Ghatam Sukkanya Ramgopal - Popular lady Carnatic Ghatam artiste ,Sukkanya by her GHATA THARANG concept has brought Ghatam, which has been an accompanying instrument in carnatic music concerts, to the main platform.

REVIEWS ON GHATATHARANG PROGRAMS

"PLACE OF GHATAM IN CONCERT PLATFORM"
- THE HINDU, CHENNAI dated 23-12-1996.

“Laya Raga Sangamam was the topic of opening lecture-demonstration presented by Smt. Sukanya Ramgopal, Ghatam exponent…..a pallavi set to Adhi Thaala in mohanam was demonstrated in Vilamba,Madhyama kala and tahni avarthana sequences. Vellore Sri.Ramabhadran complimented the speaker for her involvement and hard work that was evident through this exposition.

"BRILLIANCE PAR EXCELLENCE"
- THE HINDU, BANGALORE dated 31-12-1999.

Perhaps the only ghata-woman artiste Sukanya Ramgopal thrilled the audience in H.N.Kalakshetra with an interesting laya vinniyasa on various ghatas tuned to the swara scsle of Hindola raga…..to give a successful performance with main focus on the ghata is not only demanding but also depends upon the skill and the talent of the performer. The four women ensemble led by seasoned SukanyaRamgopal demonstrated their extraordinary brilliance. The tala selected was also tricky and difficult one at that.”

"IN A WORLD OF ENCHANTMENT"
- THE HINDU, BANGALORE dated 17-08-2001

Sukanya Ramgopal is the only woman ghata player who has gained international recognition and given the ghata its status as a solo instrument. She has also pioneered the making of full-fledged ghata recitals by using different ghatas and other percussion instruments….the training under ghata mastro Vikku Vinayakaram combined with enormous talent and an innovative and youthful mind helped her to form STHREE THAAL THARANG an exclusive women’s ensemble… Ultimately it is the final or overall aesthetic effect of playing that is significant for the audience…. In this respect Sukanya Ramgopal won the game.

THE DECCANHERALD, BANGALORE
- dated 29-04 2002

Sukanya Ramgopal has carved for herself a special niche in the domain of percussion instruments….She has accompanied leading artistes but yet can on her own innovate, improvise and provide a dominant place for the instrument. Her repertoire was in full show at the BTM cultural academy, with her team named STHREE THAAL THARANG. Particular mention must be made of the way Sukanya demonstrated pallavi exposition to which the instruments lent themselves superbly.

GANA SUDHA: A FEAST FOR CARNATIC MUSIC LOVERS
THE DECCANHERALD, HUBLI - dated 25-02 2007

Music lovers of Hubli city had a gala time, thanks to the three-day music festival organized by Gana Sudha, an organization dedicated for promotion of carnatic music as a part of its silver jubilee celebrations. There was an orchestra comprising mrudanga, veena, flute, morching, violin and ghatam led by noted ghatam artiste, Vidhushi Sukkanya Ramgopal. The audience was taken to a different world…. The three-hour orchestra received a standing ovation from the audience. Ms. Ramgopal deserved all kudos for her outstanding gift to Gana Sudha’s silver jubilee celebrations.

THE DECCANHERALD, BANGALORE
- dated 31-07- 2007

In the Ghata tharang Sukanya Ramgopal played Mohana on ghatam perfectly tuned! Skillfully handling the instruments. She performed with good control.

REVIEWS ON PERFORMANCES ABROAD

FEAST OF INDIAN MUSIC IN ENGLAND,
- INDIAN EXPRESS, 21-11-1993

Ramakant, son of Vidwan R.Ksrikantan, Sukanya Ramgopal (ghatam) and T.Rukmini (violin) had a four week tour of England and Scotland giving 17 programs over aperiod of 4 weeks from Oct 17 to Nov 17. It consisted of conducting workshops, seminars and evening concerts at music faculties of various universities and polytechnics. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle, London Kingston etc. not only enjoyed the programmes but suggested that the visit should be repeated
Special note: “Saturday at Kings College, Cambridge the audience were clearly enlightened by the music and intrigued by the ghatam which has been a high point of discussion for many who attended."

M.S SHEELA and party @NY, Mar 23, 1996
By Ashok Madhav

The percussion artistes--- Sri Anoor Ananthakrishna Sarma on mridangam and Smt. Sukanya Ramgopal on ghatm(first lady ghatam player to visit the North American continent) played enthusiastically and their thani avarthanam was a treat indeed.

M.S Sheela concert in Phila, PA 25, Apr 1996

The concept of a lady ghatam player was not new to me since I had heard Sukanya Ramgopal on numerous occasions in India previously and had anticipated masterly performance.

