Violinist and guru, Smt Savithri Sathyamurthy passed away this morning in Bangalore.
She accompanied many leading musicians and was guru to many modern stars like P. Unnikrishnan and RK Shriramkumar. Sincere condolences to her family, friends and students.
As an old Mumbaite and a close friend of the family(Savitri has accompanied my sister for concerts in Bombay in the early fifties)- I offer--on behalf of the members of my family-- my heartfelt condolences to the family.
Savitri lived in Matunga not far from our house-- so that there would be frequent practice sessions.Her late husband Mr.Satyamurthy was a great but quiet supporter of her music).Another unifying factor was my sister also learned from KVN and Savitri's influence on the vocalists she accompanied was immense-- she epitomised Rajamanikkam Pillai's concise and mellifluos style-Mumbai artistes in the Fifties and Sixties(Savitri,Bombay sisters--Aruna Sairam came later) did not get their due recognition in the Chennai Sabhas--yet Savitri persevered and established herself as a great teacher in Chennai.
Her daughter Anuradha trained by KVN is an excellent singer and I have heard KVN speaking highly of her skills(KVN was a tough taskmaster in his own gentle ways!!) and although I have not heard her in the US I have heard of her excellent teaching skills in Houston which I presume she still lives!!
Yes MKR. Anuradha still lives in Houston. You forgot to mention that she is an excellent dancer as well. I have known her from the 70s when the family lived in Toronto.
Savithri Sathyamurthy or Chabbi as we used to fondly call her was neighbour, family friend and in a way my first music teacher. I learnt the basics on her lap, so to speak. Our apartments were opposite each other and we literally lived with our doors open, wandering in and out at will. The last time I saw her was more than 10 years ago when I was visiting my parents in Mumbai and she dropped in for a visit as well. I will always remember her as this lively, bright person with her catchy laugh. The world loses one more special person, musician this year. RPI Chabbi
My deepest condolences.I have heard her accompanying Dr.S.R in many concerts in the 80's and also others.Even sAketarAman learned from her initially,I think.
I have been present in many of her teaching sessions. I had observed and marvelled how great a teacher she was. Her devotion to Dr S R and his teaching methods were remarkable and sincere.
Unbelievably, I saw this only just now. I pray that her soul may rest in peace. Savithri ji only performed with me once but used to regularly call me as soon as she heard a radio / tv broadcast of mine. She also shared a lot about how she learnt many OVK compositions directly from Shri Needamangalam Krishnamurthy Bhagavatar during his visits to Bombay. She had taught a few of these to disciples like Shri Unnikrishnan.
