The State’s Carnatic music fraternity has yet another feather in its cap, courtesy three musicians who have been invited to participate in ‘The world masters festival in arts and culture’ to be held in Seoul, Korea, from October 1 - 5. The three musicians are Rudrapatna Keshavamurthy Prakash (vocalist and veena maestro), Vid. C Cheluvaraju (mridangam) and Vid. Dayanand Mohite (ghatam).

The Korean government started the world masters festival in arts and culture to promote unity through cultural diversity from across the world. The festival invites artistes of repute who have researched exclusively and worked extensively in traditional arts their countries. These artistes are then conferred with the title ‘world master’.

What makes this world festival special is that classical musicians from as many as 45 countries come together on one platform to present to the world, the music that is unique to their respective nations. And the three musicians from Karnataka — R K Prakash, C Cheluvaraju and Dayanand Mohite — who have been chosen for this prestigious event, have not only done the State proud, but also the entire country, for it is the first time that India has been invited to participate.

Born in 1954, R K Prakash is the son of veena exponent R S Keshavamurthy, who was also his guru. Keshavamurthy, himself the disciple of one of the great maestros Veena Bakshi Subbanna, was also the ‘Asthana Maha Vidwan’ in the court of Mysore ruler Nalvadi Krishnaraj Wodeyar. Prakash who started training at the age of five, has been performing for the last 45 years! With several awards to his credit, Prakash is also the ‘asthana vidwan’ at Sringeri Math.

C Chelevaraju has been playing the mridangam for the last 40 years, since his initiation into music as a 11-year-old boy. An Akashavani ‘A’ grade artiste, he is the disciple of late Vid Subbu. Cheluvaraju is of the opinion that classical music is all about melody. “It is heartening to note that musicians today have good opportunities,” he says. He is the ‘asthana vidwan’ of Sosale Vyasaraja Math. Dayanand Mohite is among the very few ghatam players that Karnataka has produced.

This rare talent was honed by guru M Vasudev Rao. “Classical music is the only antidote to soothe a tired mind,” says Mohite. He also teaches mridangam and ghatam to aspiring young musicians.

The three musicians will perform at the world masters festival in Seoul on October 3, on the occasion of ‘Asian Day’, when they will present to the world glimpses into the rich heritage and tradition of Carnatic music. The three musicians may be contacted at: 26500227 (Prakash); 23328361 (Cheluvaraju); 23211578 (Mohite).