H.S. Venugopal

Hemmige Srinivasa Murthy Venugopal had his initial training under Vid. A V Prakash in Mysore and later under M S Srinivasa Murthy in Bangalore. He has the very rare recognition of a performer as both a solo performer and as an accompanying artist for over 30 years now. As a solo performer, he has performed extensively in many of the major sabhas of the state, country and abroad. To name a few - The Durbar hall in the Mysore palace in 1991, the Raj Bhavan (in a concert witnessed by her excellency Dr RamaDevi – Ex Governor of Karnataka), Ugadi music festival, Unity concerts for National integration in New Delhi organized by Madras Telugu Academy, concert organized by Dept of Kannada and Culture, Govt of Karnataka and Indian Council for cultural relations for national integration, Ramakrishna Math Colombo, Hyderabad and many other centres, Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajpet, Bangalore, Indira Nagar Sangeetha Sabha etc. He has also performed for AIR, Doordarshan and other popular TV channels like Udaya TV, E TV, Kaveri TV etc. As an accompanying artist, he has accompanied most of the reputed artists in various dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Mohini Attam, Kathakali, Kuchupudi, Yakshagana, Kavyavachana etc. He has composed music for many dance ballets, devotional music albums. He has also composed and organized music for many dramas including the ‘Mandhra’ (A drama based on the novel by Dr S L Bairappa) He has toured various countries like the USA, New Zealand, Germany, Srilanka, Kuwait, Europe, Australia etc. He has taken part in the Musica Sacra international, a musical meeting of major world religions in MarktoBerdorf, Germany and in the Rituelen festival in Tongeren, Belgium. He has many awards and titles to his credit, ‘Hamsa Puraskar’ by ‘Hamsa Jyothi’, the title ‘Sunada Vinoda’ by Sri Shiridi Sai Baba Mandir, Ulsoor, the title ‘Madhuramrutha Murali GaanaPraveena’ by Devi Bhakta Gaana Sabha, Ulsoor to name a few. He has also been felicitated by many organizations like Shantala Academy, Rasika academy etc. He has released albums like ‘Aamoda’ and ‘Chandana’ which have won the appreciation of many music critics and the hearts of many rasikas. Venugopal runs a music school called ‘Gokulam School of Music’ in Bangalore and has the credit of having numerous disciples, some of them who are performing artists.