Dr Sriram Parasuram


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SRIRAM PARASURAM, one of India’s leading musicians today, hails from a family steeped in musical tradition. He started learning the violin at the age of 4 and as a child prodigy he gave his first public performance at the age of 8. Since then he has given well over 3000 violin solo concerts all over the world.

 

He is also one of India’s topmost accompanists having accompanied all leading vocalists of the current as well as the previous generation. His mother Smt. Parvathy Parasuram is his primary Guru. Sriram has also trained under stalwarts such as Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri K.S. Narayanaswamy, Sangeetha Bhooshanam Krishnamurthy Bhagavathar and Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri T.Viswanathan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Prof.T.N.Krishnan and Sangita Kalacharya Prof.S.R.Janakiraman.

 

For Hindustani music he is one of the primary sisyas of the doyen Padmabhushan Pandit C.R.Vyas and is now undergoing advanced guidance from Padmabhushan Pandit Rajan Misra.Among the many accolades he has been awarded one of the most noteworthy is the President of India Gold medal for both Carnatic and Hindustani violin in 1981 (The All India Radio competitions). He is one of the very few artistes graded as an A grade artistes over All India Radio and Doordarshan for both Carnatic and Hindustani Violin.

 

In 1989 he was awarded the prestigious Firestone fellowship to study Western Classical violin in the U.S. and he completed his Master of Music Degree in Western Violin Performance from the University of Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. He proceeded further and did his Ph.D. in WORLD MUSIC from Wesleyan University, U.S.A. Besides his accomplishments in the field of music, Sriram Parasuram holds a mechanical engineering degree from VJTI, University of Bombay, and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.

 

Many Awards and Titles have been conferred on Sriram Parasuram such as the The Ustad Amir Khan Award, The Bharat Ratna MS Subbalakshmi Award, The DK Pattammal memorial Award, the titles “Naadakanal”, “Surmani”, “Isaijyoti”, “Sangeeta Kala Bhaarati” and so on. In April 2012, The Sathyabhama University conferred an Honorary Doctorate on Sriram Parasuram for his outstanding contribution to the field of music both as a performer and composer. In 2013, the music organisation Mudhra conferred upon him the title “Gnyana Samudhra” for his contribution as a musician and musicologist. The Saraswati Gana Sabha also conferred upon him the title “Saraswati Sangeeta Seva Ratna” in December 2014.

 

Sriram is also a noted musicologist and has published papers in many reputed music journals and publications. His lectures and lecture demonstrations in many music forums, conferences, sabhas and universities all over the world have been greatly appreciated. He has been awarded The Best Paper presentation/Lecture Demonstration Prize at the prestigious Madras Music Academy’s Annual Conference a record breaking 5 times.

Other than classical music, Sriram Parasuram has made many successful forays into the fields of jazz and popular music. He has collaborated, composed and performed with many musicians from different cultures such as Javanese Gamelan, West African drumming, and Japanese Koto. As a composer–singer, his Hindi pop album “Savariya” (His group known as ‘Three Brothers and a Violin”) received rave reviews and was awarded the Screen Videocon award for Best Composer and Best Album in 2000. In a unique project in 2005, Sriram Parasuram directed and performed with an ensemble giving live background score for the landmark 1924 silent film on Gautama Buddha “The Light of Asia”. In 2007 a similar project where Sriram directed a live background orchestra for the 1928 silent film “Shiraaz”, featured in The Ability Foundation’s International film festival.

 

As a Director of Karadi Tales Company, a pioneer in Indian culture and education for children, he has produced and composed many hugely successful musical albums and books for children. He has also forayed into the world of film music, having composed the music for Sri Manirathnam’s Tamil Film titled FIVE STAR. For Six years between 1996 and 2002, Sriram also served as the Executive Director of SAMPRADAYA – A Ford Foundation institution involved in the research and archiving of South Indian Musical traditions.

 

In recent years, alongwith his wife Anooradha Sriram, he has evolved a most unique and thrilling concert format of the Carnatic–Hindustani Jugalbandhi. This has been hailed by audiences throughout the world as a most artistic and innovative performance genre. Their ongoing weekly music programme on National TV (Doordarshan)-“Ellaame Sangeetham Thaan” (Everything is Music)-has also been an outstanding hit having completed more than 120 successful episodes. This programme which is conceptualised, scripted and presented by Sriram and Anuradha has been awarded “The Best Music Programme on TV” award by the Tamilnadu Arts Academy for two years running – 2011 and 2012.