S Subhalakshmi and S Sornalatha
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Nadathur Foundation is organising the second edition of its concert series — Nada Sambhrama. The core belief of the foundation is to promote and celebrate the rich tradition of Indian classical music. This edition will feature concerts by S Subhalakshmi and S Sornalatha, popular as the Akkarai sisters, followed by a vocal recital by Sandeep Narayan.
Akkarai sisters, hailing from a family of renowned musicians, are celebrated violinists in the world of Carnatic music. With a legacy of musical excellence, the duo continues to enthrall audiences with their music.
Trained by their father, Akkarai S Swamynathan, also a veteran violinist and founder of the Swara Raga Sudha School of Music, the duo took to music as children. Soon the sisters were in the spotlight as child prodigies, performing across venues nationally and internationally.
The sisters speak to us over a call from Chennai ahead of their Bengaluru concert. It is hard to differentiate between their voices as they complete each other’s sentences. Performing in Bengaluru is not new for the sisters but this is their first concert for the Nadathur Foundation. “Many youngsters are taking to classical music. The turnout in Bengaluru is good even for a classical concert,” Sornalatha says.
The concert will feature a variety of compositions, ragas and composers in varied tempos, says Subhalakshmi. “Since the concert is in Bengaluru we will try to bring in a composition of Purandaradasa and other Kannada composers.”
About being known as Akkarai Sisters, Sornalatha says, they are named after their grandfather’s place. “When we became musicians, we brought in the name of the place as prefix to our names.”
Insisting their father did not pamper them, Subhalakshmi says, “As a teacher he was a task master and we could not imagine getting away from a practise session. At that time, we did feel we missed out on a few things as children, but today we are grateful to him as we are where we are today in the world of music because of his dedication and discipline.”
“At that age,” Sornalatha chimes in, “We were not sure what we wanted to be. As we come from a family of musicians, we believed it was our destiny to become musicians.”
Parents play a part in nurturing the value of traditions in their wards, Subhalakshmi says. “They instill a passion to learn arts. This passion, however, cannot be forced.”
The credit for adapting the violin, a western instrument, to Indian classical music according to Sornalatha, goes to Baluswamy Dikshitar. “He was the first to try classical music on the violin in the early 19th Century. The British had left many instruments behind. After he introduced the violin, it became so embedded in our concerts that soon the violin became an integral part of Indian classical music.”
The sisters will be accompanied by Vaibhav Ramani (violin), Vidwan Sai Giridhar (mridangam), Giridhar Udupa (ghatam).
At Mangala Mandapa Auditorium NMKRV Campus, on February 15, 6pm. The event is open to all.
Published – February 13, 2025 12:29 pm IST
