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Sudha Raghunathan

Sudha Raghunathan
Sudha Ragunathan in Perth, Australia, 2012
Sudha Ragunathan in Perth, Australia (2012)
Born 30 April
Bangalore
Nationality Indian
Citizenship Indian
Education PG in Economics
Alma mater Ethiraj College for Women
Occupation Singer, composer
Spouse(s) Raghunathan (1982–present)
Children
  • Kaushik
  • Malavika
Parent(s)
  • Venkatraman
  • Choodamani
Awards Padma Shri, Sangita Kalanidhi, Kalaimamani, Padma Bhushan
Musical career
Genres indian classical, carnatic
Website www.sudharagunathan.com

Sudha Raghunathan is a Carnatic composer and vocalist from South India.

Sudha Raghunathan was born in a Tamil Brahmin family in Bangalore, Karnataka. In 1977, her family moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She studied at Ethiraj College, and obtained a postgraduate degree in Economics.

Sudha Raghunathan received her initial training in Carnatic music from her mother V. Choodamani. From the age of three, she began to learn bhajans, Hindu devotional songs. Her tutelage continued under B. V. Lakshman. In 1977, she received an Indian government scholarship to study music under a doyenne of Carnatic music, Dr. M.L Vasantha Kumari, whose student she remained for thirteen years.

Trained under Dr. ML Vasanthakumari in the gurukula style, it involved considerable amounts of listening to the teacher and other practitioners to absorb their style and oeuvre. Part of her duties involved the accompaniment on the tanpura of her teacher during concerts, and also accompanying her during concerts. In her own words, "A period of 13 years from 1977 to 1990, a phase of complete absorption and internalisation! There was no teaching in a formal atmosphere. We learnt while being with her during the kutcheris (concerts). We would record her singing in our minds and then replay it while learning the intricacies. It was a very challenging and different experience and as I had begun learning very early from her, my mind was like a sponge and absorbed whatever I heard".

As of January 2015, she is preparing to debut in Kollywood as a music director with the upcoming Tamil film 'Thanneer' based on a Novel published in 2009 by Ashoka Mitran.

Sudha Raghunathan has performed at the Madras Music Season, the most distinguished venue for Carnatic music, every year since 1990, when her teacher Vasanthakumari died. She is considered among the top rank of Carnatic performers. Being a top notch performer for over three decades, she draws large crowd even today.Sudha is one of the few Indians to have enthralled packed audiences at International Music Festivals and Concerts held in the U.S., Canada, UK , South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Phillipines, Indonesia, The Middle East, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Belgium and Sri Lanka. Indeed, with the award in 2013 of the Sangita Kalanidhi of the Madras Music Academy, her importance as one of India's finest classical musicians has been firmly established. She recently was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor in January 2015.


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