Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath (also known as AVR) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist from Bengaluru, Karnataka. She is an AâÂÂgrade artiste with All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Raghunath began her training in Carnatic music at the age of three. She received foundational instruction from Smtâ¯Seethalakshmi Venkatesan and later advanced her studies under Padma Bhushan Shriâ¯P.â¯S.â¯Narayanaswamy, Sangeetha Kala Sagaram Smtâ¯Vegavahiniâ¯Vijayaraghavan, and Vidwan Shriâ¯R.â¯K.â¯Shriramkumar, deeply rooted in the Semmangudi and Veena Dhanammal banis.
She gave her first solo public performance at age thirteen.
Raghunath has performed at major venues including the Madras Music Academy, Shanmukhananda Hall (Mumbai), Bangalore Gayana Samaj, Rabindra Mandap (Bhubaneswar), IISc Bengaluru, IIT Madras, and University of Miami.
In 2018, she undertook a twoâÂÂmonth concert tour across the United States and Canada under the aegis of the Carnatic Music Association of North America (CMANA).
Her performances have been critically acclaimed, with The Hindu praising her handling of MahÃÂbhÃÂp and manodharma in ragas like Begada and Poorvikalyani.
Raghunath's performances have been featured in national media such as The Hindu, where critics highlighted her "classicism and spontaneity", and in interviews and profiles in The Hindu and KnowYourStar.
She has received multiple awards, including:
Additional honors include prizes from Narada Gana Sabha, Ramana Kendra, RMKV, Bangalore Gayana Samaj, Kerala Music Sabhas, and recognition by the IndoâÂÂCanadian Shastri Foundation.