ABOUT OUR ARTISTS
Vikram Bharati (Carnatic Vocalist)– Vikram Satya Bharati’s musical talent was spotted by his parents when he was less than 2 years old and could identify many ragams. His mother Smt. Gayathri Satya, a Carnatic music vocalist initiated Vikram into Carnatic Vocal when he was 4 yrs old. Vikram was simultaneously initiated into mrudangam by Sri Sekhar Sarukkai. Since age 10, Vikram has been a disciple of well renowned Carnatic Vocalist, Sri Abhishek Raghuram. Since age 7, Vikram has been a disciple of well renowned Mrudangist, Guru Sri Neyveli R. Narayanan. Vikram performed his mrudangam arangetram at the age of 13. In the mrudangam, Vikram has accompanied many leading musicians such as Sri. O. S. Thiagarajan, Sri. Neyveli R. Santanagopalan, Sri Sikkil Gurucharan, Sri Palghat Ramprasad apart from his own mother Smt. Gayathri Satya. Vikram has organized many concerts, lec-dems and fundraiser concerts collaborating with many local Indian music and dance schools, leading music organizations from India as well as in the US, through his initiative CMAY – Classical Music Awareness among Youth. He was awarded the, “Youth Patron of Carnatic Music”, by Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha in Chennai, for his dedication to Indian art and culture. Lieutenant Junior Vikram Bharati, is a commissioned Naval Officer on active duty, working for the United States Navy.
Sasidhar Madugula (Carnatic Violinist)– He started his Carnatic violin training at the age of 8 under Sri Dinesh Narayan. He has been undergoing advanced training since 2006 from Kalaimamani Sri Vittal Ramamurthy of Chennai, a disciple of Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman. He has won recognition from several organizations, including the Chicago Thyagaraja Utsavam, the Sivan Fine Arts Academy, SAPNA, and Bharati Theertha. He regularly gives solo concerts, and accompanies many local and leading artists. Sasidhar is currently studying medicine at Stanford University.
Amit Ranganathan (Mridangam Artist) – Amit has been a disciple of Sri. Ravindra Bharathy Sridharan for the past 17 years. Since performing his arangetram in 2013, Amit has accompanied upcoming and senior musicians across the USA and in the Chennai December Music Season. Additionally, Amit has played for numerous Bharatanatyam and vocal arangetrams/productions around the U.S.A. Amit has been a participant in the Cleveland Thyagaraja festival. He has won numerous awards in the junior and senior mridangam and accompaniment categories, including the first-place award in the senior mridangam competition. In addition to learning mrudangam, Amit has learnt Carnatic vocal music from Smt. Jayashree Varadarajan. Amit holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and currently works as a Software Engineer in the Bay Area.
Rochan Yakkundi (Hindustani Vocalist)– Rochan Yakkundi is a Hindustani vocal student of his father, Nachiketa Yakkundi, and has been learning from an early age. He has performed in various concerts throughout the US and India, and enjoys composing intricate musical pieces while delving deep into raga theory. Rochan is also a self-taught harmonium player and enthusiast. He is a graduate student at the University of Michigan studying aerospace engineering, where he is a member of the Indian classical musical group “Michigan Sahana” and a music director for the graduate student a cappella group “GradTONES”. Additionally, during his undergraduate years at Purdue University, he was a member and captain of the competitive Indian-American a cappella group “Purdue Taal.”
Ambhranee Yakkundi (Harmonium)- Ambhranee Yakkundi is a Hindustani vocal student of her father, Nachiketa Yakkundi, and has been learning from a very early age. She is also Harmonium student of Vivek Datar as well as a trained Bharatanatyam dancer under Mythili Kumar of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose. She has sung, played Harmonium, as well as danced in various venues throughout the US and India, and frequently enjoys engaging in musical discussions with her brother, Rochan. She is a rising sophomore at Purdue University studying biochemistry where she is a member of the competitive Indian-American a cappella group “Purdue Taal.”
Hari Sivakumar (Tabla)- He started learning Tabla from the age of 7 from his Guru Pandit Kalburgi Dattatray, disciple of Ustad Amir Hussain Khan and Ustad Babasaheb Mirajkar. Hari also began his journey in Mridangam at the age of 14 from Sri Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan, and continued (and is currently learning again) under Sri T R Sundaresan, disciple of Sri Yella Venkateshwara Rao. Hari also learned briefly from the Sri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman School of Music. Hari continued his musical journey in the US, as one of the founding members of University of Michigan Classical music and dance group, Michigan Sahana , as well as UC Santa Barbara’s classical music and dance group UCSB Agni, directing as well as performing in multiple shows. Hari dedicates his passion in music and bhajans to his father, who was his first and only classmate in his tabla class at an early age, and with whom Hari used to compete and usually win.