R. K. Shriramkumar (born 4 October 1966) is a virtuoso

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and accompanist of the

Carnatic Music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

(South Indian classical music). He hails from the

Rudrapatna Rudrapatna is a small village on the banks of the Kaveri river in Arkalgud taluk of Hassan district in the Indian State of Karnataka. The village is known for its rich musical heritage. The village was an abode of Veda, Nada, and Taranga, acco ...

family of musicians from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

. He is the grandson of the violinist R. K. Venkatarama Shastri and grand-nephew of

R. K. Srikanthan Rudrapatna Krishnashastri Srikantan (14 January 1920 – 17 February 2014), known as R. K. Srikantan, was a vocalist of the Carnatic musical tradition of South Indian music. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

Introduction

Rudrapatna Krishnamurthy Shriramkumar was born on 4 October 1966, to Kusuma Krishnamurthy and R. V. Krishnamurthy. His grandfather was the violinist R. K. Venkatarama Shastri, the brother and guru of R. K. Srikantan. He received his initial training from Savitri Satyamurthy and advanced tutelage under his grandfather, R. K. Venkatarama Shastri. He also trained in Vocal Music under

D. K. Jayaraman Damal Krishnaswamy Jayaraman (popularly known as DKJ), the renowned brother of D. K. Pattammal, was a professional Carnatic music singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1990. After learning music from his sist ...

and presently receives guidance from V.V. Subrahmanyam. Shriramkumar attended the

Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) is a group of schools located in Chennai, India. The school was founded by educationalist Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy (1925–2019), also known as Mrs. YGP. History The PSBB School in Chennai was established ...

school in

Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of t ...

Performing career

Besides solo concerts, Shriramkumar has also accompanied various artists including

D. K. Pattammal Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal () (19 March 1919 – 16 July 2009), popularly known as D. K. Pattammal or DKP, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer for film songs in Tamil. Pattammal, along with her contemporaries M. S. Subbulaks ...

M. S. Subbulakshmi Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) was an Indian Carnatic singer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. She is ...

K. V. Narayanaswamy Palghat Kollengode Viswanathan Narayanaswamy (15 November 1923 – 1 April 2002), often referred to as K. V. Narayanaswamy was an Indian musician, widely considered to be among the finest Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century. He was award ...

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer (25 July 1908 – 31 October 2003) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day ...

T. Brinda Thanjavur Brinda (1912-1996) was one of the representatives of the Veenai Dhanammal school of Carnatic Music. She was primarily a vocalist, although she also played the Veena. She is affectionately referred to as 'Brindamma', by her fans. Musica ...

, T. Viswanathan and

S. Balachander Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian veena player and filmmaker. He directed, produced, and also composed music for a few of his films. Balachander was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1982. He died of a hear ...

. In a performing career spanning more than two decades, he has performed for organisations and festivals in India, including

Tyagaraja Aradhana Tyagaraja Aradhana is an annual ''aradhana'' (a Sanskrit term meaning act of glorifying God or a person) of Telugu saint composer Tyagaraja. The music festival is observed in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, primarily in Tiruvaiya ...

festival,

Madras Music Academy 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 (and is still more ...

, Shanmukhananda Sangita Sabha,

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

, the ICCR, the ITC Sangeet Sammelan, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the All India Radio and Doordarshan. He has also performed at the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

, accompanying Geeta Rajashekhar in 1988 and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer in 1995, in the presence of the then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India ( IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of th ...

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to bec ...

and the then Presidents of India,

R. Venkataraman Ramaswamy Venkataraman (, 4 December 191027 January 2009) was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Ta ...

and

Shankar Dayal Sharma Shankar Dayal Sharma (; 19 August 1918 – 26 December 1999) was an Indian lawyer and politician from the state of Madhya Pradesh who served as the ninth President of India, from 1992 to 1997. Born in Bhopal, Sharma studied at Agra, Allaha ...

. He has toured the United States, Australia, Canada, UK, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Muscat, accompanying Geetha Rajashekar,

Vijay Siva N. Vijay Siva (born 29 March 1967) is a Carnatic music vocalist. He is a disciple of the late D. K. Jayaraman. Background Vijay Siva was born to Akhila Siva and A.N.Siva on 29 March 1967. Vijay Siva went to Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior S ...

Sanjay Subrahmanyan Sanjay Subrahmanyan (born 21 January 1968 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu) is a Carnatic vocalist from India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2015. Biography Sanjay Subrahmanyan was born on 21 January 1968 in Chennai ...

T. N. Seshagopalan Madurai Thirumalai Nambi Seshagopalan (born, 5 September 1948) is a noted Carnatic singer, musician and composer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2006. As well as being a master of the veena and harmonium, he is ...

N. Ravikiran Narasimhan Ravikiran (born 12 February 1967) 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 Iy ...

P. Unnikrishnan Parakkal Unnikrishnan (born 9 July 1966) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and playback singer. Early life and background Unnikrishnan was born to K. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Harini Radhakrishnan in Palakkad, Kerala. The family home, Kesari Kutee ...

and

T. M. Krishna Thodur Madabusi Krishna (born 22 January 1976) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, writer, activist, author and Ramon Magsaysay awardee. As a vocalist, he has made a large number of innovations in both the style and substance of his concerts, the ...

. He has performed for the

Theatre De la Ville Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

at Paris accompanying Sanjay Subrahmanyan. He is a teacher to many upcoming musicians, including Amritha Murali.

Personal life

Shriramkumar is a graduate in Mathematics from the

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

. He teaches both violin and carnatic vocal music in

. He frequents many concerts in his free time and travels the world on a yearly basis for many prominent artists. He also considers both

and

as his Gurus. In February 2009, Shriramkumar was married to his wife Akila.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiramkumar, R. K. 1966 births Living people Carnatic violinists 21st-century violinists