Biography

Kasim-Babu is a professional instrumentalist duo based out of the capital of Tamil Nadu, Chennai. The brothers hail from Karavadi village, Andhra Pradesh.  They belong to a great family of musicians which conserved and fostered the art of Nadhaswaram playing for more than 300 years. Being blood brothers, they had the rare opportunity of getting trained in this art at a very young age, under one roof; their mentor being their own grandfather, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr Sheik Chinna Moulana.  The brothers have accompanied Dr Sheik Chinna Moulana for many of his concerts throughout India and foreign countries. Kasim-Babu has been presenting duet Nadhaswaram concerts for more than 15 years.  They have visited countries like Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Germany, Russia, UAE, France, Malaysia, Finland and earned accolade in their concerts.  The brothers undertook a three months concert tour of US and Canada in 2006. They played the inaugural show at the Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival at Cleveland in 2006 and the Chicago Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival. The concerts were very well-received and acclaimed by the audience and the media.  The brothers have accompanied their grandfather in several audio- cassettes and CDs. They have also released their own duet audio tapes and CDs as well.  Kasim also took care to qualify himself academically; he is the proud student of St Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, obtaining his BSc (Physics) degree in 1982.  The brothers are running a school, Saradha Nadhaswara Sangeetha Ashram, founded by their grandfather, with the primary objective of imparting Nadhaswaram training to the younger generation. Kasim-Babu has established a Trust in memory of their Guru and grandfather called Dr Chinnamoulana Memorial Trust. The prime purpose of the trust is to globalise the importance of Nadhaswaram music.