Suguna Varadachari is a Carnatic vocalist and Carnatic music teacher from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. She is also a

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.

artist. She received several awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Sangita Kala Acharya Award by Madras Music Academy.

Biography

Suguna Varadachari was born on 20 December 1945, in

Dharapuram Dharapuram is a town situated along the banks of Amaravati River in Thiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Dharapuram is one of the oldest towns in South India and was the capital of Kongu Nadu under the Cheras, Western Ganga ...

in present-day Thirupur district of Tamil Nadu. She first studied Carnatic music under P.K. Rajagopala Iyer. Suguna passed ''Sangita Vidwan'' course at the Central College of Carnatic Music, Chennai, and later received advanced training from

Musiri Subramania Iyer Musiri Subramanian Iyer (9 April 1899 – 25 March 1975) was a Carnatic vocalist whose stage performing career spanned the 1920s to the 1940s. After retirement from the stage, he remained an iconic figure in Carnatic music as a dedicated teach ...

with the Government of India Cultural Scholarship, in 1967. Suguna, an A-Top artist in

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, Chennai, who has performed in many programs of AIR and was a Carnatic music teacher in the series ''Isai Payirchi'', has also sung in many recordings for the AIR Archives. She has participated in numerous national and international seminars and presented numerous lectures on music. Her notable recordings include ''Melodies of Musiri'', ''Adarsha'', ''Sri Venkatesha'' and Compositions of

Dandapani Desikar M M Dandapani Desikar (August 27, 1908 – June 26, 1972) was a Carnatic vocalist, actor and composer. 'Isai Arasu' Dandapani Desikar was born in Tiruchengattangudi, near Nannilam in Madras Presidency. He got training from Manicka Desikar and K ...

. From 1984 to 2004, Suguna worked as faculty at

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

. She held several other positions including board member of the Central University of Performing Arts, Chennai and expert committee member of the

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 ...

, Chennai. In 2011, she was awarded the title Sangeet Kala Acharya. Her disciples include V. Bharath Kumar, Brindha Manickavasagan, Aishwarya Shankar, Vidya Kalyanaraman, Aravind Sundar (Chicago), to name a few.

Personal life

She lives in

Raja Annamalaipuram Raja Annamalaipuram, known shortly as R. A. Puram, is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India. Named after banker and philanthropist, S. Rm. M. Annamalai Chettiar who owned most of the property at one time, Raja Annamalaipuram extends along the nort ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

.She has two sons and her grand son is a Carnatic vocal singer

Awards and honors

*Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2015 *Kalajyoti by Suswaraa 2007 *Acharya Ratnakara Award 2011 at the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival *Sangita Kala Acharya Award 2011 by Music Academy, Chennai *Sangeet Pracharya Award 2014 by Shanmukhananda Fine Arts,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suguna, Varadachari 1945 births Living people Women Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Indian women classical singers People from Tiruppur district 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu Singers from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award