Chennai :

R Krishnaswamy, secretary of the famous Narada Gana Sabha, passed away in the city on Wednesday. He was 79 and is survived by his wife and two sons.

“The end came at 3am at a Mylapore hospital. His body will be cremated on Thursday,” said sabha treasurer M Ravichandran.

A lawyer, Krishnaswamy was one of those responsible for establishing the sabha in 1958 and since then has been the secretary.

A classmate of veteran actor Cho S Ramaswamy, Krishnaswamy was responsible for introducing plays at the sabha and also helped popularize namasankeerthans during the music seasons.

“Krishnaswamy was among the trinity of sabha secretaries along with R Yegnaraman of Krishna Gana Sabha and Rajagopal of Karthik Fine Arts who contributed towards the growth of the December music season over the years,” said Krishna Gana Sabha secretary Y Prabhu.

He strived to get land for the sabha in the initial days and partnered Indian Overseas Bank in constructing the building. It was due to his personal interest that the sabha hosted several programmes throughout the year, said Prabhu.

“It is great loss to the Carnatic music world. Krishnaswamy had good words for youngsters which was a great encouragement,” said vocalist Sudha Ragunathan.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / March 19th, 2015