Sikkil Gurucharan – Leading Carnatic vocalist of present generation

Sikkil Gurucharan is a young Carnatic singer from Chennai, and currently one of the most promising young talents. He belongs to a musical family of top flautists though he chose vocals as profession. His career was diverted to vocal music by none other than his immediate family members – Sikkil Sisters, of whom Sikkil Kunjumani is his grandmother. They also gave him initial lessons of Carnatic music, and later formally introduced him to Vaigal Shri S. Gnanaskandan, who gave him rigorous training in vocal music. Apart from his live concerts in India and abroad, he owns a few musical albums to his credit.

Sikkil Gurucharan was born in 1982 in Chennai into a family of flautists. He belongs to the fourth generation of musicians. Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar is his maternal aunt (Neela’s daughter). He was initially given musical lessons by his grandmother and grandaunt at the age of 5. Sikkil sisters especially Neela (his maternal aunt) got deeply impressed by his singing range and perfection of notes, and it was their decision to divert him to Carnatic vocals rather than following family tradition of flute instrument. For a brief period in which he stayed in Hyderabad with his family, he was given musical lessons by his mother. In 1990 when the family returned to Chennai, Sikkil Sisters sent him to Vaigal Shri S. Gnanaskandan for musical lessons.

He gave his first public performance in 1994 at the age of 12, and later went on to become successful among Carnatic musicians of present times. He is also a recipient of countless awards and prizes for his singing talent including Yuva Kala Bharathi by Bharat Kalachar and Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. In collaboration with well-known pianist Anil Srinivasan, he has created some wonderful musical pieces which received wide acclaim. The duo also released several hit albums.

Sikkil Gurucharan – Some interesting and unknown facts

1. Till today, he doesn’t know how to play the flute, though he belongs to a family of famed flautists.

2. He is the first Carnatic vocalist in a family of flautists.

3. He is an ‘A’ grade artist at All India Radio.

4. India Today listed his name among 35 Game Changers Under (the age of) 35 in India in 2010.

5. He had a brief stint as a radio jockey at Worldspace Radio soon after completing his post-graduation studies.

6. He took up music seriously only after college, and till then he concentrated on studies and was brilliant in academics too.

7. During his early days, he got opportunity to sing a prayer song at a concert where music legends, Lalgudi Jayaraman and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer were present. As he practised well, he performed well too, and he didn’t find anything special in it. But his grandmother became very emotional.

8. As Sikkil Sisters married the same man and lived happily together, he called both of them as grandmothers.