Praapthi Navrathri Festival 2020

Aarthi Devarajan is a SIFAS alumnus. She completed her diploma course in Carnatic Vocal in 2011 and was awarded the title of "Sangeetha Visharad". She trained with SIFAS tutors Mrs. K R Shyama, Mrs. Mangalam Shankar and Mrs. Seshu Latha during the course of her diploma. Aarthi has performed in SIFAS festivals and temple programmes.

Medasvi School of Dance presents its very first Facebook Live Mohiniyattam group performance for the auspicious event of Navarathri on October 24 , Saturday at 8 PM SGT (5:30 IST) for Nruthyadhara Foundation (Bengaluru) .

Dancers of the evening are :
Haritha Haridas & her disciples :-
Chithra Muthukrishnan
Dr. Preethi Joseph
Sini Francis
Swapna Tony George

Medasvi School of Dance was founded by Haritha Haridas in 2020 for Mohiniyattam and Bharatanatyam. The school participated in the recently concluded CultureFest (Ramayana) organized by Indian Heritage Centre, Singapore .

Sharadh Rajaraman is a Carnatic vocalist currently under the tutelage of Smt. Dr. Radha Bhaskar, who is based in Chennai. Sharadh has been learning Carnatic vocal music since the age of six at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS), under several tutors. He was most recently taught by Guru T.P. Nishant and Guru Sreyas Narayanun, as well as Guru Poorna Pragna Rao. Sharadh has been a regular performer since 2010, and has given several solo concerts, including as part of the annual SIFAS Music Festival, held in March annually; he has also performed in temples in Singapore. He has also performed at the Music Academy Mini Hall as part of SIFAS’ December music season in Chennai. Sharadh is also a Carnatic violinist, also having learnt to play at SIFAS. He has been under the tutelage of Guru Nellai Ravindran since 2010; he has received the ‘Best Student Award’ and the ‘Vadhya Vishaarad’ title award for his exemplary performance in the SIFAS examinations. He is a prolific accompanist and has accompanied several artistes in the SIFAS Music Festivals in Singapore and in Chennai, and the Times of India Thyagaraja Awards. He also regularly gives solo violin concerts. Sharadh has performed as a vocalist and a violin accompanist worldwide, including sabhas like the Sannidi Music Academy, Giri Fine Arts and Hamsadhwani in Chennai, and the Sruthi-Laya Kendra, in Melbourne, Australia. He participated in the National Indian Music Competition organised by the National Arts Council, Singapore, in 2014 and 2017, and has repeatedly won podium places both as a violinist and as a vocalist. Sharadh, now 23, is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, where he is pursuing a double degree in computer science and physics.

Vaishnavi Anand is a well-known Classical Vocalist and Dancer. She has several performances and awards to her credit and is a graded artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Along with her husband Bombay V Anand, she runs her institution CHETHAS in Singapore imparting holistic training in the arts to children and adults. A Biomedical Engineer with a Masters degree in Music from the University of Madras, she is also trained in Music therapy, Reiki & Pranic healing and Yoga.

• Commenced violin training at the age of eight, under expert guidance of Sangeetha Kalaratna Vidwan H.V. Krishnamurthy, in Bangalore India
•Came under tutelage of Nada Bheeshma Vidwan R.R. Keshavamurthy in 2000 in violin, vocal and as well as harmonium
• Passed Junior, Senior and Vidwat (Master of Arts) level examinations with distinction conducted by the Govt. of Karnataka, India
• Worked as a Examiner for the Junior and Senior level examinations conducted by The Govt. of Karnataka, India
• Also worked as music teacher in International Schools and Private Music Institutes at Bangalore, India
• Awarded with “Sangeeta Kousthubha” title from Sri D. Subbaramayya Fine Arts Trust ® in 2006 at Bangalore
• Secured many prizes/awards/Certificates during school/interschool & college competitions. • Performed as a solo artiste as well as an accompanist for many leading artistes and dance programmes across India & Singapore
• Worked for SYAMA, Singapore as a Violin / Vocal / Key board Tutor from Apr-2006 to Sep-2008
• Founded “Aditya Fine Arts” in Singapore to promote Indian music to everyone
• Winner of PA special award 2016 & certified PA trainer for Violin,Keybaord & Vocal

Madhavan's musical pedigree includes stalwarts like Sangeetha Kalanidhi D K Jayaraman, and Sangeetha Kala Acharya Sri Chingleput Ranganathan. Madhavan has won several prizes in music competitions conducted by renowned sabhas in Chennai. He is also a three time prize winner in the National Indian Music Competition conducted by the National Arts Council, Singapore. Madhavan is a regular concert performer in Singapore as well as in India. Madhavan has been a student of SIFAS under Sri N R Prashanth for more than 7 years. Madhavan moved to Singapore under the SIA/NOL Scholarship for undergraduate studies in NTU in 1994.

Major public performances in India include the following - Nada Inbam, December music festival (December 2002)
Major public performance in Singapore include the following - SIFAS Kalavaibhavam (2004, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2017,2019), Esplanade Kalautsavam (2004)

Sreenivasan hails from the music family of “Ramanathapuram Sri.’Poochi’ Srinivasa Iyengar”. He started learning flute from Sri. Venu Pillai in Madurai and continued his learning from his mother & guru Smt. B Padmasani (Graded Artist, All India Radio). He had his advance training from Sri.Thiruvarur S. Swaminathan in Chennai and G.Sridhar in Singapore.

Mrs.Gayathri Sankaranarayanan is a musician based in Singapore. She has been under the tutelage of Shri. Kallidaikurichi Sankaranarayanan, India, Shri. N.R.Prashanth (Singapore Sifas), Shri. Purna pragna rao (Singapore Sifas). She has performed in Sifas festivals and various temples in Singapore since 2006.

Ramkumar Vasudevan commenced veena training at the age of seventeen, under the tutelage of Smt Kamala Viswanathan. After moving to Singapore, he learnt from Smt. Jayalakshmi Subramaniam, and currently learning from Vidwan R Parthasarathy (Veena Paccha). Ramkumar is an IT consultant holding a full-time role in an american MNC. He holds a diploma in Veena and has performed at Nadha inbam, Hamsadhwani NRI festival and AIR chennai. Internationally, he has performed at Esplanade – theatres on the bay, Singapore Arts Museum, Esplanade’s Kalautsavam, Abu dhabi chamber music and Dubai music lovers. He is the winner of the National Indian music competition organised by NAC Singapore in 2000 (Ensemble) and 2002 (Solo and Ensemble) categories. In 2004, Ramkumar founded SYAMA, an organisation committed to the growth of traditional Indian arts has conceptualized and/or presented various music, dance, drama and puppetry shows. His other hobbies include Namasankeertanam & Yoga.

Swapna has been training in carnatic music since the age of six under the able guidance of Mrs.Chitra Jambunathan , Mrs. Geeta Shankar (Delhi) and Mrs. Sulochana Nagarajan (AIR Artiste Mumbai). She was also exposed to Hindustani Music under the guidance of Shri Chandrashekar Swami (disciple of Pt.Jasraj). She was the lead vocalist for the famous actress Meenakshi Seshadri for Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi. Having been in Singapore, she has had the opportunity to perform in the Navarathri programs organised by the temples and also been singing light music with Vasantham TV.