• Vidwan Alepey Venkatesan is one of the most distinguished and respected senior Carnatic musicians of our times. He is the last direct disciple of the Late Sri Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, the leading musician of the 20th century..

•Sri Venkatesan was mentored by the all-time great mridangam maestro, Sri Palghat Mani Iyer .

•The hallmarks of his music are: fidelity to classicism, a sound voice culture based on full throated ease, primacy of gamakas, pride of place to the medium tempo and special skill in the rhythmic aspects.

•He has been acclaimed for his theme concerts, lecture-demonstrations, pallavi singing and viruthams.

•Over the last 58 years, Venkatesan has been performing at all the important fora in India and the USA as well as in other countries. His music is one of those rarities rooted in chaste tradition, and full of manodharma and innovations. His unfailing voice coupled with total, unselfconscious control over technicalities makes his rendering of even minor pieces memorable.

•His lecture-demonstrations have been lauded for diligent research, backed by his erudition in Hindu philosophy and Sanskrit literature and his facile articulation in Queen’s English. He is a bridge between the stalwarts of his previous generation of musicians and today’s younger generation of musicians. He is a former member of the Board of Studies in Music, Annamallai University.

•For several years, he was hony. president of “Sampradya”, an organization dedicated to the documentation, archiving and preservation of South Indian Music Traditions. He was hony. Secretary of the Carnatic Musicians’ Forum of India .