Sikkil Gurucharan

Sikkil Gurucharan
Sikkil Gurucharan
Background information
Born	(1982-06-21) 21 June 1982 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Carnatic Music
Occupation	Carnatic musician – vocalist
Years active	1995–present
Website	sikkil.com

Sikkil C. Gurucharan (born 21 June 1982) is among the foremost young performing musicians of Carnatic music in India today. He is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, elder of the internationally acclaimed flautists the Sikkil Sisters. Gurucharan has been under the tutelage Vaigal Shri S. Gnanaskandan and is currently being mentored by Shri B. Krishnamurthy. He is an 'A' grade All India Radio artist. The magazine India Today featured him among 35 Game Changers Under (the age of) 35 in India, a list of young achievers from different walks of life.

In 2020, he acted in a tamil anthology film, Putham Pudhu Kaalai.

Early life

Around 1987, as a 5-year-old, Gurucharan was casually coaxed by his grandmothers, the Sikkil Sisters, to sing some tune. After a little cajoling, he sang a popular film song. The sisters, especially Smt. Neela, were amazed at the "sruthi sudhham" or tonal perfection in his singing and also the near-perfect alignment of the notes. Together they decided that he must pursue vocal music. Almost every second member in the family had been trained in flute. But they were insistent that this boy should pursue singing, especially since he had shown immense promise at that age.

This was how Gurucharan made his initial forays into Carnatic music. Soon after the initiation, his family had to shift base to Hyderabad. At this juncture, his mother Mythili Chandrasekaran decided to impart the bala padam (initial exercises) and popular songs like Mudhaakaratha modhakam, Madhuraashtakam and Kurai ondrum illai among others. He began to involuntarily register the lessons that his sister learnt to play on the flute as well.

In 1990, the family returned to Chennai and the Sikkil Sisters wasted no time in ensuring that Gurucharan began serious music training under the aegis of Vaigai Shri S. Gnanaskandan, disciple of Dandapani Desikar and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Guru Gnanaskandan was then the producer of All India Radio. Being a strict disciplinarian, Gnanaskandan ensured that Gurucharan took music seriously, especially when the people at home had created an ambience filled with Carnatic music to build his interest in singing.

Education and initial career

Sikkil Gurucharan was a student of Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Mylapore, Chennai.

Gurucharan graduated from Vidya Mandir as the Best Outgoing Student in recognition of his achievements as an all-rounder. Following this, he enrolled himself at the prestigious Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College which became integral to him pursuing music as a career due to the encouragement he received from all sides.

On the music front, he was by then more in tune with concert-related techniques and had begun singing during the Madras Music Season. His college professors were knowledgeable in Carnatic music and were very supportive of his development. In 2002, Gurucharan graduated with a gold medal for excellence in academics and was awarded the Best Outgoing Student once again.

By this time, Gurucharan had realised that his destiny was to pursue music. Regular outstation concerts and other assignments forced him to further his education through correspondence. He completed his master's degree in Financial Management from Loyola College, Chennai in 2004.

After completing post-graduation, Sikkil Gurucharan did a brief stint as a radio jockey at Worldspace Radio. In this profile, he was in-charge of presenting programmes, interviewing artists and doing voice-overs for the 24-hour Carnatic music channel "Shruti". Later when the channel shifted base from Chennai to Bangalore, Gurucharan decided to stay in Chennai, the seat of Carnatic music, and pursue his passion.

Music as a profession

Sikkil Gurucharan performing with Anil Srinivasan

Sikkil Gurucharan's first concert was held at the Music Academy, under the aegis of the Gnanaskandan Trust in the year 1994. From the time he decided to devote himself to Carnatic music as a full-time professional, there has been no looking back. In a span of close to 13 years, Gurucharan has performed extensively in India and abroad, spanning prestigious venues such as the Music Academy (Chennai), Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha (Mumbai), Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (Singapore), Riverside Theatres (Sydney), Korean Arts Management Centre (Seoul), the Sangeet Natak Akademi (New Delhi), Chowdiah Memorial Hall (Bangalore) and also at popular festivals like the Tyagaraja Aradhana (Tiruvaiyaru), Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival (USA), Rabindra Utsav (Kolkata), to name a few.

Apart from performing the traditional Carnatic music concerts conforming to the Paddathi style, Sikkil Gurucharan and pianist Anil Srinivasan, have brought together the classical piano and Carnatic vocal music to create a format which has been termed as "devastatingly beautiful" by the guitarist, John McLaughlin. Their music which has gathered followers in India, Singapore, Australia, USA and Europe in a short span of time, presents and preserves classical music in a way that reaches out to the younger listeners of music but at the same time, satisfies the puritans who look out for the aesthetic value. They have several albums to their credit. The duo has performed with renowned artists like the Dhananjayans, Anita Ratnam, Anandavalli, Ramli Ibrahim and Muraad Ali among others.

