Namaskaram
Welcome to the Kala Kruthi School of Indian Classical Music based in Melbourne, Australia, specialising in vocal and veena Carnatic music.
Since its formal inception in 1999, the school has made remarkable strides in the arts and cultural scene in Australia, and has captured a niche space in the hearts of Melbourne's music-loving audience. I am bestowed with the blessings of my beloved gurus Smt DK Pattammal, Sri DK Jayaraman and Sri KS Narayanaswamy to pass on their undisputed crystalline purity of style and "bani" to aspiring students in Australia. Supported by the Australian Council of Arts for two consecutive years, I have researched and reformulated teaching methodologies tailored to encourage and inculcate the sishya of this day and age. The structure took shape after a series of consultative sessions with the genre's greatest stalwarts including Sri Semmangudi R Srinivasa Iyer, Smt MS Subbulakshmi, and Sri Nedunuri Krishnamurthy. True to the name of the school, which means "where art evolves", I strive to sustain the interest of today's students and cultivate and mentor them into becoming fine individuals who uphold their cultural links and values. I remain committed to my desire to present a relevant and enticing classical music format while never compromising on the traditional fundamentals.
Kala Kruthi students have proven to be worthy repositories of this rich heritage. Their discipline, commitment and respect for their guru and the art form has helped them to blossom into artistes of high calibre. Kala Kruthi students have participated, with great success, in several competitions and concerts organised by various community organisations, sabhas and fundraising groups. The upcoming year will be another exciting one for the school. Students are preparing for an exciting 10th anniversary concert series.
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.
With a view to providing an interactive medium for students and the
online rasika community, it is my great pleasure to present this
redesigned Kala Kruthi website thanks to the efforts of Vikram Kanagaraj
and Ravi Ravitharan.
We welcome you to surf our website and value your feedback.
Best wishes,
Shobha Sekhar
Message from the Adviser
Dear students,
It is with much pleasure that I extend my hearty greetings to all of you, on this Tamil New Year Day, the beginning of a new year for your School as well. Kala Kruthi founded by Srimathi Shobha Sekhar in 1999 would be completing 5 years of service to the cause of music education in Melbourne on this auspicious occasion. This is indeed a very small time measure compared to the time taken to establish a proud tradition but the beginning has to be somewhere, sometime.
Srimathi Shobha Sekhar has etched a name for herself in the music circles of Melbourne since her arrival in Australia in 1994 . She is a talented artist who has won recognition here and elsewhere for her eruditon and skill in music performances. That she was requested to perform at the Music Academy in Chennai last year bears testimony to her virtuosity in this wonderful art of carnatic music. She is a dedicated and patient teacher and that you have her to teach you the rudiments of the performing art is indeed a blessing that you should be proud of. It takes years of intense practice to achieve a modicum of competence in music. It is my wish that you would fully utilise the opportunity to learn through single minded devotion to the art and bring credit to the school.
With lot of affection, dear students, your well-wisher
Professor G Narasimhan