9th St. Louis Indian Music Festival

Veena Workshop by VEENA PLAYER - D. BALAKRISHNA

Information on the artist

Mr. Balakrishna is the son and disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. Mysore V. Doreswamy Iyengar (India’s highest award-Padmabhushan Awardee) who was a Veena artiste par excellence of the glorious Mysore school of Veena playing, synonymous with the great Veena Sheshanna. He enjoys the distinction of performing as a Top Grade artiste of All India Radio and brought laurels to Karnataka by performing numerous national programs on AIR and Doordarshan.

Apart from solo concerts, he has played numerous jugalbandhis/ duets with eminent artistes namely Sangeeta Kalanidhi M Chandrashekaran, Ustad Bahuddin Dagar, Pandit Rajeev Taranath and Pandit Debiprasad Ghosh to name a few. It is creditable that Sri D Balakrishna has taken the flavor of Carnatic classical music to foreign shores. As part of his father’s Pancha Veena troupe he traveled to Russia in 1987. The year 1988 saw him winning a wide audience in Britain while accompanying his father. Again in the 1991 prestigious Festival of India in Germany he participated successfully in the Pancha Veena concert under his father’s guidance.

Balakrishna.s 2002 tour of the USA was an impressive musical voyage showcasing the unique elegance of the Mysore Veena tradition. He represented the Govt. of Karnataka in the Vishwa Kannada Sammelana held in 2006 at Washington, USA and was lauded by the audience. He has given concerts at the Cleveland (U.S.A) Tyagaraja Festival in 2010 teaming with Sangeetha Kalanidhi T N Shesha Gopalan on the Veena.

WORKSHOP DETAIL

One hour workshop -   First Session – 6 pm  / Second Session – 7 PM

Dates – May 15, 16, 17, 18

Award ceremony – May 19^th, 2022

Showcase of the Veena – May 20^th, 2022

4-Session  workshop $100 / 8-session workshop - $175

Register here