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AIR tune that was composed and recorded in 1936 by a Jewish refugee to India - Walter Kaufmann. He was then director of AIR and this tune was in ragam Shivaranjani.

Kaufmann was no ordinary musician. He was born in 1907 in Karlsbad in the former Czechoslovakia and in 1930 graduated from the Staatlich Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. He moved on to do a PhD in musicology at German University in Prague, though he refused to pick up his degree when he found out that one of his teachers, Gustav Becking, was the leader of the Nazi youth group. From 1927 to 1933, he conducted summer seasons of opera in Berlin, Karlsbad, and Eger.

After Kaufmann left India, he spent some years in England and Canada, before moving to the US in 1957. He joined the School of Music faculty at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he continued to write extensively about Indian music. Kaufmann died in 1984.

Born in Bangalore in 1977, she was initially trained in Carnatic music by her mother, a music teacher, from the age of three.

Later, she trained under B.V. Lakshman and M.L. Vasantha Kumari (MLV), whose student she remained for 13 years.

At 20 years of age, Raghunathan was singing about 20 concerts per month. Although pushed into music at a very young age, she had always dreamt of becoming a doctor but it was a government scholarship for music that changed her mind.

She is the winner of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards

Girija Devi was an Indian classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of thumri. She was dubbed as the 'Queen of Thumri' for her contribution in the genre. Born May 8, 1929, she passed away on 24 October 2017 - but her thumris live with us forever

Born in a family deeply rooted in fostering the arts, Bharathi had her initial lessons in vocal music from her mother Smt. Sankari Ramasubban and her grandmother Smt. Sharada Krishnan, who was a direct disciple of the renowned Gayakashikhamani Harikesanallur Sri Muthiah Bhagavatar. She has been under the inspiring tutelage of the doyen Vidwan Sri P S Narayanaswamy for the last 15 years.

Ajit Kadkade is a devotional singer in Goa and Maharashtra, India. He was born in Bicholim city of Goa on January 11. He learnt Hindustani classical music from the famous singer Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki

Ramakrishnan Murthy, hailed as one of the most talented Karnatik vocalists of his generation, is known for his unswerving loyalty to tradition, wise sense of aesthetics, and sincerity in presentation. His versatility, rich repertoire, and creativity have been much appreciated by the audience and critics alike.

Ramakrishnan’s musical journey started in Irvine, California at the age of seven with his mother taking the initiative to enroll him for music lessons. What started off as his mother’s endeavor to retain connections with the Indian culture, resulted in Ramakrishnan discovering his passion and his life’s purpose – Karnatik Music.

Vijay Siva at the age of four, he exhibited a rare intuitive capacity to identify ragas. Vijay Siva first learnt Carnatic music from his mother, Akhila Siva, who was a vocal musician from Carnatic Music College, Chennai. Vijay Siva later learnt music from D. K. Jayaraman and D. K. Pattammal. Vijay Siva is also an accomplished mridangist, and received training from Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer.

She is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974 with the citation reading "Exacting purists acknowledge Srimati M. S. Subbulakshmi as the leading exponent of classical and semi-classical songs in the carnatic tradition of South India. She was the First Indian who performed in United Nations General Assembly in 1966."

Prabha Atre is an Indian classical vocalist from the Kirana gharana. She has been awarded all three of the Padma Awards by the Government of India.

Shanmukha Priya and Hari Priya, the renowned musical duo, popularly known as the ‘Priya Sisters’ have created impressive waves in the sphere of carnatic music in recent years. They are much sought after artists in the contemporary concert scenario. Priya Sisters started learning Carnatic Vocal Music since the age of five under the tutelage. Priya sisters gave their first performance in 1990 in the ‘Spirit of Freedom Concerts’ at New Delhi. They hail originally from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. .In order to nurture their musical talent, their father shifted base to Chennai.

Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande is a Hindustani classical music vocalist from Mumbai. She belongs to the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana tradition.

K. S. Gopalakrishnan (born 1948) is an Indian carnatic flute player. Early lifeEdit. He was born on 1st September 1948 in Kerala. He first learned under his father Shri K. Sankaranarayana Iyer who introduced him to Carnatic classical music.

Gopalakrishnan continued under Sri K. Raghava Variyar of Thiruvananthapuram. He has performed all over India and played on many music festivals. He won several awards including the Kerala Sangeeta Natak Akademi Award and the Veena Sheshanna National Award. He has a widely range of krithis and varnams. Gopalakishnan is well respected by many top musicians from India including Chitravina N. Ravikiran and N. Ramani. He was a staff artist at All India Radio Thiruvananthapuram