remove the barriers imposed by the music”: A tribute to a vital artistic tradition by T.M. Krishna

A Southern music: The Karnatik story By T.M. Krishna, HarperCollins, Rs 699 If a successful and busy Karnatic singer takes time off in order to write reflections on South Indian or “Karnatic” music, the book release function is bound to be met with considerable interest. […] He pays tribute to the tambura (the tanpura) as “the life-giver, the soul … Read more

All craftsmen in Miraj are musicians – the wonderfully resonant Tanpura (Tambura)

Miraj is famous for tanpuras made by its craftsmen, who honed their skills by first becoming trained musicians. How did it ever strike someone to stick a piece of wood on a dried pumpkin, build this bridge and that and twist some strings on it, to make this wonderfully resonant thing one calls the tanpura? … Read more