K.N.Shashikiran - Founder and Director

KALAIMAMANI DR K.N.SHASHIKIRAN is a multifaceted, techno-savvy musician, popularly singing as Carnatica brothers with his cousin P.Ganesh.

K.N.Shashikiran, who started as a child prodigy, at the tender age of 2, has received intense training under his father Chitravina Narasimhan and under his brother, the internationally acclaimed genius, Chitravina N. Ravikiran. He has also been groomed by Sangita Acharya Calcutta K.S.Krishnamurthi, Sangita Kalanidhi T.Brinda, Sangita Kalanidhi T. Vishwanathan and Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. M.Balamuralikrishna for vocal music and by Vid. Palghat Sundaram for Mridangam. He has given over 5000 performances in India and across the globe, comprising of solos, duets, jugalbandhis and collaborative concerts.

Known for his innovations, Shashikiran has pioneered several concepts such as The Carnatic SYMPHONY, which has showcased hundreds of young talents from different parts of the world and The Carnatic Jazz which is a collaboration between internationally acclaimed musicians across different genres. He has collaborated with renowned North American faculty of music, professors Mark Stone and Leo Coach. Shashikiran has tuned and composed over 200 compositions including Varnams, Krithis, Tillanas and Mallaris and over 500 RTPs. He is the creator of the unique Thematic Ragam Tanam Pallavi concept. He has also created the tala classification concept based on names of individuals and their date of birth, which has opened up infinite possibilities of presentation while bringing a special and personal connection to music.

Shashikiran has been hailed as a leading guru and has over 1000 students across the globe. He has developed curriculum and pedagogy for education in music for several educational endeavors in the field. He has been member of visiting faculty in leading Universities globally. His Cyber Vidyalaya was the first to introduce online teaching in Carnatic music, something that has become widely popular now. He has been a pioneer in bridging music and technology, by establishing Carnatica and creating the world’s first interactive and encyclopedic CD-ROM on Carnatic music, “Nadanubhava – The horizons of Carnatic music” and the world’s first twin-pack VCD, “Nadopasana – My own Carnatic tutor”, a self-help guru with Karaoke features. He has created pioneering concepts such as the Musiguru, the first mobile app for Carnatic music learning, 24/7 online Carnatic radio channel "Carnatica”, and Television reality shows such as Carnatic Idol, Sangeet Samrat - Carnatic Premier League, Mr. VOICE - Ms. VOICE, Carnatic La Grammy Award and many more. His Music Festivals such as Pallavi Darbar-Creativity beyond boundaries, Bharat Sangeet Utsav - the ultimate Pan India Musical Festival and the Carnatic Mela immensely enrich the Carnatic landscape. He is also the advisor for several other leading Carnatic festivals. Shashikiran is also a voice trainer and has created a concept called "Voice Spa", and has conducted voice gym programs and workshops teaming with doctors, yoga instructors and popular voice trainers like SAK Durga, Ananth Vaidyanathan and Unnikrishnan. Apart from contributing articles and guest columns to leading dailies such as The Hindu, The Times of India, The Deccan Chronicle and The New Indian Express, he has also authored books like Carnatic Funtasktic along with his student Nivedita Narayanan from UK.

Shashikiran has brought music therapy and music detox possible to the corporate world in India and US, to relieve stress and increase productivity in the workforce. He has led the World Music Day every year, and recently has unified the whole musical ecosystem encompassing over 35 centers across the world, to pray for peace and wellness through Musical Meditation and Nadhayoga. He has conducted prayers for World Peace through 100 hours of non stop music - a joint marathon by over 150 musicians. He has fervently worked for relief efforts during natural calamities such as the Tsunami, Cyclones and Floods in Chennai. He has contributed to several social causes by supporting organizations such as Sankara Nethralaya, Vishranthi Old Age Home, Relief Foundations for Foster Care, Special Care and Autistic Children and Sankara Heart Foundation.

A gold medalist from the University of Madras for Masters in Music, he has to his merit, several awards such as the Best Pallavi Singer Award at the Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Best Exponent of Any Raga from the Music Academy, Best Vocalist from the Carnatic Music Association of North America, a record-setting Non-Stop 24-hour duo singing marathon for the cause of world peace recognized in the Limca Book of Records, the Outstanding Young Indian award from The Rotary club and the Bharat Nirman Excellence Award from Global Economic Series, for meritorious accomplishments in diverse fields of activity that have immensely contributed to the Nation’s progress. He is a recipient of the prestigious KALAIMAMANI title from the Tamilnadu State Government. He holds an Honours from King University USA and has been conferred Doctorate for his research on “Teaching Methodology in Carnatic Music”. Having tirelessly worked on promoting and propagating music, as an entrepreneur and musician, Shashikiran lives and breathes music and wishes to bring global harmony and peace to the world through music.

His detailed profile can be found here . 

Prithi Narasimhan - co-founder, secretary and ex-president

Prithi is a successful top-notch Cyber Security Professional, an avid rasika and a passionate student of carnatic music. She is currently under the tutelage of the Carnatica Brothers, K.N.Shashikiran and Chitravina P. Ganesh. She also founded the Carnatica Archival Center for Music in Texas in 2014, to help spread her guru K.N.Shashikiran's vision in the USA. She has performed many carnatic vocal concerts in USA and India. She is a very reputed and sought after carnatic vocal teacher in Dallas. She lives in Plano with her husband Dr. Ganesh Janakiraman, a professor in the University of Texas at Dallas and daughter Shruthi Ganesh, who is also under K.N.Shashikiran's wings. Prithi also teaches Management and IT in the University of Texas at Dallas. She has completed her bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering with distinction and masters in Management and Systems from New York University (NYU). She also holds gold standard industry certifications in Project Management (PMP) and Cyber Security (CISSP).

Dr.Ram Sriram - President

Dr. Sriram is CRT Distinguished Professor of Accounting and currently, Professor Emeritus at Georgia State University, Robinson College of Business, Atlanta, GA. He is also a trained Mridangist having learnt from two illustrious gurus: Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri T. V. Gopalkrishnan and Kalaimamani Srimushnam Raja Rao. He accompanies senior professional musicians visiting from India on their concert tours to the U.S. He is the founder and current President of CAMAGA (Carnatic Music Association of Georgia). He writes regularly on both Music and Indian philosophy and heritage (see www.vidyarthi.org ).

Nambi Thirumalai - Vice President

Nambi Thirumalai is a music enthusiast and an ardent supporter of fine arts. He has formal training in Carnatic music. He has served multiple roles in professional and non-profit organizations in the past two decades in the DFW metroplex.

Dr. Ranjini Ramachander Kaushik

Dr. Ramachander Kaushik is a Sr. Scientist Group Lead at Amgen, Inc., a leading global biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, California. Ranjini obtained her Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master's in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai. She also has a regulatory certification from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Ranjini has decades of experience in the industry and brings years of expertise serving on conference panels, speaking at international venues, leading cross functional groups and initiatives. Ranjini is actively involved in helping promote Carnatic music both locally in her area and in collaboration with Dr. Shashikiran. Ranjini lives with her husband, Dr. Rahul Rajan, Director at Amgen Inc and her two children who are disciples of Dr. K.N. Shashikiran. Ranjini and her husband’s family have seen several performing, professional Carnatic musicians spanning over 3 generations (including Late Sri. Ghatam Sundaram, Dr. Mullaivasal Chandramouli and Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy). Ranjini is an avid supporter of the fine arts and is a Carnatic music aficionado.