Carnatic vocalist T S Ramaa no more

Well-known Carnatic vocalist and ‘A’ Grade artiste of All India Radio (AIR) Prof T S Ramaa breathed her last at a city hospital after a brief illness on Monday night. She was 70.

Ramaa began learning Carnatic music when she was barely three years old under Jayam-Bhagyam sisters and later trained under Prof V Ramaratnam of Mysuru, Seethalakshmi Venkateshan and Suganda Raman.

She continued to learn music through her school, college and even after acquiring a post graduate degree in History and Carnatic music (she was among the first batch of PG students of Carnatic music in Mysuru in 1972).

She was head of the department of music at APS College, Bengaluru and helped establish the PG music course at Jain University.

Ramaa was conferred with the title 'Ganakalasri' by Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2006. She won the DD Chandana award in Carnatic music in 2017.

Her brother S Raghu told DH, “she never craved for awards or hankered after any position. She was popular for her traditional style and authentic presentation.” Ramaa sang for AIR for 45 years.

Prabhavathi Srinivasan and her daughter Madhuri Srinivasan, who learnt music from Ramaa, said she was an inspiration to them.

“She was an authority in the rendition of Puranadaradasa sahitya. Her flawless ‘alapanas’ and ‘kalpanaswarams’ were the epitome of her concerts,” said Prabhavathi.