User:Shankar Sundaresan/sandbox

Girijashankar Sundaresan
Girijashankar Sundaresan is a Carnatic Vocalist from Chennai. A disciple of Chitravina N Narasimhan and Chitravina N Ravikiran, he has been in the Carnatic music industry for over 10 years.

Early life and Education
Girijashankar was born in Ranipet, North Arcot, India on 30th July 1988. He did his schooling in Chennai in The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Indira Nagar and Bharathi Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School, Perumbakkam. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College and his master’s degree in Econometrics and another master’s degree in Music from The University of Madras. He got married to Ms Rajya Rajan in 2016.

Musical Career
He was initiated into Classical music by his parents, Late Smt. Bhuvaneshwari Sundaresan and Sri. Sundaresan Ramamoorthy at the age of 5. His first Gurus were his grandparents, Smt. Meenakshi and Sri. Ramamoorthy. Formal training in music started with Smt. Gayathri Shankar and Late Smt. Seethalakshmi. He further went on to learn from Late Smt. Ranganayaki Iyengar, a faculty of Sampradaya. He is currently trained by Chitravina Narasimhan and Chitravina Ravikiran.

Girijashankar’s first stage performance was in early 2008. He took a hiatus from performances for a few years after he went under the tutelage of Chitravina maestros, Narasimhan and Ravikiran. Since 2013, he performs regularly at The Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha and Mylapore Fine Arts Club (Chennai), Shanmukhananda Sabha and The Fine Arts Society (Mumbai), Rama Seva Mandali and Kalavanta Festival (Bangalore), Tamil Sangam (New Delhi), Kalasagaram (Hyderabad) and Edappally Sangeetha Sadas and Kalpathy Rathotsavam (Kerala) and Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana & Shruti Laya (United States).

Projects and Collaborations

 * 1) Marga, a journey was a project that Girijashankar curated for The Ink Link DAM’s (Design Art and Music) Annual festival. The concept involved presenting different composers and their works to highlight their respective journeys in Bhakti (Devotion). The ensemble had musicians like Madan Mohan (Violin), Arjun Ganesh (Mrudangam), MT Aditya (Tabla), Preeth and Mani (Tanpuras). The event took place at Dakshinachitra Heritage Museum, Chennai.
 * 2) Concert for Autism, was a special performance for the children with Autism and their parents and caregivers. It was organized by The Lotus Foundation , Chennai. The concert took place in November 2019 at Spaces, Besant Nagar. Girijashankar has been involved with Lotus Foundation since 2013.
 * 3) Girijashankar has worked closely with Dr. Vyjayanthimala Bali in several projects for over a decade such as ‘Sita Vislesha Trayam’ and Bhavanbhava. He has also composed music and sung for her dance operas, namely - Nava Vidha Rama Bhakti and Kaisika Puranam.
 * 4) Girijashankar has been part of many recording projects such as Chitravina Ravikiran’s Vintage Virutosos’ ensemble presentation of Ottukkadu Venkata Kavi Saptaratnas. Under the music direction of Dr. Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, he has also sung for productions such as Meghadootam and Meera, the soul divine.

Teaching
Girijashankar is establishing himself as a music educator, giving talks and demonstrations on Carnatic music appreciation at various venues and festivals such as Learn Quest Academy of Music, Boston. He is currently training students in India and North America.

2020
Nominated for Yuva Sangita Kala Jyothi from Suswara Trust, Chennai

Nominated for Lavanya Gayaka Nipuna from Puvanur Trust, Chennai

2019
Best Individual Performer, Radel Mid Year Concerts from The Music Academy, Chennai

2017
Yuva Kala Bharathi from Bharat Kalachar, Chennai

2015
Best Male Vocalist from Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, Vani Mahal, Chennai

1998
Received the Bharatiyar Memorial Prize from the late music legend Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi