Ramakrishnan Murthy, hailed as one of the most talented Karnatik vocalists of his generation, is known for his unswerving loyalty to tradition, wise sense of aesthetics, and sincerity in presentation. His versatility, rich repertoire, and creativity have been much appreciated by the audience and critics alike.
Ramakrishnan’s musical journey started in Irvine, California at the age of seven with his mother taking the initiative to enroll him for music lessons. What started off as his mother’s endeavor to retain connections with the Indian culture, resulted in Ramakrishnan discovering his passion and his life’s purpose – Karnatik Music.
His first guru was Smt. Padma Kutty. It was her disciplined training and unwavering belief in the importance of the fundamental lessons, along with his mother’s motivation, which made the young Ramakrishnan become gradually interested in music.
In 2001, he began to take advanced training from veteran violinist Delhi Shri. P Sunder Rajan, who inspired him to delve deeper into the nuances of Karnatik music. Ramakrishnan has also spent brief periods of time learning from Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan, CR Vaidyanathan, Vaikom Jayachandran and Chengleput Ranganathan.
After his graduation from the University of California, he moved to Chennai, India, in 2011, to pursue Karnatik music more intensely. In Chennai, he began to learn from R. K. Shriramkumar under whose tutelage Ramakrishnan blossomed as a musician and also as a performing artist.
Ramakrishnan is an A grade artist in All India Radio and Doordarshan and a regular performer in the music circuit in Chennai and across India. He was awarded the Outstanding Vocalist for four consecutive years from the Madras Music Academy and the Best Senior Vocalist in 2016.