Suma Sudhindra is a classical musician and

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.

exponent from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in the

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

genre. She was awarded

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

's second highest civilian award, the

Rajyotsava Award The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Award, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 November, celebrated as th ...

, in the year 2001.

Early days and personal life

She was trained by her gurus vidhwan Raja Rao and vidhwan Chitti Babu. She is based in Bangalore. Her spouse is a dentist and she has two daughters. She is an avid

bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

collector.

Career

She has the Chittibabu style known for the melodic sounds of the Veena. She has widely toured and given performances in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. She has also led numerous veena ensembles over the years.

Carnatic-Jazz

She has rendered numerous fusion performances along with Dutch Jazz group Spinifex for many years.

Other initiatives

Suma is the Director outreach for the Centre For Indian Music Experience (IME), a new kind of museum in the making where one can touch, feel and experience music. She co-founded the Artists’ Introspective Movement (AIM) along with

kuchipudi ''Kuchipudi'' ( ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit ...

danseuse Veena Murthy Vijay. AIM organizes the Bangalore International Arts Festival (BIAF) since 2007. BIAF is a cultural platform for artists.

Awards & felicitations

* Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudhindra, Suma Saraswati veena players Musicians from Bengaluru Living people 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women educators Indian women music educators Indian women violinists Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2001 Carnatic violinists 20th-century Indian violinists Indian jazz musicians Women jazz musicians Indian women classical musicians Women Carnatic musicians Carnatic musicians Women musicians from Karnataka Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Indian women musicians 21st-century Indian women musicians 21st-century Indian violinists Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award