Aravinda Pillalamarri, Columbia University 27, Mar 1996

I wished that the thani avarthanam lasted twice as long. First of all I simply can not tell how inspiring it was to see a woman play the ghatam. She was really great too. The unspoken communication between the ghatam and mridangam throughout the program was a diversion at times.

Raj Anantharaman, Atlanta 17, May 1996

M.S Sheela gave a splendid performance in Atlanta last week at the Hindu temple. The best part in the concert was the Thani avarthanam by Ananthakrishnan and Sukanya. Sukanya did a great job supporting Sheela on the ghatam. It makes us feel proud that a female has mastered this piece of art (which has been male dominated for a long time) and also excel in it… Great…

REVIEWS ON PERFORMANCES IN INDIA

SUBBUDU in IDHAYAM PESUGIRATHU (TAMIL WEEKLY) 11-03-1979

In Hemalatha Mani’s veena concert the mridangam artist Mannargudi Rajagopalan and the young girl who played ghatam (grand daughter of U.V.Swaminathaiyer) played excellently.

DINA MANI (tamil daily) CHENNAI 26-12-1986

U.Srinivas created whatever possible innovations in Mandolin in the 7 o’ clock concert. For this program A.Kanyakumari’s violin , K.V.Prasad’s mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal’s ghatam was a very good support.

TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI dated 11-10-1988

Neyyattingara Vasudevan, a pupil of the celebrity Vidwan Semmangudi Srinivasaiyer gave the opening concert at All India Radio’s sammalan in Bombay…… The percussion support was by Mavellikara S.R.Raju on the mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal on ghatam. A woman playing the ghatam caused something of a flutter, her commanding tone and mastery over the instrument made her a distinctive performer.

TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI dated 24-10-1989
U.Srinivas Mandolin, Shanmukananda Hall, Oct 13, 1989

…. A novel feature of the concert was the ghatam accompaniment by a female artiste. Sukanya Ramgopal exhibited admirable dexterity and fluency while handling this difficult percussion instrument and her solos during during the thani avarthanam were well appreciated. She has a bright future.

TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI dated 27-05-1990

Mani Krishnaswami was in the city after a gap of about nine months to sing in the annual day celebrations of Bhakta Rasiga Ranjani Sabha. ….. Rajasekar on mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal on ghatam began their percussion interlude in which Sukanya Ramgopal outclassed the mridangam player

THE HINDU, HYDERABAD , October 1994

It was a rare sight to see a lady artist Mrs. Sukanya Ramgopal playing with confidence and competence on the ghatam in the saxophone concert of Sh. Kadri Gopalnath.

THE HINDU, CHENNAI 20-12-1996

In the evening, K.Omanakutty delighted the audience with refined, cultivated interpretation of ragas and songs. Trichur Ravi on the mridangam exuberantly packed the recital with appropriate laya patterns. It is Sukanya Ramgopal who made the ghatam tunefully and tersely enchanting, which stole the show during thani avarthanam.

KALKI (TAMIL WEEKLY) 13-02-2000

…in places like MULUND, GHATKHOPAR, DOMBIVILI and other places in Mumbai where Sukanya Ramgopal provided ghatam support to the concert of Nithyasree Mahadevan might not have expected such a roaring reception for her in Mumbai. She has stolen the hearts of the audience by her ghatam palying

THE HINDU, BANGALORE, dated 13-06-2003

It was a fitting rhythmic finale to the recently concluded 22 nd annual five day THAALAVADYOTHSAVA 2003 under the aegis of the PERCUSSIVE ARTS CENTRE. After receiving the prestigious Palghat Mani Iyer award ghata wizard T.H.Vinayakaram sent the audience at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall in to raptures with his ensemble of percussionists. He has countless disciples among whom Karnataka’s Sukanya Ramgopal has won world wide acclaim. It was indeed a warm moment to see her sit next to her guru on stage and rising to the occasion in exhibiting her extraordinary skill. As usual she drew the attention of the audience with her powerful and precise strokes.

THE HINDU, CHENNAI 31-12-2004

R.Vedavalli’s concert for the Music Academy provided considerable musical and scholarly grist to engage the minds and the hearts of the rasikas. She was supported on the violin by R.K.Sriramkumar, Neyveli Narayanan on the mridangam and on the ghatam, perhaps the only popular lady exponent, Sukanya Ramgopal. Neyveli Narayanan has earned recognition in the concert sphere as a mridangist of caliber and his thani avarthanam with Sukanya Ramgopal equally proficient reverberated with vibrancy, enthusiasm and laya meticulousness.