Teachers Profile

Srimathi Divya Syamkumar hails from Kerala, India, where she began her journey in music. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from the RIV College of Music and Fine Arts, which is affiliated to MG University. Srimathi Divya is a seasoned artiste who has performed in top music institutions including Swathi Thirunal Sangetha Saba, Guruvayoor Chembai Music Festival and in the FM channels. She has also performed at various concerts and temples in India and Singapore. She has been a judge for several music competitions, including Melody Asia and community programmes. Patience in teaching is Srimathi Divya’s added asset.

Srimathi Thenmozhi Anand graduated with a B.A. Degree from the Government Music College, Thiruvaiyaru in 2001. Subsequently, she completed her Teachers’ Training course in the Government Music College, Coimbatore. Srimathi Thenmozhi had won several music competitions in her college. She has also performed in many temples in India and Singapore. Srimathi Thenmozhi has worked in many schools as a veena teacher and has over 15 years of experience teaching veena. Srimathi Thenmozhi has been teaching veena at the Senpagam Music and Dance Academy for the past six (6) years.

Sri Trichy L Saravanan is a BA graduate in Indian music from the University of Madras. He was a flute lecturer in Tamilnadu Government Music College, Chennai. Sri Saravanan bagged the first prize in the All-India Radio Flute Competition, received the gold medal in the Calcutta Youth Festival, was bestowed the prestigious Service Flutist award from the Chennai Music Academy, received the Senior Fellowship from the Dept. of Culture, Govt of India for research onthe Carnatic fluteand several awards from music sabhas all over India including the Yuvakalabharathy from Bharat Kalachar. He has accompanied Padma Vibushan Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and guru Padmashri Dr. N. Ramani on world tours. He has given flute-santoor and flute-sitar recitals with renowned artistes of India. He alsosingle-handedly scored music to the poetry of Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalamfor a cultural concert in his presence during his visit to Singapore.

Sri Chandra Sekaran did an advanced course in tabla at the Temple of Fine Arts under the tutelegeof Sri Nawaz Mirajkar a senior tabla teacher from India. Sri Nawaz vouches that Sri Chandra has a very good foundation in music, both in theory as well as practical. While at the Temple of Fine Arts Sri Chandra became a qualified tabla teacher for tabla students. He hastrained many students and performed in many primary & secondary schools, community clubs, National Day celebrations, ttemples and concerts. He is an active participant, contributing to the performing arts, often accompanying artistes from India.

Srimathi Sharanya Ravi was a disciple of Padmabhushan Sri V.P Dhananjayan and Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan, whose style of dance is Kalakshetra. Sharanya is a recipient of the “Natyapoorna”, an award presented on the Golden Jubilee year of Bharatakalanjali (1968-2018), the dance institution run by Sri V P Dhananjayan and Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan. Srimathi Sharanya has performed on various stages in Chennai, Bangalore, U.S.A., and Kuala Lumpur. She has been part of various productions by Guru Dhananjayans. She has also been part of a unique production of Radhika Shurajit that had a theme revolving around “ThiraiyilBharatham”. Sharanya hails from a culturally strong family of musicians and artistes. Learning Bharathanatyamsince the tender age of 7, Sharanya completed her arrange tram in 2005 Winner of several competitions one of which includes “Thaka Dhimi Tha“, a unique show that focussed on Bharathanatyam telecasted on Jaya TV. She hosted the show “Natyanjali” on Vasanth TV in Chennai that aimed to encourage budding artistes in the field of Bharathanatyam. Srimathi Sharanya is also trained in Carnatic vocal music. SrimathiSharanya teaches Bharatanatyam to students of all age groups at the Senpagam Music and Dance Academy at the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple.

Srimathi Rahini Ganesan started learning dance under Mrs Jayalakshmi Kandiah in Kala Mandir, Singapore. She then continued her training in the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society under the highly respected & talented Srimathi Shanta Ponnudurai and did her “Arangetram” (dance debut) in 1993 under her guidance. She also obtained her Diploma in Bharathanatyam from the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society. She took part in the Singapore Arts Festival in 1990 in a performance titled “Silappathigaram” and played the lead role of “Kovalan”. Her other notable performance includes “Sangamitra” in 1995 under doyenne the Dhananjayans’ of Chennai, who are graduates of Kalakshetra. Srimathi Rahini continually upgrades herself by attending dance workshops and classes held by renowned artistes locally and abroad to further her experience in various dance forms and styles while training and developinga new generation of accomplished and versatile dancers. Srimathi Rahini has been choreographing Indian dance for more than 26 years. She has been training students for the Singapore Youth Festival and International Arts Festivals from 2006 to 2019 and has received Honours with Gold, Gold with Distinction & Silver medals each and every year.Srimathi Rahini Ganesan joined Senpagam Music & Dance Academy in July 2022.

Selvi Kaavya Ganeshan has been learning dance for over 15 years. Her first Bharathanatyam guru was Guru Swarna Varsha. SelviKaavya is curently doing her Diploma in Bharathanatyamat the Bhaskar’s Arts Academy. She has performed in several concerts as well as on television.

Sri S Devarajan was an ace student of Guru R Krishnamurthy who taught at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS). Later Sri Devarajan trained under Guru T K Murthy. Sri Devarajan has accompanied many leading artistes in Australia, France, India, Japan, London, Turkey, the USA, Malaysia and Singapore. He has also accompanied several accomplished composers such as Dr L Subramaniam, Mohan Vaithya, T V Gopala Krishnan, and the late Kunnakudi Vaithyanathan. Devarajan has two titles to his credit: Singa Laya Gnanavisharad & Sangita Kala Nipuna. He is also the music instructor at ACS Independent and Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre.

Sri Venkataraman Sivakumar has been living in Singapore for the past 15 years. Born into a culturally strong family of musicians and artistes, Sri Sivakumar has been learning classical Indian violin from the age of four (4) and has been awarded the best child violinist award twice by the Government of India. Sri Sivakumar received his Diploma in Violin from the Indian Technical Education College for Arts. He was a violin tutor in SYAMA Music Academy, Singapore, for a short period and undertakes individual private violin lessons as well. Sri Sivakumar regularly performs in concerts in Singapore and accompanies leading artistes in India. He is part of the Singapore Indian Orchestra & Choir. He teaches violin for Singapore school goers who take violin as a co-curricular activity. Playing the violin is Sri Sivakumar’s passion and hobby. Sri Sivakumar is a Ministry of Education (MOE) accredited vocal and violin instructor.

Srimathi Manjula Raghunath graduated from Bangalore University in 1996. She has been serving in the field of education teaching Hindi to both adults and children for the past 17 years. She has been imparting her knowledge of Hindi to students of various levelsin countries like India, South Africa and Singapore. Srimathi Manjula has won awards for being an exemplary Hindi speaker in debates and forums. Her essays have been published in various magazines and newspapers. She had also received the highest accolades for Hindi during her school and college days. She is inspired by the opportunity to teach a new language to people and the interactions with them keepher motivated to serve better, Currently Srimathi Manjula teaches spoken and written Hindi to adults and children in Singapore. She has been teaching Hindi to adults and children of all age groups at the Senpagam Music and Dance Academy since 2006.