Awards & recognition

Title / Award	Presented By	Year
Kala Rathna	Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival	2014
Vocational Excellence Award	Rotary Club of Madras Downtown	2012
Isai Peroli	Kartik Fine Arts	2012
Ritz Youth Icon Award	Ritz Magazine	2012
Thandava Sangeetha Bharathi	Gopalakrishna Bharathi Festival Committee	2012
Nedunuri Krishnamurthi Puraskar	Visakha Music Academy	2011
Yagnaraman Award of Excellence	Sri Krishna Gana Sabha	2010
CMANA MLV Award for Best young Musician	Narada Gana Sabha	2008
Nada Sri	Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Foundation	2008
Best Concert of the season	Indian Fine Arts Society	2008
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar	Sangeet Natak Akademi	2007
Shanmukha Sironmani Award	Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha, Mumbai	2007
Tchaikovsky Award for the best young musician of the year	Russian Cultural Center	2006
Yuva Kala Bharathi	Bharat Kalachar	2005
Isai Chudar	Kartik Fine Arts	2005
Naada Oli	Naada Inbam	2005
Best Vocalist proficient in all aspects of Music	Indian Fine Arts	2005
TAG corporation's Ramabhadran Centenary Award for most promising young artiste of the year	TAG Corporation	2005
Kalki Memorial Award	Kalki Memorial Trust	2005
Dharmatma memorial Award	Raja Annamalaipuram Sabha	2005
Swarna Venkatesha Dikshitar award	Music Academy Conference	2004, 2003, 2002
Best Concert	Music Academy Conference	2003
Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer award for best raga renditions	Sri Krishna Gana Sabha	2002
Best Performer in Sub Senior Category during Music Season	Indian Fine Arts Society	2002
Best Vocalist Award	Sri Krishna Gana Sabha	2000
Special Talent Award	Thyaga Bramha Gana Sabha	1997
Special Talent Award	Thyaga Bramha Gana Sabha	1997
Sangeetha Bhaskara	Gnanaskandan Trust	1994

He has also won several prizes in the competitions held at Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts etc. during the years 1995–1999

Albums & discography

Sikkil Gurucharan is among young musicians who stand as youth ambassadors for the future of Carnatic Music. In bringing this art to students and aficionados alike, he has opened the gates to a larger and interested audience having a welcoming attitude towards innovation while retaining the spirit of the original art form. This is evident in his active participation in youth festivals, lec-dems and his concerted effort at recording theme-based albums that have greater appeal with listeners.

Gurucharan has worked on an album with John McLaughlin, Mandolin U. Srinivas, Louis Banks called "Miles from India" which was nominated for the Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.

His album "Ramayana" is a musical dramatisation of the epic, drawing on ragas and kritis to portray the various episodes. This album has been the underlying theme in Gurucharan's concerts in Singapore and Indonesia and received critical acclaim. On the other hand, his album "Madhirakshi", together with Anil Srinivasan, is the first of many a contemporary experiment with piano and voice. The album "Parama", has recently received a nomination for the category 'Best Carnatic Classical Album – Vocal' at the Global Indian Music Awards 2011.

Here is a comprehensive list of his albums.

Genre	Title	Released By	Year	More Details
Carnatic	Kaveri Pattinam	Rajalakshmi Audio	2004	[1]
	Ramayana, The Story of Rama		2005	[2]
	Peraanandam		2006	[3]
	The Lilting Neelambari		2006	[4]
	Shadanane, The Six-faced Lord		2007	[5]
	Trinetram, The Three-eyed Shiva		2008	[6]
	December Season Live Concerts	Charsur Records	2004	[7]
			2005
			2006
			2007
			2008
			2009
			2010
	Ganapatyam		2005
	Govindam Iha		2006
	Saarupyam		2010
	Parama		2010
	Emerging Masters	Amutham Records	2007	[8]
	The Concert (DVD)		2008
	Kamala Charane		2008
	Sri Krishna Kamalam		2008
	Chidanandam, Live Concert at Chidambaram	Sanskriti Records	2009
	Sarvam Bramha Mayam, Live Concert (DVD)		2010
Devotional	Tiruppavai	Giri Trading Company	2005	[9]
	Tiruvembaavai		2006	[10]
	Bhajan Sangrah		2007	[11]
Contemporary	Madhirakshi	Charsur Records	2007	[12]
	Maayaa, The Color of Rain		2008	[13]
	The Blue Divine	Sanskriti Records	2009
	Tarunam	Sanskriti Records	2010
	Kannamma (DVD)	Sanskriti Records	2010
	The Story of Silk	Silkworm Boutique	2012	[14]
	Miles from India	EMI Records	2008	[15]
	Raaga Expressions	EMI Records	2010

Personal life

Sikkil Gurucharan's mother Mythili, the daughter of Sikkil Kunjumani, is a retired flute teacher from the Government Music College, Chennai. His father Chandrasekaran, a consultant with a leading pharmaceutical distribution firm, is a popular Tamil theatre artist who has also done cameo roles in films like Sivaji. Gurucharan married Janani Lakshminarayan on 23 May 2010 and the couple resides in Chennai. They have a daughter, Hridya, and son, Aadyant. His maternal aunt Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar is an acclaimed flautist and is married to Chandrasekar, grandson of the singer M. S. Subbulakshmi.

References

• http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article970355.ece
• http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Potpourri/Singer_from_a_family_of_flautists/articleshow/3874464.cms
• [16]
• [17]
• [18]
• https://web.archive.org/web/20121004164021/http://chennaionline.com/video/interviews/Interview-with-Sikkil-Gurucharan-Vocalist/741.col

External links

• Sikkil Gurucharan – Official Website