One of the foremost disciples of Guru Sri T. S. Nandakumar, Santosh has been playing the Mridangam since the age of 11. He has been accompanying various leading artistes in the fields of both dance and music for many years now. He is a graded All India Radio artiste in Mridangam, and is equally proficient with the Ghatam and Thavil.

Santosh has been a part of numerous Taala Vaadya Katcheris along with his Guru, including performances at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival. He has also been a part of lecture demonstrations by his Guru at various universities in the United States. He is a regular accompaniment for Padma Bhushan Dr. K. J. Yesudas during his classical concerts in the United States. He has accompanied various other prominent artists such as Guitar Prasanna, Mahanadhi Shobana, Sankaran Namboothiri, Charulatha Mani to name a few.

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Santosh has provided able Mridangam support for many classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Mohiniattam. This includes styles and schools of Kalakshetra, Vazhuvoor, the Dhananjayans, the Narasimhacharis, and Sri Madurai Muralidaran to name a few. He has been part of dance ballets such as Ramayana, Shiva Shakti, Dashavatharam, Krishna, and special dance projects such as Panchabhootam in Atlanta and Festival of India at the Carnegie Hall, New York.

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He is a resident of Atlanta, GA and has been an invited performing artiste for many of Emory University’s world music ensembles.