Charu Hariharan

A percussionist, singer, and composer, Charu Hariharan is a multi-faceted musician with a musical lineage. Born in 1989 in Kerala, India she started learning South Indian Classical music initially from her grandfather Sri. Bhagavatheeswara Iyer and later from her mother and renowned singer, Dr. B. Arundhathi. She started learning Mridangam under her guru Sri. Mannarkoil J. Balaji from the age of 10. She was the first female to win the CCRT scholarship for Mridangam and started performing in concerts at the age of 14. She started traveling abroad since 2005, accompanying her mother on Khanjira (south Indian frame drum) for a tour in Lagos, Nigeria. Since then, she has been collaborating with various artists around the globe. She played mridangam and khanjira in the quartet named ‘O! Shakuntala led by Master Slide Guitarist and Grammy Nominee Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya. In the same year, Charu also received a scholarship to participate in the world music camp in Sweden called the ‘Ethno Sweden’ and she was one of the 6 participants among 110, and the first Indian to be chosen for the Ethno on the Road concert series. She was invited to participate in a Youth Music Exchange Project in Sweden in 2012 and was mentored by the Folk Music Maestro Ale Möller. She is a member of the World Folk Ensemble band ‘Varldens Band’ consisting of 14 musicians from 6 different countries and have been touring extensively in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, UK, and Scotland since 2013. The band has been nominated twice for the World and Folk Music Awards, Sweden. Charu has performed with famous artists such as Ale Moller (SWE), Mat s Öberg (SWE), Rene Lacaille and Marco Lacaille (FRA), Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, Stephen Devassy, Jonas Knutsson (SWE) M. Jayachandran, Mattannur Sankarankutty, Dr. K. Omanakutty, Karunamoorthy, Balabhaskar, Santhosh Chandran, to name a few. She has conducted Masterclass at the prestigious Taller d Musics Jazz school in Barcelona on An introduction to South Indian Rhythms Charu is also endorsed by Gappu Percussions , a pioneering percussion company in India.