Season-5, episode 6 of “ZENPod”, featuring Ms. Ranjani ~ Gayatri

Ranjani & Gayatri, the sister duo are world-renowned versatile musicians whose musical contributions include studio recordings, television performances, radio programs, concerts, festivals and lecture demonstrations. Ranjani & Gayatri gave their debut performance at the prestigious Indian Music Group, Mumbai at the age of 13 and 10 respectively. 

You can reach out to Ranjani-Gayatri on https://www.ranjanigayatri.com 

“In Carnatic music, Spirituality is the backdrop of all compositions, lyric wise.  Every profound/elevating experience that we have had, has been where we have been singing, so music for us has been the bridge where we have experienced Transcendental or profound moments”, say Ranjani-Gayatri in their conversation with Venkatesh Mahadevan. 

Ranjani and Gayatri owe their rich musical heritage to their Gurus, Sri T.S. Krishnaswami who taught them violin and Sri.P.S.  Narayanaswamy, who guides them now. They had their initial vocal training from their mother Smt Meenakshi Balasubramanian and their father Balasubramanian, played a pivotal role in shaping their musical values. Even as toddlers, showed an uncanny capacity to grasp the subtle nuances of Carnatic music - Gayatri could identify over a hundred ragas when she was barely two and a half and Ranjani could delineate complex rhythm patterns at age five. The sister duo have given many thematic concerts and have an extensive repertoire consisting of gems of the Trinity, old and contemporary Tamil compositions and other languages including Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi. They have performed in prestigious venues/festivals like The Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, Southbank Centre in London, Ravenna music festival in Italy, Cross Culture Festival in Warsaw, Poland, Bengal Music Festival in Dhaka, Esplanade Theatre in Singapore and the iconic Gateway of India in Mumbai to name a few.

Ranjani-Gayatri have won numerous awards and titles in recognition of their contribution. To mention a few –

·      Kalaimami from the Government of Tamilnadu,

·      Gana Padmam from Brahma Gana Sabha.

·      Rama Gana Kala Acharya

·      Lifetime Achievement Award from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,

·      Sanskriti Award from Sanskriti Pratishtan, New Delhi,

·      Titles of "Vani Kala Sudhakara" from Sri Tyaga Brahma Gana Sabha,

·      "Sangeetha Kala Siromani" from Chennai Cultural Academy,

·      "Isai Jyothi" and the DK Pattammal Award from Aanmajothi, the cultural wing of Saraswati Vidyalaya

·      "Sangeeta Vedantha Dhureena" from Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira Bengaluru in 2018

·      "Nada Kalanidhi" from Shanmukhananda Sangeeta Sabha, Delhi in 2019.

·      "Isai Peroli" from the Kartik Fine Arts Chennai,

·      National Eminence Award from Shanmukhananda Fine Arts, Mumbai

·      Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award

“ZENPod” is a Podcast series that features trailblazers from different walks of life, with a purpose to build an empowered eco-system where learnings and experiences from these enlightened professionals, will be available within “arms reach of desire” for those who aspire to scale higher and wish to contribute, in their life’s pursuit.