Amalgamation with Layam
Guru Layathvam
Academy of fine arts
About Guru
The much sought after mridangam artiste from India, Dr.Guru Bharadwaaj, was initiated into the art of percussion at the age of 7 under Sri Subramaniyam. A fine performer, composer and with a deep interest to innovate and explore the art form, his specialization is his precise fingering technique and the fine balance of sounds between the treble and base heads of the Mridangam. Trained by Mridangam Maestro Guru Kaaraikudi R.Mani, Guru Bharadwaaj continues to evoke a style of his own that is distinct. He had an opportunity to learn more aspects of Rhythm from Tavil Vidwan Sri T.J Sowrirajan.
He is also trained in Carnatic Vocal, who started his learning from his father Sri G.V.R.Murthy. His initial training was under Sri Madhavan and Smt Vimala Pichumani. Later had his advanced training under the tutelage of Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan.
Guru Bharadwaaj has studied the percussion extensively and holds a diploma in Mridagam and Vocal Karnatik Indian classical music from Hyderabad University, M.A.Rhythmology and M.Phil in Mridangam from Madras University. He is a Doctorate in Mridangam from Bharatidasan University, Trichy, TamilNadu, India.
He has worked as a lecturer at Kalakshetra foundation for the period of 5 years and has trained many students. He is a regular feature in prestigious venues and festivals across India. An “A-grade” ranking artiste of the All India Radio, Guru Bharadwaaj continues his journey in the world of percussion. He is also an "A-grade" artist and percussionist at India's TV channel Doordarshan, Chennai.
Early Learning
Qualification
Specialisation
He has composed many jathis for dance performances, Scored Music for Dance thematic productions and has got very good experience in fusion concerts also. He has a unique skill of creating formulas that can be practically applied across the field of music and dance. He has also been a part of Number of recordings by various music composers, including Dr.Rajkumar Barathi's music productions.
Performances
Guru Bharadwaaj has accompanied many top musicians and dancers at various prestigious Sabhas and venues in both India and abroad. He has been a part of several ICCR programs and have travelled extensively around the world. Every year he accompanies many dancers in Natyanjali festivals held across Tamil Nadu, Chinnamelam festival, held in Tanjore, Surya dance festival held in Kerala, Konark Dance Festival held in Konark and many more.
He has played for hundreds of Arangetrams and known for his best support to the Nattuvanar as well as the Dancer during the same.
Awards
He has been awarded with the title LAYA TAPASVI from Sridevi Nrityalaya, AKSHAYA LAYA NIPUNA from Akshaya Arts Academy, GOPALACHARI Award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, NATYA SANGEETHA KALABHARATHI from Bharath Kalachar, AWARD OF EXCELLENCE for Mridangam from Karthick Fine Arts To list a few.
Accompaniment
He accompanies most of the top dancers in India and abroad, like Sri Narasimachari and Smt Vasanthalakshmi, Dr.Vyjeyanthimala Bali, Dr.Padma Subramanyam, The Dhananjeyans, Smt Chitra Visweswaran, Prof. Sudharani Raghupathi, Prof. C.V.Chandrashekar, Late Sri Bhagavathalu Seetharama Sharma, Sri Herambanathan, Smt Leela Samson, Smt Bragha Bessell, Smt Alarmelvalli, Smt Krishnakumari Narendran, Prof. Sikkil Vasanthakumari, Padmashri Shobana Chandrakumar, Smt Priyadarshini Govind, Smt Revathy Ramachandran, Dr.Sheela Unnikrishnan, Smt Urmila Sathyanarayanan, Smt Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala, Smt Roja Kannan, Smt Jayanthi Subramanyam, Smt Nithyakalyani Vaidhyanathan, Dr.Lakshmi Ramaswamy, Dr.Janaki Rangarajan, Padmashree Narthaki Natraj, Sri Sooryanarayana Murthy.
He has also Accompanied Sri Kishore & Padmavani Mosalikanti, Sri Vempati Ravi Shankar, Smt Shailasudha, Sri Madhava Peddi Murthy in Kuchupudi and Smt Gopika Varma in Mohiniyattam.
Guru Layathvam
Academy of Fine Arts
This Institution was started in the year 2021 as an initiative to extend our service in the field of art. We aim to reach many aspiring learners with a quest for knowledge from around the world.
Currently The institution focuses on Layam and Nattuvangam for Bharathanatyam Dancers. We are conducting regular classes as well as certification courses at various levels.
The Online Layam Workshop Series called LAYATHVAM was started on April 2020, during the Lockdown due to the global pandemic Covid-19. To date we have conducted 8 Successful workshops, each with a unique theme and topic.
We have also conducted two fundraising workshops For Samarpana Arts for wellbeing and raised over one lakh and eighty five thousand Rupees. This was contributed to help with the livelihood of Folk Artists and for medical equipments for government hospitals Chennai in treating Covid Patients.
In future, we are looking to expand our offerings across several different forms of fine arts.