Rajeswari Satish (also known as Rajeswari Ranganathan) is a South Indian Carnatic vocalist. Rajeswari’s career spans over twenty five years of teaching and thirty five years of performance.
Introduced to music by her mother Smt. Vijayam Ranganathan, Rajeswari began her formal training with Sri M.A. Venugopal at the age of seven. She received the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship from the Government of India to continue her training with Sangeeta Kala Acharya Sri C.S. Krishna Iyer for the next ten years. Rajeswari then studied with Padma Bhushan Sri P.S.Narayanaswamy, acquiring nearly twenty years of rigorous training. Rajeswari has had the opportunity to learn further from other illustrious gurus such as Padma Bhushan Lalgudi Sri G. Jayaraman, Sangeetakalanidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli, Sangeeta Kala Acharya Smt. Suguna Varadachari and Sangeeta Kala Acharya Seetha Narayanan on various occasions.
As a young student in India, Rajeswari won several prestigious awards at numerous state and national level competitions. These include prizes at the Madras Music Academy, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and consecutive top prizes at the Kerala State Youth festivals. At nineteen, she began performing at All India Radio as an accredited artist. After acquiring degrees in Civil Engineering and Computer Science and a brief career in the software industry, Rajeswari chose to focus primarily on music.
Rajeswari’s performance career includes concerts at All India Radio, multiple organizations in Chennai during the December season festivals, at numerous venues in the USA (such as the Cleveland Aradhana and CMANA, New Jersey) and in the UK (such as Nehru Center, Milapfest). A prominent teacher in the NJ area, Rajeswari has trained several students all the way from foundational stages into full-fledged concert artists. Many of her students have won prestigious prizes in national level competitions. For two consecutive years, the state of New Jersey recognized Rajeswari as a master teacher by awarding the Folk Arts Apprenticeship scholarship to her student to pursue advanced training with her. Rajeswari has co-organized local music events for the community youth music organization Yuva Sangeetha Lahari. She is currently a doctoral candidate at The Graduate Center, CUNY, pursuing her research on the nāgasvaram ensemble tradition.
Guru Parampara
