Baithak | Ramana Balachandran and Anantha R. Krishnan

Baithak, a traditional concert series, creates an intimate space which embraces the subtle, unspoken moments between artist, instrument, and audience.

Ramana Balachandhran is a Veena player in the Carnatic tradition. Son of Carnatic music practitioners Balachandhran and Sharanya, his talent for music was noticed when at a young age he could identify ragas and point out nuances.

Considered a prodigious talent, he was directly awarded an A grade by All India Radio (AIR, the only grading authority in India) after auditioning at the age of sixteen. This is an honor that has been bestowed on very few musicians in AIR’s history of more than seventy-five years. Madras Music Academy, the iconic and venerated music institution in Chennai waived age requirements to invite him to be part of its annual concert series when he was sixteen.

A rare phenomenon in the world of music, Anantha R. Krishnan started his musical journey on the mridangam, the principle drum of the Carnatic tradition. The grandson and disciple of the great mridangam maestro, Shri. Palghat R. Raghu, he first learned the fundamentals of the mridangam under his uncle, Shri. R. Ramkumar and then began an official tutelage under his grandfather at the age of five. He performed his first concert at the age of seven and before the age of twenty performed alongside a rare generation of Indian classical musicians like, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Prof. T.N. Krishnan, Dr. KJ Yesudas, Mandolin Srinivas, among many others.

Join us at the G5A Warehouse to witness the mesmerizing Jugalbandi  of the two virtuosos of Carnatic Classical Music.

Program Co-Curator: Devina Dutt