Ranjani-Gayatri


Ranjani and Gayatri are sisters who are Carnatic vocalists and violinists. Their work includes studio recordings, television, radio, concerts, festivals and lecture demonstrations. They have appeared as soloists, violin duos, accompanists, vocal duos, composers, and educators of Indian Classical Music.

Early life

Ranjani and Gayatri were born to N. Balasubramanian and Meenakshi. Born into a Tamil family deeply involved in classical music, Ranjani and Gayatri's musical talents were discovered at a very early age. 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. They started their violin training at the early age of nine and six respectively from Sangita Bhushanam Prof. T.S. Krishnaswami at the Shanmukhananda Sangeeta Vidyalaya, Mumbai.

As violin duet artists

Ranjani and Gayatri started their musical journey as violinists before they reached their teens, performing in sabhas around India and abroad. Besides playing the violin duet, they have also performed with musicians such as Smt.D.K.Pattammal, Sri M Balamurali Krishna, T.Vishwanathan.

As vocal artists

The sisters have given vocal concerts since 1997, after they became students of Padma Bhushan Sangeeta Kala Acharya P. S. Narayanaswamy. Ranjani and Gayatri perform songs in languages including Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati, in the genre of traditional "Carnatic" music.

As composers

Ranjani and Gayatri also compose music. Most of the Abhangs they sing at the end of their concerts have been set to music by the sisters. They have also set many other thukkada pieces, including bhajans. Here is a list of some of the songs set by the sisters:
Ranjani and Gayatri have various albums to their credit. Here is a list of some of the albums that have been released: