Urmila Varma
Urmila Varma () often credited as Urmila, is a Malayali singer who has made her mark in various MusicAL festivals and competitions, bagging several awards. She has several recorded songs to her credit in Malayalam. In a remarkable career spanning over 15 years, Urmila Varma has proven herself the consummate music artist.
Personal life
Urmila was born into a musically gifted family. A few days after her birth in Thrissur, her family moved to their native town, Thiruvalla. Urmila's musical talent was recognized and nurtured from an early age by her father, Krishna Kumar Varma. He, being a talented singer himself, would sing to her all the time. As a result, Urmila started singing at the tender age of three.
Urmila lives in Troy, Michigan, with her family.
Childhood
Urmila spent her entire childhood in Thiruvalla. After her primary school education, Urmila attended the Govt. UPGS School, and later, the M.G.M. High School.
Education and Career
When she was in the fifth grade, Urmila participated in the Kerala State School Youth Festival. The Youth Festival is a state-wide competition to identify and honor talented young artists. During the next six years, she continued her participation in the Festival. While she contested in the classical/light music category during the first three years, the next three years saw her competing in the classical and Kathakali Sangeetham category. While doing the sixth grade in school, she bagged a "B Grade" in the classical music competition. Subsequently, while in the ninth and tenth grades in high school, she won the third and second places, respectively, for Kathakali Sangeetham.
While still in the ninth grade, Urmila was honored as the "Kala Thilakam" (best overall female contestant) at the District Youth Festival.
After school, Urmila joined the College for Women in Thiruvananthapuram (University of Kerala) to pursue her higher education. She got enrolled in the undergraduate course with major in music, with Veena as sub. While here, she received extensive training in Carnatic music from Dr. K. Omanakutty, and participated in the University Youth Festival. During this time, she was a major performer in the "Aalapanam" program series, which was telecast locally through the Malayalam TV channel, by India's government-run television broadcaster, Doordarshan.
During 1994, Urmila won the first position in a music competition conducted by the national-government-run All India Radio (AIR) in Thiruvananthapuram, which fetched her a position as a 'B Grade' Artist at AIR. This feat also qualified her to compete at the national level for even higher rankings. At the national level competition held in 1994 by AIR in Vijayawada, Urmila finished at the second position behind Sunitha Upadrashta, who went on to become a popular playback singer in the Telugu Film Industry.
During this time, Urmila won the first place in the first season of Gandharva Sangeetham, a popular Music Talent search show on Kairali TV.
After successfully completing the undergraduate degree in music, Urmila continued her studies pursuing her Master's Degree in music. In 1998, during the final year of her master's degree course, Urmila won the first position for light music at the Kerala University Youth Festival which was held in Cherthala, Kerala. The same year, having cleared a comprehensive music test, the All India Radio designated her as an 'A' Grade Artist.
During this time, Urmila was a regular performer on the Lalitha Sangeetha Paatham (light music lessons) program broadcast by the All India Radio, singing several songs composed by the renowned musician Shri M G Radhakrishnan.
In 2007, Urmila won the first place in the FOKANA music competition in the female category. During the same year, she recorded songs for the album Vismaya, along with lead singer Sreevalsan J Menon.
And so the legend continues...
Discography
2007 - Vismaya - Emotional Expressions: with Sreevalsan J Menon and Bini Panicker.
This album is an integration of six songs and an instrumental music, each with its own individuality and inimitability. The emotions, feelings, sentiments and passion depicted in these songs are varied and distinct. These characteristics have been amplified by supportive orchestration. Produced and Copyright owned by Sathyam Audios. CDs are available at all leading music stores in Kerala. Or contact +91 484 2362242.
References
- News article in The Hindu on album release
- Album info at MalayalaSangeetham portal
- Artist Profile at MalayalaSangeetham portal