T.R. Balamani, the celebrated Carnatic artiste and teacher, tapped to mark the rhythm as many of her students sang in unison in an ode to their guru. At a felicitation at The Music Academy to mark her completion of 50 years as a teacher on Saturday evening, Ms. Balamani was hailed as a mentor par excellence.
With marriage taking her to Mumbai, Ms. Balamani’s musical career as a performing artiste came to an end, yet her journey with music continued. Nurturing young talent with a commitment to excellence resulted in many of her students becoming achievers in their own right. Bombay Jayashree, Shankar Mahadevan and Prasanna Venkatraman are some of the famous musicians Ms. Balamani has moulded.
N. Murali, president of The Music Academy, who was the chief guest at the function said, “While Carnatic music is experiencing a resurgence these days with youngsters taking up the art form seriously, what the fraternity is now faced with is a lack of good gurus. Ms. Balamani is an example of an exemplary guru who has contributed immensely to keeping the Carnatic tradition alive in generations to come.” V. Ramnarayan, the Editor-in-Chief of Sruti, T.K. Murthy, celebrated Mridangam player, and vocalist R. Vedavalli also felicitated Ms. Balamani during the function.
A visibly overwhelmed Ms. Balamani said, “I am so happy to be here and see all my students. Many of them are even teaching young students music. I give all of them my blessings and prayers.”