About Ananthakrishna Sharma

Anoor R. Ananthakrishna Sharma was born in Bangalore, a city with rich cultural heritage, to a family of great musicians. He is an eminent percussionist with a vast knowledge of Laya, Thala, Raaga & Bhava. His great grandfather Vidwan late Sri Anoor Subbaraya Shastri and his grandfather Vidwan late Sri Anoor Shamanna were fine veena artists. Also Anoor Shamanna’s brother Vidwan late Sri Anoor Suryanarayana was a great vocalist. His father Ganakalabhushana Vidwan late Sri Anoor S. Ramakrishna was a well-known violinist and an eminent teacher too in the Dept. of Music of Bangalore University. Anoor R. Ananthakrishna Sharma was initiated to learn Mridangam by Vidwan late Sri R. A. Rajagopal, who was a highly accomplished Mridangam & Ghatam artist and a senior staff of All India Radio, Bangalore. Beginning his long concert career from a young age of fifteen and a number of significant encounters with other great musicians, Ananthakrishna Sharma has created his own style.

Anoor Family Tree

anoor_family_tree

Collaborations

He has collaborated vastly with many renowned musicians of our country such as Dr. R.K.Srikantan, Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, M. L. Vasantha Kumari, Vedavalli, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, Dr. N. Ramani, K.S. Gopalakrishnan, B.N. Suresh, Violin Trio of H.V.Krishnamurthy, Anoor Ramakrishna & A. Veerabhadraiah, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Sudha Raghunathan, T. V. Shankaranarayana, Bombay Sisters, Madurai T. N. Sheshagopalan, Trichur V. Ramachandran, Dr. S.Ramanathan, Sanjay Subramanyam, Unnikrishnan, T.M. Krishna, Maharajapuram Santanam, T. R. Subrahmanyam, Vijaysiva, Neyveli Santanagopalan, Rajkumar Bharathi, M.S. Sheela, R.K. Padmanabha, D.V. Nagarajan, Nagavalli Nagaraj, Usha Char (USA), Sukanya Prabhakar, Nagamani Srinath, S. Shankar, Bombay Jayashree, Charumathi Ramachandran, S. Sowmya, O. S. Thyagarajan, A. K. C. Natarajan, R.A. Ramamani, Prof. T.N. Krishnan, R.R. Keshavamurthy, Ganesh & Kumaresh, Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Mysore Manjunath, T.R. Srinath, Dr. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Chitraveena Ravikiran, Mandolin U. Srinivas, Suma Sudhindra, Kadri Gopalanath and many more. Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma besides being a prolific Mridangam artist also can play other percussion instruments such as Dolu (Thavil), Tabla, Pakhawaj with the same felicity and ease. He is also a good Vocalist and Composer. He has collaborated greatly with many renowned and veteran music directors in the film field and has also composed music for many award winning films and documentaries. His talent has been tapped for other non-classical forms of music like light music, folk and devotional, ballet and audio cassettes and CD’s.

As a Guru

He is considered as one of the most sought after GURUs in the field of music (percussion and vocal). He has been imparting training to many students, who are in various stages of their career with some of them budding to matured and popular artists. Seasoned artists of repute from Hindustani Classical Music also come to him to get guidance and advanced coaching. Students from all over the world be it USA, UK and Europe come to him and seek guidance. His technique of teaching includes not only displaying complicated rhythmic patterns but also simplifying it by giving complete details of the intricacies of those patterns. He encourages his students to come out with their ideas and evolve into good musicians. He has also been actively delivering guest lectures in various parts of the country and abroad.

Associations

  • Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy – President
  • Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma Foundation for Music – Executive Director
  • Adyar Kalakshetra, Chennai, Govt. of India – Executive Board Member
  • Gayana Samaja, Bangalore – Committee Member
  • Percussive Arts Center, Bangalore – Advisory Council Board Member
  • Samskara Bharathi, Bangalore – President
  • Sri Krishna Sangeetha Sabha – Advisory Council Board Member, Ex-Secretary
  • Ayyanar College of Music – Advisory Council Board Member
  • Sri Purandara Tyagaraja Seva Mandali, Vasanthapura – Executive Board Member

Awards & Recognitions

He has been conferred many merits and awards in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of Karnatic Classical Music such as:

  • 1981 - 'Best Mridangam Artist' by Gayana Samaja
  • 1986 - 'Best Mridangam Artist' by Madras Music Academy
  • 2000 - 'Laya Kala Prathibhamani' Title and Vidwan H. Puttachar Memorial Award by Percussive Arts Centre
  • 2003 - 'Nada Jyothi' by Sri Nada Jyothi Sangeetha Sabha
  • 2003 - 'Nada Laya Samrat' by Sri Ramakrishna Bhajana Sabha
  • 2005 - 'Nada Chintamani' by Chintamani Sangeetha Sabha
  • 2005 - 'Ganakala Shri' by Karnataka Ganakala Parishat
  • 2007 - Felicitated by Asthana Sangithya
  • 2009 - 'Purandaradasa Prashasti' by Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan Trust
  • 2009 - Felicitated by Hamsadhwani Creations
  • 2010 - 'Asthana Vidwan' of Sri Kanchi Mutt
  • 2011 - 'Hamsaratna' by Hamsa Jyothi
  • 2015 - 'Chinthalapalli Parampara Trust National Award' by Chinthalapalli Parampara Trust
  • 2015 - 'Layakala Guru Shreshta' by students and well-wishers, during the guruvandana function on his 50th birthday
  • 2016 - 'Sadhaka Prashasthi' from Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy, Government of Karnataka
  • 2007 - Felicitated by Asthana Sangithya
  • 2017 - 'Asthana Vidwan' of Dakshinamnaya Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri
  • 2017 - 'Asthana Vidwan' of Avadhoota Datta Peetham at Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashrama, Mysore
  • 2018 - 'Karnataka Kalashree' from the Government of Karnataka
  • 2019 - 'Asthana Vidwan' of Sri Avani Shankara Mutt
  • ... and many more