“An excellent vocalist himself, he knows to emote ragas appropriately and to highlight the kriti, niraval and swaram accordingly,” say senior musician R.K. Shriramkumar and ghatam exponent N. Guruprasad. Sangita Kalanidhi designate S. Sowmya adds: “As a result, he does not look at percussion in an isolated manner but raises the sheen of the entire concert. That is why even stalwarts like T.N. Krishnan Sir happily prefer him.” Similar sentiments are expressed by others about this ghatam artiste, who has played with renowned mridangists.
G. Chandrasekara Sharma (Chandru) comes from a family steeped in music. His grandfather, T.R. Hari Hara Sharma, was a mridangam and morsing artiste, who set up the still-functioning Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidhyalaya in Triplicane. Chandru’s father, T.H. Gurumurthy, a student of T.N. Krishnan, is the younger brother of ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram and Subash Chandran, esteemed ghatam artistes.
Chandru repeated even complicated korvais at age three and sat quietly with Vinayakram and Subash Chandran through concerts. He had basic training from Subash Chandran at his grandfather’s school. Chandru would play for one piece at wedding concerts by family members. Since Gurumurthy joined Annamalai University as violin lecturer, Chandru studied in Chidambaram from grades 5-8. There, he learned vocal from RK Kumar. Chandru’s mother, Hema, was keen on his pursuing vocal. Chandru’s elder brother, Hari Hara Sharma, learned ganjira.
Senior artistes including, Srimushnam Raja Rao and Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam visited Chandru’s family in Chidambaram. Many would let him sit at concerts and play. He would also accompany local artistes. His earliest occasion playing a full concert was in the ffith Grade with Umayalpuram Sivaraman for a violin duet by Gurumurthy and V.L. Sudarshan.
He had periodic ‘concentrated’ learning sessions from Subash Chandran. “I did not go too often but, when I did, he gave me a lot to digest and practice. He would also practice the ghatam with me.” Chandru learned vocal for eight years from N. Vijay Siva. He learns now from R.K. Shriramkumar.
Chandru gratefully acknowledges the mentoring received from R.K. Shriramkumar, N. Guruprasad, T.M. Krishna, Sangeetha Sivakumar, B. Ganapathyraman, B. Sivaraman, K.V. Gopalakrishnan, K. Arunprakash and B.S. Purushottam. etc.
A memorable programme was ‘Pinjuratnangalin Pancharatnangal’. Orchestrated by Sulochana Pattabhiraman, Chandru played the ghatam for this ensemble children’s event featuring several vocalists and instrumentalists. They had regular and intense practice to present Tyagaraja’s Pancharatna kritis on Doordarshan’s Podhigai channel. The group toured throughout Tamil Nadu. “This was a tremendous learning experience.” He was also part of ‘Abaswaram’ Ramjhi’s Isai Mazhalai which included current friends Bharat Sundar, Rithvik Raja, Vidya Kalyanaraman, Dharini Kalyanaraman and Anirudh Athreya.
During 11th grade, he joined YACM (Youth Association for Classical Music) getting into the committee while in college. “This facilitated introductions and interactions with seniors — a momentous time in my life.” Chandru does not allude to his familial ties, preferring to stand on his independent merits. He has received Bharat Kalachar’s Yuva Kala Bharathi and Krishna Gana Sabha’s TR Hari Hara Sharma awards amongst others.
His first senior concert was at age 17 for Shertalai Renganatha Sharma in 2007 followed by T.M. Krishna in 2008. Rithvik Raja exposed Chandru to old recordings. “He acquainted me with the music of stalwarts. My focus automatically goes to percussion. How was niraval and swaram accented? How did they highlight particular junctures?” Besides Vinayakram, Chandru has been greatly inspired by S. Karthick.
Chandru had a different opportunity recently, at vocalist Ramakrishnan Murthy’s concert with Vittal Rangan on the violin and NC Bharadwaj on the mridangam. There were two tani avartanams — one played entirely by Bharadwaj and the other by Chandru.
“Be it koraippu or kanakku, or playing along, he is adept,” says Shriramkumar. “He knows where he should play in tandem and where an opposite effect might better accent. This is a key reason why Chandrasekara Sharma is appreciated by mridangists too,” concludes Sowmya.
