Biography
Arundhathi Krishnan has been learning Carnatic vocal music from the age of 7 and gave her first public performance and won her first concert prize at the Rama Navami celebrations in Fort High School Bangalore when she was 13. A write up about this concert appeared in the newspapers and got her the Pratibhakankshi prize. She underwent advanced training in manodharma, pallavi singing and other nuances from her aunt, the late Deva Gana Varshini Smt. Soundaram Krishnan, AIR A Grade artist, Chennai, for over 20 years. Arundhathi has completed a Senior Diploma (exam conducted by the Karnataka government) in Carnatic Music, a Junior Diploma (exam conducted by Prayag University, Allahabad) in Hindustani Music. For Arundhathi, Carnatic music is a passion and integral part of life.
Arundhathi has given concerts at The Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Indian Fine Arts Society, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Hamsadhwani, SAFE, Nada Inbam, Mylapore Fine Arts Club, and IIT Madras Music Club in Chennai, The Bangalore Gayana Samaj, Ananya Sabhangana, Malleswaram Sangeeta Sabha and Indiranagar Sangeeta Sabha in Bangalore, Sri Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, Chembur Fine Arts and Vashi Fine Arts in Mumbai, Tamil Isai Sangam Karaikudi, Ragapriya in Madurai and Nadhabrahma, Ganabharati in Mysore, as well as in several venues in Tirupati, Hyderabad and Kerala.
She was also mentored by the late Sangeetha Kala Acharya Prof. T R Subramaniam. Arundhathi added to her repertoire some rare Mysore Vasudevacharya kritis, from the late Sri S Rajaram, (former Director of Kalakshetra) who was the grandson of Sri Mysore Vasudevacharya. She has trained formally in Hindustani music with Smt. Bharathi Balakrishnan. Having earlier performed regularly in AIR Bangalore FM Amritavarshini's 'Navapallava' and 'Amritagurukula' programmes, Arundhathi is currently a 'B' high grade artist of All India Radio, Bangalore.
She is the recipient of the Maharajapuram Santhanam Endowment Award for Talent Promotion from Narada Gana Sabha in 2015 and the Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Endowment Prize from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in 2014. She has been awarded prizes in competitions conducted by the Music Academy, the Indian Fine Arts Society, Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha as well as concert prizes in Nadhabrahma, Mysore and Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Bangalore. Her performances have been reviewed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and English newspapers in Chennai and Bangalore. Kosmik has released two CDs of Arundhathi Krishnan- 'Varnasagaram- Rare Gems' and 'Navaratnamala- Rare Compositions of Muthaiah Bhagavatar and Mysore Vasudevachar'. 'Venkatadri' and 'Bhadradri' are some other audio releases.
Gallery
Listen to samples from Arundhathi's audio releases here.
For more videos like the ones below, visit this YouTube channel.
Reviews
Prof. T T Narendran (Veena Vidwan) wrote in Sruti (2018):
Arundhathi Krishnan excelled in her slow-paced rendition of Ambaneelayatakshi. Both she and Sudha Iyer (violin) presented good essays of Simhendramadhyamam.
Prof. T T Narendran (Veena Vidwan) wrote in Sruti (2016):
Arundhathi Krishnan, a steady performer, held forte with a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar... The alapana of Todi had a lot of saukhyam.
G Srihari wrote in The Hindu (2015):
She is gifted with a melodious voice and a fluency in alapana and clear diction of sahitya element of compositions.
Prof. T T Narendran (Veena Vidwan) wrote in Sruti (February 2013):
Arundhati krishnan, a promising youngster was featured here(Kapali Fine Arts). A bright Karpagamanohara set the tempo for her concert which included a less heard Sreehari vallabhe (Suddha Dhanyasi, Mysore Va- sudevachar), complete with alapana, niraval and swaram, all of them executed well. Ananda natana prakasam (Kedaram, Dikshitar) had class while her alapana of Poorvikalyani was scholarly, empha- sising its vakra sanchara in due measure.
Sabhash.com (Link) on her Charsur Arts Foundation concert (25th June 2012):
Arundhathi Krishnan was the Charsur star of June! With a strong captivating voice and good grip of the art, she entertained the audience for a couple of hours. The concert was for Charsur Arts Foundation's monthly programme to feature the upcoming artistes. The song list was good and interesting. Karpaga Manohara in Malayamarutham, Enneramum un namam in Poorvi Kalyani, Dayaleni bradukemi in Nayaki (Jhampa), Janaki Ramana in Suddha Seemandini, a few are rare krithis...
