The Kala Kruthi School of Indian Classical Music was founded in 1994 by renowned Carnatic vocal artiste Smt Shobha Sekhar.
Smt Sekhar's love of Carnatic music and a desire to impart the immense knowledge to a new generation of music rasikas and students inspired her to establish Kala Kruthi. The students range from ages five to fifty and hail from diverse backgrounds. A purity of style as well as an appreciation of the tenets of Carnatic music are the hallmarks of Kala Kruthi. Some of Smt Sekhar's vocal and veena students have performed both in Australia and in India and have received awards and recognition for their crystalline purity of technique and correct pronunciation of words of compositions in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit and Hindi. This is demonstrative of Smt Sekhar's dedication as a teacher and a mentor, and a testament to her calibre as an exponent of this art form.
The annual student concert of Kala Kruthi is usually held in April of
each year and is eagerly awaited by students and their families alike.
The concerts showcase Smt Sekhar’s extraordinary talent for impressing
upon her students the importance of discipline in preparation and
striving for perfection in performance. Senior students
of the school, Dawina Venthan, Indika Indralingam, Vikram Kanagaraj, Gayathri Ganesh and Ushvinie Tharumarajah assist Smt Sekhar
with training beginners in vocal and veena. Their passion and dedication
will steer the way for a new generation of Kala Kruthi students to work
towards a greater future for Carnatic music in Melbourne and Australia.
The school is also fortunate to have as its patron Sangeetha Kalanidhi
Sri Nedunuri
Krishnamoorthy, who conducted workshops for students during his tour
of Australia . Professor G Narasimhan, Founder Chairman, Department of
Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, is an advisor to Kala Kruthi and his
lectures on the intricacies and complexities of Carnatic music have
proved very beneficial to the school's students.