Musicians
Meet the artists bringing melody, rhythm, and musical depth to Ahana's Arangetram.
Nattuvangam
For Ahana's Arangetram, Guru Smt. Padmaja Kelam leads the nattuvangam, reciting the jatis with clarity, precision, and rhythmic command.
As she does for all her Arangetrams, she keeps close musical time with the dancer, guiding the intricate rhythmic passages while supporting the energy, pace, and structure of the performance.
Vocal
Subhashini Krishnamurthy is a consummate solo artist, composer, and accompanist for dance productions.
She is a proficient vocal musician and an accomplished veena performer. She received her initial veena and vocal training from her grandmother, Smt. P. V. Pattammal, a veteran artist of All India Radio.
Her vocal skills were later honed under the tutelage of Smt. Meena Subramanian, a disciple of Dr. M. L. Vasanthakumari.
Subhashini has composed original music for many Indian classical dance productions and collaborative ventures with modern dancers.
Mridangam
Sreenivas Ponnappan commenced his musical career in mridangam at the age of seven under his guru Vidwan Chandrasekharan.
He later came under the tutelage of Ghatam Vidwan V. Suresh, a direct disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri T. V. Gopalakrishnan, the renowned multi-talented musical legend.
With more than three decades of skillful accompaniment, Sreenivas has performed for leading senior vocal and instrumental artists, Arangetrams, and the Chennai music season.
He actively teaches students of all ages, sharing his passion for the art form. Sreenivas currently resides in New Jersey and is a computer architect by profession.
Violin
Pranavi Srinivasa began learning violin eight years ago under the guidance of Sri. Lakshminarayanan V. Pisupati, and recently also began training under Vidushi Charumathi Raghuraman. Pranavi also receives vocal training from Sri. Prashanth Krishnamoorthy and Vidushi Amritha Murali.
She has won awards at several competitions for violin and vocal categories, including the Tambura prize for Guruguhaamrta, RAGA-RHYTHM Global Competition, SaMaa Arts Global Competition, Papanasam Sivan competition, Sapthami, and more.
Pranavi performs violin and vocal concerts frequently in Georgia and nearby states. She has also played the violin for several dance and vocal Arangetrams.
Pranavi is a recent graduate from the University of Georgia, where she co-founded Sadhana, the college’s first Indian classical music organization. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Computer Science at Georgia Tech.
Flute
Prashanth Kallur began learning flute at a young age under Vidwan Sri A. V. Prakash of Mysore. He quickly developed his technique and began performing solo concerts by the age of ten.
He has received the Government of India’s CCRT scholarship, represented Karnataka in the flute category for Unity in Diversity, and earned honors including Bala Pratibhae, Kishora Pratibhae, and recognition as an AIR district-level winner.
Prashanth has toured extensively in the United States, performing concerts and accompanying Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi Arangetrams. Alongside music, he works as a Senior Deep Learning Architect at Amazon.
