Srinath Bala is a versatile percussionist with varied styles blended rhythmically into one!
Having been initiated by Late Sri. Krishnan (Palghat Sri Mani Iyer style), he received intensive guidance under Sri. R. Ramesh (Karaikudi Mani Style) in Chennai, and later, under Maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman. To his credit, he has uniquely combined the Kanakku (Mathematical) and Naadam (Melodic) aspects of the Mridangam Instrument from various gurus.
He has accompanied the topmost senior artists performing in India, Canada, Zambia, Singapore and the US, and also played in Jugalbandis and TalaVadya Concerts to showcase the solo percussion aspects. He has various recordings and has given lecture- demonstrations on ‘LAYAM’. In 2006, he presented a TalaVadya concert titled “Music Through Membranes”. Being a recipient of the PG Arts award and MSAC Artist Awards, he has over 25 years of concert experiences and is a extremely well sought after artist for Music and Dance Concerts.
A few of the artists he has performed with include –
- Sangeetha Kalanidhi Late Smt. Mani Krishnaswamy
- Sangeetha Chudamani Late. Violin Smt. T. Rukmini
- Sangeetha Kalanidhi Late. Sri. R. K. Srikantan
- Late Flute Maestro Sri. T. S. Sankaran
- Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri. Trichur Ramachandran
- Ganakalashree Smt. M.S. Sheela
- Kalaimamani Sri. Sirkali G. Sivachidambaram
- and many others.
He has been teaching students for many years and successfully trained many students, who currently play Mridangam, Ghatam, and Kanjira actively in various music circles.