The Web Site

Mohan Ayyar

Sangeetha Ayyar

Testimonials from around the world

The Web Site

Carnatic Corner was first established by Mohan Ayyar in 1994 in Sydney, Australia.

What started out as a small personal collection of Carnatic music information and links has grown into a large and popular international website. This site attempts to categorise the vast amount of information about Carnatic music that is available on the internet.

In 2006, Gayathri Rajkumar from The Right Hemisphere Creative Solutions, Melbourne, Australia volunteered to redesign the site. The result is a much more professional and attractive website.

Many thanks to V. Jayaraman for providing beautiful, rare photographs of some of the greatest Carnatic music maestros.

If you would like to suggest a link for this site or have any comments about the site, please free to contact us.

Mohan Ayyar

Mohan was born in Uganda and migrated to Australia with his family at a very young age. He started playing Western music 'by ear' and turned to Carnatic music at a later stage. Mohan has been regularly performing Carnatic music on the synthesizer since 1987. He has developed a unique style to be able to play the intricacies of Carnatic music on the synthesizer. This has included full-length solo concerts and concerts where he has accompanied many acclaimed vocalists and instrumentalists.

While he has taught himself to play the synthesizer, he has had vocal training from a number of artistes including Smt Uma Ayyar, Smt Prema Ananthakrishnan & Smt Hemalatha Ganeshan. Mohan is a regular performer for concerts in Sydney and other Australian cities. He has also given several concerts in Chennai. In 2000 and again in 2005, Mohan has been specially recognised by Sydney Music Circle for his contributions to Indian music.

Apart from his concerts, Mohan has composed music for a number of dance performances. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Macquarie University and is researching the composition process for the music of bharatanatyam. He has given conference papers at music conferences in Amsterdam and Mumbai.

Mohan teaches a number of young students music on the keyboard and vocal music. He is a founding member of Pallavi (www.pallavi.org) and has also written a number of articles on Carnatic music related subjects, some of which are published on this website. Mohan holds masters degrees in economics as well as business & technology.  He works for the NSW Government.  He continues to maintain Carnatic Corner. 

Sangeetha Ayyar

Sangeetha Ayyar is a talented Carnatic vocalist who has been singing for concerts and dance performances for a number of years . Sangeetha started her training in Carnatic music from a young age under her father, the late Sri. Karaikudi S. Kannan, who was a performing artiste in India. In India, she has had the fortune to come under the tutelage under leading artistes such as Smt Suguna Purosothaman and Smt Meera Nathan. She continued her music training in Sydney, Australia under Smt Uma Ayyar.

Sangeetha has won prizes for vocal music at a number of college competitions in India and has performed in All India Radio youth programs. She has given concerts in Chennai, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne and has sung for a number of dance productions. She has also tuned a number of verses for dance. Apart from her busy performance schedule, Sangeetha teaches vocal music to a number of students in Sydney.

Mohan and Sangeetha can be contacted via the contact page.

Testimonials

We surfed in for some information. We are amazed at the wealth of information. Our congrats and best wishes.
Raja and Vasanta Ramakrishnan, Chennai

Appreciate the utmost interest taken for the wonderful work available on web
Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekaran (Grand daughter of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Mudikondan C.Venkatarama Iyer)

Hello Mohan ji, I personally know you are very hard working, as I saw you do it, but after seeing your website in detail, I am pleasantly amazed... WONDERFUL....CARRY ON THIS DIVINELY INSPIRED WORK. MAY GOD GIVE YOU LONG LIFE AND HEALTH.
Vijay Venkateshwar, Chennai

It's really great effort done here for Carnatic music and it's really great and wonderful... All the Carnatic ppl like this page.. we can get lot of information regarding the carnatic music.. Here i can see the hardwork and also the affection with carnatic music... Anbudan,
Ramani Kannan, Coimbatore

This site is a great resource for Carnatic music lovers. Good work!
Umesh, Philadelphia, USA

You are the guiding beacon in matters connected to Carnatic music. May you be Blessed with a long life to carry this on & on.
Prof K. Balaram, Chennai

Great- really great. It has been many hours of divine pleasure!
ESWARI SARAVANAMUTHU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It is one of the greatest gift given by you to the Carnatic music lovers, May God bless you and give more strengths to do more like this.
V. Seetharamu, Bangalore

Your contribution for the cause of Carnatic Music is greatly appreciated. The information provided is very useful for students, as well as for rasikas. Keep up the good work.
Govindankutty Nair, California, USA

I happened to see your site again after much long time. Your work in the site shows how much dedicated you are to Carnatic Music.Today's music requires such people who are dynamic and enthusiastic like you. So Keep up the great work.
R.Vishnu Sathyanarayanan(Great Grandson of Sangita Kalanidhi Sri Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer)- Hyderabad

Thank you for a very informative website, I'm sure I will be referring back to it in the future. It is obvious you have a genuine love of Carnatic music, which is very inspiring. Thank you again!
Fiona Sherret, Sydney

I am so lucky, I got to this page today! I am a retired senior, very much interested in Carnatic music...listen a lot. .Now I want to try sing a little.. The info and links in your page are a big help...I am sure! Thanks!!!
Kesavanath Vadlamani, Florida

Dear Mohan: Congrats on your excellent and well connected home page. I am very happy to see a young person like you, brought up in a foreign land, taking so much interest in Carnatic Music. My best wishes to you.
M. Venkatachalam, Chennai

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