The next artiste to start touring will be vocalist S Sowmya, accompanied by R K Sriramkumar on the violin and Neyveli Narayanan on mridangam. Sowmya is acknowledged as a highly capable vocalist, who has earned the respect of musicians and connoisseurs, as well as the appreciation of the rasikas. Having trained hard under the late Dr. S Ramanathan and Smt. T Mukta, Sowmya is indeed a treasure trove, having amassed a repertoire of over 1,500 compositions! She is also serving the cause of music using a blend of tradition and technology through the Carnatica Archival Centre and Carnatica.com.

R K Sriramkumar is one of the most sought-after violinists in Carnatic music today, while Neyveli Narayanan, a premier disciple of Sri. Umayalpuram Sivaraman, has already made a mark as a high-class mridangist.

Their tour schedule is as follows:

The other tour will feature India’s leading “slide vina” maestros, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Chitravina N Ravikiran. Millennium-award winner Ravikiran will be playing his new and exquisite 21-stringed Nava-Chitravina. He is acknowledged as one of the few real geniuses and is one of the most successful Carnatic musicians today. He will be joined in the jugalbandi-s by Grammy winner Bhatt, who has successfully Indianized the Hawaiian guitar. Having renamed it the Mohan Vina, Bhatt has firmly established this instrument on the Hindustani stage today. Both artistes are well known not only in their respective pure-classical genres, but also on the world music circuit.

Percussion support in the series will be provided by senior Ghatam and Konnakkol (vocal percussion) exponent T H Subhash Chandran and the Tabla star Subrata Bhattacharya.