Sri Bhagavatalu Seetarama Sarma is a musician of high rank in classical music and composition, and an “A” grade musician of All India Radio-Madras for both light and classical music. Both as a concert musician and conductor of the ballet troupe at Kalakshetra, he has received high praise from the press all over India and abroad. His musical scores have also been greatly acclaimed. In 1961, he composed and produced a dance drama entitled “The Song of Harvest” for the summer drama festival in New Delhi. His innate talent saw fruition during 23 years of service at Kalakshetra. He composed ballets for Smt. Rukmini Devi-Arundale such as Meenakshi Kalyanam in Tamil, and Ajamailopakyanam and Kurmavataram in Sanskrit. He has also produced musical operas for All India Radio (AIR). His compositions, like “Thiruneelakanta Nayanar” and “Bhagavad Gita,” have been produced as dance dramas. Sri Sarma composed and choreographed “RITU,” which was presented by Kalapeetham students at I.T.I. Madras. He also participated and worked in Paris with the world a famous ballet choreographer and producer, Maurice Bejant, in connection with the festival of the 200th year anniversary of the French Revolution in 1989. He has successfully established the Kalapeetham School in India, U.S.A. and Singapore, and has produced accomplished graduates of both music and dance.
In 2007, he received the TDK award from the Music Academy of Chennai. Sri Sarma has also received such honors as the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Asthana Vidwan and the Telugu Gaana Nrithya Rachana Kalavidha Rathna award, of the Telugu Brahma Maha Sabha in Chennai. And this year he has received the Ugaadi Puraskar award.
