By the 1950s it started taking a more defined shape and a highly talented musician – P. Kalinga Rao – was instrumental in spreading this art form.
[1][2] He set tunes to the poems of many famous Navodaya poets, and gave performances on All India Radio as well as public gatherings.
[3][4] The art form started gaining popularity through his rendering of Udayavaagali Namma Cheluvu Kannada Naadu, Yaaru Hitavaru Ninage, Anathadim Digantadim, Baarayya Beladingale, Brahma Ninge Jodistheeni etc.,[3] He laid the foundation of Sugama Sangeetha and hence is considered to be the father of this form.
His popular albums are 'Mysooru Mallige', 'Shishunala Sharif Sahebara Geethegalu', 'Chaitra', 'Kannadave Satya' etc., P.Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy and C.Aswath are considered to be the trinity of Sugama Sangeetha.
P. Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy, C.Aswath, Baalappa Hukkerimy, Bhimsen Joshi, Sulochana, Madikeri Nagendra, Rathnamala Prakash, Manjula Gururaj, M.K.Jayashree, H. K. Narayana, Shimoga Subbanna, Smt.
Chaya, Sunitha Ananthaswamy, Yashwanth Halibandi, Nagara Srinivasa Udupa, Sangeetha Katti, M.D.Pallavi, Archana Udupa, Puttur Narasimha Nayak, Rajkumar, S.Janaki, S.P.Balasubramania, Priyadarshini, Anitha Ananthaswamy, Mahesh Mahadev, Aparna Narendra, Malathi Sharma, Ameerbai Karnataki, Sangeetha Katti N.S.Prasad, S.P.Venkatesh, L.Vaidyanathan, N.S.Murali, Praveen D Rao, Pravin Godkhindi, Anooru Anathakrishna Sharma, Bali N.S.Prasad (Mandolin), Praveen Duth Stephen (Keyboard), Saadhu Kokila (Keyboard), Shabbir Ahmed (Keyboard), Krishna Udupa (Keyboard), Bali (Rhythmic Instruments), Venugopal Raju (Tabla), Praveen D Rao (Tabla and Harmonium), Srinivas Achar (Classical and 12 string Guitar), Arun Kumar (Rhythmic Instruments), Pramath Kiran (Rhythmic Instruments), N.S.Murali (Flute), Pravin Godkhindi (Flute), B.K.Chandrashekar (Violin) Post Ananthaswamy and Aswath era (2000s), there are very few notable and dedicated contributors to the field.
Even today, a full-fledged Sugama Sangeetha concert without the compositions of Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy and C.Aswath is hard to imagine.