Rudrapatna Keshavamurthy Suryanarayan was born in Mysore in a family steeped in the tradition of veena playing: the son of Asthana Vidwan R.S. Keshavamurthy, he had the privilege of performing as a child prodigy of 7 in the Mysore Durbar of His Highness Jayachamaraja Wadiyar. That marked the down of a new sun in the realm of veena playing, and true to his name, Suryanarayan has since been shining in all his brilliance on the musical horizon. Trained by his illustrious father according to the tenets of guru-shishya parampara with single-minded Sadhana for 18 hours a day - a year later in 1952 he emerged from his Gurukul a radiant and luminous veena exponent to dazzle audiences far and wide.

He has been broadcasting since 1958 and has figured in the Radio Sangeet Sammelan 5 times to date. As one of the most popular and sought after performers in the country, Suryanarayan has performed not only at the sabhas and all major Sangeet Sammelans in the country but his concert tours have extended to the Middle East, the Far East, Europe, North and South America and Canada.

His veena virtuosity has earned him encomiums from adorning audiences. Heads of State and Mathadipatis alike. As a multifaceted musical genius, he is a versatile veena exponent, a consummate composer and still a charmingly charismatic personality despite all honors showered upon him.

The Gayathri Veena which is the instrument of Suryanarayan's eminence is in itself an heirloom which he has inherited from his father along with the family's artistic traditions extending back over 350 years. Besides its 7 main strings, it has 17 sympathetic strings whose resonance enhances its melodious tones with a unique orchestral harmony.

Suryanarayan has evolved a masterly technique of his own in playing all ten figures to reproduce mellifluous music encompassing Ragams, Tanams, Pallavis and Kritis which are the very acme of artistry in the art of Veena.

The music presented here is a super selection from the works of Thyagaraja and some of the compositions of Suryanarayan himself.