Anuradha Suresh. Photo courtesy of the artist
Anuradha Suresh
South Indian Classical Music, Carnatic Music
Anuradha Suresh is a master vocalist and eminent teacher in South Indian Carnatic music, based in the SF Bay Area. She began learning Carnatic music at the age of four from Neyveli Srinivasa Iyengar (Neyveli, India). She was later trained by Padma Sandilyan and Rukmani Ramani (Chennai, India). She is currently studying with Uma Naresh (Coimbature, India), Lalgudi Rajalakshmi (Bangalore, India) and Shri. R. Suryaprakash (Chennai, India).
Carnatic music has played an integral role in Anuradha’s life since she was a child, whether it be learning, giving performances, or teaching. She have been learning music since she was four years old, and she still continues to learn today. Anuradha is the director of Shruthi Swara Laya, a school for Carnatic music based in Fremont, which she established in 1998. She has trained hundreds of students to perform and compete at various arenas, and to undergo certifications in Carnatic music offered in both India and United States. She is a recipient of an Apprenticeship grant by Alliance for California Traditional Arts for the years 2020, 2024 and 2026.
She is an Internship Coordinator for Arts at Fremont Cultural Arts Council, Fremont, California and is on advisory board for Livermore Cultural Arts Council. She has initiated Bay Area Kala Utsavam in 2023 as part of SSL’s 25th year anniversary. Anuradha Suresh is a recipient of multiple Awards and Recognition. “Madhura Nadha Siromani” by Nadhamadhuram, Chennai (2025), Past President recognition award from South India Fine Arts (2024), Parampara Rakshak title from VVS Foundation USA (2024), Professor T. R. Subramanyam Memorial Award by Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival (2017) and many more.
Harikatha helps me in telling the stories from the epics through Carnatic Music and it helps my cultural community to learn the values of my tradition and culture. – Anuradha Suresh
Apprenticeship Program
2026
Kuttrala Kuravanji (Tamil Folk Music)
with apprentice Akshaya Gopalakrishnan
Akshaya Gopalakrishnan will learn from Anuradha Suresh the South Indian tradition of Kuttrala Kuravanji, a Tamil music and dance-drama form that blends Carnatic music, folk melodies, poetry, storytelling, and devotional themes. Anuradha will guide Akshaya in the musical, literary, and performance elements of the tradition, including its distinctive blend of classical ragas and folk tunes, helping her build the skills and knowledge needed to master this South Indian tradition.
2024
For this apprenticeship, the goal is to focus on the individual components of Harikatha. The individual components are Storytelling and Carnatic Music. The apprentice, Amritavarshini, will be trained in each components separately, and then on how each of these components come together in Harikatha. Amritavarshini will also be trained on how to choose a story or topic for Harikatha, the research needed on the topic, the stories related to the topic, the songs that can be used as part of the storytelling and the Carnatic music aspects of singing. There will be a final presentation on the topic with all aspects of Harikatha coming together.
2020
Under ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, Anuradha will be training apprentice Nila Rajesh in the compositions of Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, a non-denominational composer of Carnatic music. Pillai wrote works of a very high caliber, but these pieces are not commonly taught to Carnatic music students or sung in the concert circuit. Anuradha plans to teach these compositions to Nila so she can present these compositions in a lecture-demonstration and/or a concert format. Anuradha will also be working on Nila’s improvisational skills, so that she can augment the technical and aesthetic aspects of her concert presentation.
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