B. Sasikumar

B. Sasikumar is a noted Carnatic music violinist, musician, teacher, composer and writer from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

B. Sasikumar
B. Sasikumar in concert
Background information
Born (1949-04-27) 27 April 1949
OriginIndia
GenresCarnatic music
Occupation(s)Violinist, Musician, Teacher, Composer and Writer
InstrumentsViolin
Years active1967 to present
Websitewww.bsasikumar.in

Profile

B. Sasikumar was born on 27 April 1949 in Thiruvalla, to the late M. K. Bhaskara Panicker and late G. Sarojini Amma.

He started his basic lessons in music from his father, who was a Nadaswaram maestro, musician and composer (also known as Kocchu Kuttappan of the Thiruvalla Brothers). Later he joined the Swati Thirunal College of Music, Trivandrum, Kerala, and took his Ganabhooshanam and Ganapraveena degrees in music under the guidance of noted violinist Chalakkudy Narayana Swamy.

He started his career as a lecturer at Swati Thirunal College of Music in 1967. He later joined All India Radio, Trivandrum, as staff artiste (Violin) in 1971 and still continues there.

B. Sasikumar has accompanied with his violin many legends in Indian music, like Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, D. K. Jayaraman, D. K. Pattammal, M. D. Ramanathan, K. V. Narayanaswamy, Alathur Brothers, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, M. Balamurali Krishna, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Madurai T. N. Seshagopalan, T. K. Govinda Rao, K. J. Yesudas, N. Ramani (flute), S. Balachander and Chitti Babu (veena) and so on. He has also accompanied various jugalbandi concerts of musical giants Pandit Jasraj and Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in Delhi and Madras.

Works

As an A grade artiste at AIR, he has been part of numerous concerts and musical programmes. He has produced many musical features for AIR such as "Nadopasana", "Sapthaswarangalil" and "Layicha Mahaanubhaavan" - both on Saint Thyagaraja, "Ganesha prabhaavam" - on Shri. Muthuswamy Dikshithar, "Swathi Pranam" and "Bhavayami Raghuramam" - on Maharaja Swati Thirunal. "Navavarana Krithimahima" was a 10 episode series on Navavarana krithis. He has also directed Adhyathma Ramayanam recital in 2001. His musical features "Gurussaakshaathparabrahma", "Madhavamanavam", "Kaveri", "Sanghagaanam", and "Karnaki" have won National Annual Awards from All India Radio. He still continues contributing lyrics for light songs, conducts and composes songs, composes and arranges musical features, writes dramas and skits for a noted feature of AIR, the "Kandathum Kettathum". His dramas are noted for their classic humour and wit. Some of the famous creations are "Ittaavattatthil Oru Natakam", "Sishyan", "Enikkente Veettil Ponam", "Santhivilla", "Pishukkan", "Paavam Maveli", "Katthivesham Paappukutty Asan", "Amma" (theme from the epic), and "Akam Porul".

He has composed and presented an orchestral piece called "String", consisting of only string instruments, with young artistes for the AIR programme.

Sasikumar is a teacher and has a number of students all over the music field. He is noted for his new techniques of teaching and practising. His nephew cum violinist Balabhaskar, G. Venugopal, Kavalam Srikumar, Kallara Gopan, Vidhu Prathap, Attukal Balasubrahmanyam, Dr. Rajkumar (Flute), Soundarrajan (Veena)and Mavelikara Satheesh chandran(violin) are a few of his students. He has also presented and directed an orchestra, "Vadyatharangam", which is a carnatic symphony using a variety of string, wind and percussion instruments.

He has released many CDs and cassettes, most of them being devotional songs.

He is a noted composer, composing krithis under the name Chandrapothar, which is a Sanskrit synonym for Sasikumar. He has more than 100 compositions to his credit, including many pallavis, Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit keerthanams. He has also introduced new Talas, such as "Chathurangam".

Some of his other noted works are:

  • "Thamasoma Jyothirgamaya" presented by Soorya Krishnamurthy,
  • Devotional songs (Tamil) - "Sringeri" - with singers Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Dr. B. Arundhathi, Shri. Kallara Gopan
  • DPEP children's songs for music teachers
  • "Ayurveda" - National Programme in Doordarshan
  • "Attukal Suprabhatham" - sung by Smt. Bhavana Radhakrishnan
  • "Sivaya Namah" - Devotional songs on Lord Siva - East Coast production
  • "Krinashtami", "Mahanavami" - featured on National Network - DDK

Recognition and awards
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi Award - 2008
  • Kerala Sangeetha Natak Academy Fellowship - 2002
  • Sindooram Cultural Award -1999
  • Trissur Youth Cultural Centre Award - 1997
  • Bhasha Sahitya Parishat Award - 1990
  • Violin Samrat Award From Kuwait-2011

References
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