T. Viswanathan Biography 
T. Viswanathan was a Carnatic flutist. Both his siblings were famous in the field of Indian art. His elder sister Balasaraswati was a celebrated Indian dancer of Bharatnatyam and a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan for her outstanding contributions to the field of dance. His elder brother T. Ranganathan was a percussionist specialized in mridangam. He was the grandson of the legendary Veena Dhanammal, the great exponent of Veena. In 1988, Viswanathan was awarded the title Sangeetha Kalanidhi by the Music Academy, Madras. He received National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts US in 1992, the first Indian musician to receive this honour.
Tanjore Viswanathan, shortly called T. Viswanathan was born into a musical family of Chennai in 1927 as the youngest of three siblings. His family has a strong background in Carnatic music. Viswanathan learnt the art of flute with many innovative techniques from Tiruppamparam Swaminatha Pillai. He played 7-hole flute innovated by Swaminatha Pillai, along with other disciples. Normally 8-hole flute is used in Carnatic music. Through the years his musical background and strong influence from other family musicians also helped him to develop a unique style in flute, with the added elements of innovative techniques by his guru.
Tanjore Viswanathan used to sing in between his performances in flute for stage concerts. He also owned numerous disciples. He taught music to Bollywood playback singer Anuradha Sriram apart from many foreign musicians - Jon B. Higgins, Douglas Knight and David Nelson. When the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray made a documentary film on their sister, Bala (1976), the brothers were associated with it. He died of a heart attack in 2002. Both his elder siblings predeceased him.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 27, 2016