Prof. T T Narendran (Veena Vidwan) wrote in Sruti (February 2012):
...there was Arundhati Krishnan at BVB mini hall in the company of M S Ananthakrishnan (violin) and Raghunath (mridangam). She sang a melodious ranganayakam, the masterpiece of Dikshitar in nayaki and a fluent alapana of todi (emi jesite)
In The Hindu Friday Review (December 2011), Lakshmi Venkataraman wrote:
Arundhathi Krishnan has a strong voice and clear diction and significantly she has not succumbed to the speed bug. Her rendition also has azhutham and the brigas are applied at relevant places. She began with Dikshitar's Hindola raga kriti 'Saraswathi' and sang swaras for the madhyamakala passage 'Sabdharathaswaroopini'. The Pantuvarali essay was decent followed by 'Thaye Idhu Tharunam', a composition by Ramaswamy Sivan.
After an interlude with 'Bhogeendrasayinam' in Kuntalavarali, she took up the main item Kharaharapriya. Her relaxed elaboration for this raga had depth. Vijai's effort on the violin was good. Arundhathi began 'Ramaniyeda' with the anupallavi and the niraval and swaras for the pallavi were good. Arjun Narayanan on the mridangam played a decent thani
In The Hindu Friday Review (March 2009), P S Krishnamurthi's review titled 'Thodi in all its grandeur' said:
Arundati's commendable range and mature manodharma made her recital a wholesome fare. When a serious and attentive listener of a concert is taken by surprise that the concert is over, it is one sure sign that the artist must have had something to offer that listener, which must have made him savour it. Such was the experience of this writer when he was still in a "Thodi mood", and a tukkada item shook him up after the tani avartanam, as if abruptly. The artist was Arundati Krishnan, a second-year undergraduate student of Science, singing for Hamsadhwani on Friday, February 27, 2009, with Akkarai Swarnalatha and V.S. Raghavan doing the string and percussive credits.
The repertoire - One pondered whether it didn't make more sense to deliver just five or six choice pieces as Arundati did - and follow them up with a minor melody or two, in a 90-minute recital than try to pack a large number of compositions. What was even more effective was that the artist, seizing all the minutes between 5.42 and 6.19, brought her recital to a close at the climax, even as the sublime Thodi was still lingering in the mind.
Not that pleasant concert formatting was the only virtue in the recital. Arundati is endowed with a natural sweetness of voice, with a commendable octave range, which keeps her (and the listener, too!) comfortable, reaching from the lower madhyama to the higher panchama.
Her mature manodharma keeps her anchored at different sthayis, as long as they deserve, without suggestion of a rush, thus giving a wholesome feeling to an alapana or niraval, evidenced in Thodi ('Kartikeya Gangeya').
In the second item, 'Jaya Mahishasuramardini Sritajana Palini,' of Muthiah Bhagavathar in Hamsadhwani, Rupakam, madhyama kalam, the flexibility of her voice was evident. Particularly in 'Telisi Rama,' she maintained the nuances in raga lakshana at high speed, without sacrificing laya.Her Thodi alapana was neatly spread out with adequate emphasis at the sthayis (lower 'ma' to 'pa'; 'pa' to higher 'sa'; 'sa' to 'pa'). There was a wholesome sprinkling of rava and vakra sancharas, all of which demonstrated how far she could dig into this raga.
In The Hindu Friday Review (November 2008), in a review titled 'Skilful Raga Delineation', wrote: G Swaminathan wrote:
Arundhathi Krishnan has an unconventional voice. It has a slight heavy tenor sans syrupiness, moves finely in madyama and mantra regions but with slight stress in tara sthayi, indeed a manageable weakness. But, what impresses one is Arundhati's clear diction, uncomplicated approach and her ingenuity in raga development.
In her concert for Nada Inbam at Raga Sudha Hall, Arundhati essayed Dhanyasi with just a few strong phrases for a little known Tyagaraja kriti, 'Syama Sundaranga.' Adding a few rounds of kalpanaswaras in Rudrapriya, 'Gananayakam' of Dikshitar was preceded by GNB's Nalinakanti varnam 'Neeve Gathi.' Arundhati took some time to warm up before she landed on Hamsanadam, which was given a special place in her concert with an elaborate essay exhibiting the organised and imaginative ability of Arundhati. 'Bantu Reethi' of Tyagaraja was backed up by a niraval in 'Rama Nama Mane' with an array of well-envisioned swaras. The main raga Bhairavi too followed similar approach with care and caution and the composition here was 'Mylapuriyil Vanda Mahadevan'. Bhairavi shines when the exposition provides more room for kaarvai than rolling briga laden phrases. Arundhati could comprehend this and she developed a commendable image of the raga.
In The Deccan Herald Bangalore , Mysore V Subramanya wrote in a review titled 'Vocals with feeling':
Ananya chose less known compositions of Mysore Vasudevachar for this month's Nirantara series, on Saturday. Compositions of Mysore Vasudevachar, one of the prominent composer of post Tyagaraja period, are quiet popular all over. Some of the less known compositions of Vasudevachar was rendered by Arundhathi. Her Pahimam Ksheerasaagara was more impressive for all its subtleties of Nerval and Swara passages. Ne Pilachina and Ramabhi Rama - revived memories of a bygone era. With her good voice and lively presentation Arundathi earned the respect of the audience and her career is worth watching.