WPRB Princeton 103.3 FM

The Bombay Sisters, C. Saroja (b. 1936) and C. Lalitha (1938 - 2023), were a Carnatic music singing duo. from Trichur, Kerala. They had their musical training with H. A. S. Mani, Musiri Subramania Iyer and T. K. Govinda Rao. Since they were groomed in Carnatic Music in Mumbai, they were referred to as the "Bombay Sisters".

with Usha on violin, K.V. Prasad on mridangam, Govindarajan on ghatam

Sharan Rani Backliwal (1929-2008) was from Delhi. She learnt sarod from Allauddin Khan and his son Ali Akbar Khan. She also earned an M.A. from Delhi University.

Shafaat Ahmed Khan provides tabla accomoaniment

Akkarai S. Subhalakshmi and younger sister Sornalatha are daughters and disciples of veteran violinist Akkarai S. Swamynathan.

Akkarai S. Subhalakshmi has also accompanied many artists.

with T.V. Vasan (ghatam), and Srimushnam Raja Rao (mridangam)

Besides performing on violin, the Akkarai Sisters are also adept vocalists.

the composition is by their grandfather, Suchindram S.P. Shivasubramaniam

Kalyani Roy (1931 - 2022) was based in Kolkata. Starting at age 9, she learnt sitar from Vilayat Khan.

with Manick Das on tabla

Born in Bangalore, raised in Chennai, she is the sister of Shashank.

violin: B.U. Ganesh Prasad; mridangam: Patri Satish Kumar; kanjira: K.V. Gopalakrishnan

Kalapini Komkali was born in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh on 12 March 1966. She is the daughter and student of Kumar Gandharva (aka Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath) and Vasundhara Komkali.

Accompanied by Amit Thakker on harmonium and Sanjay Deshpane on tabla.

Jayanthi Kumaresh comes from a lineage of musicians who have been practicing Carnatic music for six generations. She is the niece of violinist Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. Teachers include Padmavathi Ananthagopalan and S.Balachander.

with Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam), Giridhar Udupa (ghatam)

Begum Parveen Sultana (born 1950) is a Assamese Hindustani classical singer, representing the Patiala gharana. Her husband and guru is Dilshad Khan, from Kolkata.

Avasarala Kanyakumari is a native of Vijayanagaram, Andhra Pradesh, and has lived in Chennai for more than 5 decades. She studied under M.L. Vasanthakumari. The two accompanying violinists are Hemalatha and Hemamalini.

with Sumathi Rammohan Rao (mridangam) & Sukanya Ram (ghatam)

Popular ghazal and folk singer, born in Mirpur near Jammu in former British India in 1912, died in 2004 in Lahore, Pakistan. Mother of singer Tahira Syed.

Rajeswari Padmanabhan (1939-2008) was a ninth generation descendent from the Karaikudi Veena tradition. She was the granddaughter of Subbarama Iyer, the elder of the Karaikudi Brothers. She also studied singing with Mysore Vasudevachar.

Also on veena: her brother Karaikudi Sambasivayer Subramaniam, and mridangam by Tanjore Upendran.

Suguna Purushothaman (1941-2015) trained under Musiri Subramania Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

Born circa 1982, Dr. Radhika Umdekar Budhkar was born into a musical family and grew up in Gwalior. One of the few women who play vichitra veena.

with Akhilkesh Gundecha (pakhawaj) and Hemant Joshi (tabla)

Siddheshwari Devi (1908-1977) was a Hindustani light classical singer representing the Benares gharana. Born in Varanasi, she was raised by her aunt, vocalist Rajeshwari Devi. She began musical training under sarangi player Siyaji Maharaj. It is reported that M.S. Subbulakshmi learned to sing Hindi bhanjans from Siddheshwari Devi.

Recorded in 1960, with Sabri Khan (sarangi) and Chatur Lal (tabla)

Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar was born in 1963 in Bijapur, Karnataka. She was trained in the Agra, Gwalior and Jaipur-Atrauli gharana styles of Hindustani music. She also does playback singing for Marathi, Konkani and Hindi films. Teachers included Vasantrao Kulkarni, Kishori Amonkar, and Dinkar Kaikini.

with Anant Kunte (sarangi), Seema Shirodkar (harmonium), Vishwanath Shirodkar (tabla)