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The sisters Sujietra, Sumitra and Subatra Jayaseelan (right to left), who are also known as Swaraa, are trained in Carnatic music by the Late Vaadhya Vidhya Visaaradha Sangeetha Kalaa Booshanam Srimathi Vijayalakshmi Kulaveerasingam, who is a prominent ‘Guru’ in Carnatic music in the country and who was also a renowned violinist. The sisters’, whose musical chronicle started at the very tender age of 2, completed their arangetram under the guidance of their revered guru in the year 2004.

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The sisters are established performers in the Malaysian music circuit and are Gold Medalists of the National Thirumurai Competition in years 1993, 1994 and 1995 respectively.

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The sisters were also the vocalists for the groundbreaking devotional album ‘Tulasi’ which rejuvenated the Malaysian music industry with their brand of reggae-fused Carnatic music. Tulasi’s debut album remains a bestseller to this day – racking up a sale of 180,000 units in Malaysia alone and was marketed successfully in England, Mauritius and Fiji. The sisters also produced another album called Vrnda in 2007.

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In the year 2003, the sisters founded Sugam Karnatica, which is dedicated to the development of and youth through arts and culture.

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In November 2012, their album ‘Vrnda’ was awarded the ‘Best Vocal Group’ by the US Global Music Awards.

In 2013, the sisters started the year by recording a song with Padmasri Hariharan in his latest album, ‘Just In Love’.

In 2014, the sisters were invited to sing in a devotional album entitled ‘Deiveega Ragam’. The album was produced and launched in Tamil Nadu. Their last album ‘Nadaraja Patthu’ was produced in Chennai and launched in Kuala Lumpur on March 2015.

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The name “Swaraa’ symbolises the basis of carnatic music, the seed of a blossoming music tree. Being 100% Malaysian, the sisters are pleased that it coincidentally also sounds like ‘Suara’ which means Voice in Bahasa Malaysia.

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Sujietra has made headlines as ‘Murid Bersuara Emas’ in a local magazine in the year 1983. Since her childhood, she has been an active student; participating in singing competitions, storytelling competitions, school choirs, choral speaking and was also a school prefect throughout her secondary education. She was awarded the coveted gold medal by Malaysia Hindu Sangam in the year 1993 in the National Thirumurai Singing Competition.

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She graduated with a BSc in Applied Chemistry from the University of Malaya. She holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Malaya and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Southern Queensland, Australia. She is also a Certified Professional CSR Manager by the Malaysian Institute of Management and a Certified Sustainability Reporting Specialist by the National Centre for Sustainability Reporting, Indonesia.

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In her 19 years of service, she has led many corporate organisations as Head of CSR/Sustainability and has currently set-up her own practice. In 2017, she was awarded as a recipient of the '100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders (Global Listing)' by the World CSR Congress in Mumbai.

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Sumitra holds a Bachelors of Engineering (CAD/CAM) from the University of Malaya. Among her contributions to the development of children is the creation of a special programme called ‘Zizu’ which caters for the musical, cultural and personal development of 3 to 6 year olds. Sumitra also has written modules for programmes on values and self-development for external parties, and is a writer-contributor to local magazines in the area of youth and culture. Besides this, Sumitra also sings for Bharata Natyam performances. Sumitra holds a Bachelors of Engineering (CAD/CAM) from the University of Malaya. She has been serving the Malaysian government as an Administrative & Diplomatic officer since 2005.

 

Subatra was handpicked by a panel of judges from thousands of applications as one of the participants for the Indian Music Training 2005 conducted by Mr. Bharadwaj, a renowned Music Director from India. Following the training, she was selected by Mr Bharadwaj as the head teacher for the Indian Music Training in 2006. Subatra has also been trained by Vidhwan Guru Madhurai G.S.Mani (Sangeetham) and Guru Unni Mannur (Western Classical) of India. She sings regularly for music concerts and dance performances. Subatra is a keen volunteer in arts & culture-related youth programmes. She is extremely good in connecting with the youth and brings out the best in them in the areas of singing, dancing and theatre. Subatra holds a Bachelors of Accounting from the Multimedia University and is currently self-employed.