| Prince Rama Varma | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | August 13, 1968 Kerala, India |
| Genres | Carnatic classical music |
| Occupations | singer, Veena player, writer. |
| Years active | 1990 - present |
Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma,[1] also known as Prince Rama Varma, is a South Indian classical musician, a performing vocalist, veena player and writer.
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Rama Varma, a scion of the Travancore Royal Family, was born in Kerala to Pooyam Thirunal Gowri Parvathi Bayi and Chembrol Raja Raja Varma. Varma is a direct descendent of HH Maharaja Swathi Thirunal and Raja Ravi Varma. His great grandmother Sethu Parvathi Bayi, was the grand daughter of Raja Ravi Varma. He is often described as 'Prince among musicians and a Musician among Princes'. He is a post graduate in Commerce.
His early exposure to music came from the performances he used to watch at the Navarathri Mandapam as a child. He is an admirer of M. D. Ramanathan and a fan of Kishore Kumar.
He started receiving music lessons from Professor Vechoor Harihara Subrahmania Iyer in 1983. Shortly after, he started learning veena under Trivandrum R Venkataraman for 5 years and continued his lessons under the tutelage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Prof. K S Narayanaswamy for another 10 years. After the demise of Prof. Vechoor Harihara Subrahmania Iyer, he became a disciple of musician, Dr.Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna in 1994. He is now his senior disciple.
Rama Varma gave his maiden public performance in 1990 on the insistence of Prof T. V. Gopalakrishnan.
He has given vocal and Veena concerts all over India and in Europe, Middle East and the USA . He has performed at various venues in Europe, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, the Tropentheater, and the Korzo Theater, Netherlands. For many years he had associated with the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music offering vocal classes in Indian Classical Music and also voice training sessions.
He frequently gives lecture demonstrations in South Indian Classical Music particularly on Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna's compositions. Varma is regarded as an expert authority in the compositions by both Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma and Dr. M. Balamuralikrisha. He has a repertoire of Swathi compositions which is unmatched by anyone else.
He was invited to perform at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan by the then President of India, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. Dr. Abdul Kalam became a fan of Varma after listening to his CD, ‘Thaanam - The Pulse Of The Veena.’
He regularly contributes articles on Indian Music to news papers like The Hindu and others.
Varma organises Swathi Sangeethotsavam conducted in the premises of Kuthira Malika, Thiruvananthapuram every year from 6 to 12 January. The Navarathri Mandapam Concerts held every year in connection with the Navarathri Festival at Trivandrum is also organised by Varma.[2]
In 2006, he picked veteran Parasala Ponnammal to perform at the Navarathri Mandapam, breaking the 300 year old tradition of not allowing women inside the Mandapam.
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