Houston Privileged with First School of Sitar
By Kalyani Giri
Last updated: June 12, 2009

From L to R: Ann DeLay, Dr. Anasuya Devi, Srinivas Koumounduri, Seetha Devi, Drs. Lauren and Shuvir Bhattacharya.

HOUSTON: Musicians, music lovers, and well wishers, gathered this past weekend at the grand opening celebration of this city’s first music school dedicated exclusively to the teaching of the stringed instrument, the sitar. After over 30 years of teaching the sitar to avid aficionados, musician Srinivas Koumounduri formally inaugurated the Srinivas School of Music at its Harwin location on June 6, 2009. As guests congratulated Koumounduri, others enquired about the school’s teaching schedule, some registering for classes in the traditional Hindustani classical style that he teaches. Koumounduri, his students, and some guest artistes, treated gatherees to a short concert of vocal and instrumental classical and light music. Guests of Honor were eminent Andhra folk singers Dr. Anasuya Devi and Seetha Devi who blessed Koumounduri, and as a mark of respect, the former draped him with an ornate shawl.

Koumounduri’s history with the sitar goes way back, when as a little boy, he began taking instruction in the art from his first guru, his father Koumounduri Venkata Chary, and later from older brother Koumounduri Narasimha Chary. His current guru is Pandit Atmaram Sharma of Hyderabad from whom he still receives ongoing tutelage. Koumounduri, who has been long associated music-wise with local music duo Chandrakantha Courtney and Dr David Courtney, travels extensively and offers workshops in several European cities annually. While at college in Hyderabad, Koumounduri studied languages. His ability to converse fluently in German, Russian, Arabic, and Japanese (aside from Hindi and his native Telugu) has made him extremely popular and a much sought-after teacher in those countries and locally.

Over the past three decades, Koumounduri has been teaching at the homes of his students, some of who live clear across the city in Clear Lake and the Woodlands. “Driving long distance has taken its toll on me. So this idea of having actual premises for my music school is practical. My thanks to my wife Ann DeLay for encouraging and supporting me so enthusiastically, and to my friends David Courtney, Dr. Shuvir Bhattacharya, and Krishna Giri for advising me and supporting me in my decisions,” said Koumounduri.