Born into a musical family, Murthy had a natural flair for carnatic music from a very young age.
His father Late Sri.G.K.Ramachandran was an “A” grade artiste from AIR. He had initial training from Smt.Jayalakshmy at Bangalore. Later on he came under the tutelage of Mysore C.Krishnamurthy of Bangalore.
When his family moved to Madras he continued under Kalaimamani Sri. G.N.Dandapani Iyer, for more than a decade. Dandapani iyer inculcated into him the nuances of blending subtle ghamaka and plain notes and strict adherence to classical style. He has also had vocal training from his father and Shri S.Rajam. His style of playing indicates a unique synthesis of Mysore and Tanjore styles with a strong undercurrent of vocal style.
Murthy has the capacity to seamlessly shift within various genres of playing without compromising on the grammar and orthodoxy. With more than twenty five years of solo experience behind him he has found his niche in various forms like dance recitals, instrumental duets, Veena Venu Violin trio, fusion and other musical ensembles. He is also adept in playing the veena as accompaniment for several vocal artistes. His playing is marked by gentle plucking and graceful yet firm gliding over the frets and resemblance to vocal singing which is known as vainika gayaki style.
He was awarded BEST INSTRUMENTALIST SUB SENIOR CATEGORY by the prestigious MUSIC ACADEMY OF MADRAS during the December 2014 music season.
Style :He adheres to strict orthodox classicism.
Gurus
- Initial training under Late Sri. C. Krishnamurthy, Staff Artiste, AIR Bangalore for a period of 3years.
- Advanced learning from Kalaimamani Sri. G.N. Dandapani, Retd. Staff A grade Artiste AIR, Madras for more than 15 years.
- Vocal training from Sri.G.K.Ramachandran, (father) A Grade Artiste AIR from childhood
- Learnt Vocal from Kala Acharya Sri.S.Rajam Retd Staff Artiste A grade AIR Madras.
Competitions
- As a member of the College Orchestra, participated in a number of competitions at intercollegiate competitions and won several prizes.
- Won first prizes at college competitions in all the years from 1980 to 1983.
- Has won prizes in several competitions conducted by the Music Sabhas in Chennai. Prominent Among them are:
- Ist prize in the Melakarta Competition(seniors) conducted by the Saraswathi Sabha in the year 1985.
- Ist prize(Veena Dhanam Memorial) Music Academy Competitions 1986.
- Ist prize in the Indian Fine Arts Society, 1987.
Performances
Murthy has been giving public performances for the last 25 years. Performances are under various categories:
- Veena Solo
- Veena violin duets
- Veena flute and violin ensemble
- Veena saxophone drums keyboard fusion concerts
- Accompanying artiste for vocal performances in place of violin.
Dance concerts
- Performed for the YACM and Scheme for the KRISHNA GANA SABHA, 1987 Gokulashtami series under the Talent Promotion concerts, Indian fine Arts society and various other places.
- Accompaniment to leading vocalists like Neyveli Sri. Santhanagopalan, Sri.Papanasam Ashok Ramani, Sri.Vaikom jayachandran , Smt. Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam and others.
- Performed in famous events like Hampi Utsav, Mamallapuram Dance festival, Sripuram Golden temple,Natyanjali at Chidambaram, Tirupati Brahmotsavam. Khajuraho festival etc.
- Played for Dance arangetrams at Norway in 2010 and 2011.
- Performances in All India Radio, Chennai.
- Dance orchestra:
- Performs with orchestra for reputed dancers . Some of them are given below.
- Kuchipudi : Madhavapeddi Sri.Murthy, Smt.Jayapriya Vikraman, Sri.Vempati Ravi, Sri.Vempati Venkat.
- Bharat Natyam: Thirunangai.Nartaki Natraj,Smt. Nivedita Parthasarathy, Smt. Srinidhi Chidambaram.
- Mohiniyattam: Smt.Gopika verma, Dr.Neena Prasad, Smt. Bharathi Shivaji
Teaching
- Teaching both Veena and Vocal music for students at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Canada, Germany, Dubai , United States and Australia.
- Trained students to performance levels.
- Visiting professor of Annamalai University Canada Campus for Vocal and Veena
- Unique pedagogy of teaching Veena and Vocal music with respect to fingering, easy comprehension of gamaka and swara prastara from beginners level to performance levels.
- Taught for two years at SWARALAYA school of music K.K. Nagar, Chennai.
Titles
Conferred Asthana Vidwan of the Kamakoti Peetham Sankara Mutt of Kanchipuram from the year 2008.
