Classical arts · Singapore

A living tradition.
A voice of
your own.

Discover the joy of Carnatic music and classical dance. A place for young learners to connect with culture, one lesson at a time.

Explore the courses Meet Sapthaswaras

Music. Movement. A heritage to carry forward.

THE ART OF GROWING TOGETHER

Young Sapthaswaras students singing together at a performance — Sapthaswaras performance archive · AI-enhanced for clarity

Sa · Ri · Ga · Ma · Pa · Dha · Ni

Seven notes.
Endless possibilities.

Carnatic VocalBharatha NatyamKeyboard & Piano

01 / Our roots

Rooted in heritage.
Shared with the
next generation.

Sapthaswaras began in Singapore in 2000, with a commitment to sharing the classical arts in a lively learning environment.

Initially a business entity, the school became a private limited company in 2018. Its early focus was Carnatic Vocal for young children: building strong fundamentals and preparing learners for the concert stage.

Under principal Mrs. Kavitha, its curriculum brings together classical tradition and the changing needs of learners. The school’s published history describes the addition of dance, keyboard, piano and other instruments in 2018.

Read the school’s published history

Sapthaswaras Fine Arts (SFA) was founded in the year 2000, registered initially as a Business entity in Singapore and in the year 2018,converted as a private limited company. SFA is devoted to the teaching of classical arts in a lively environment.

Headed by its principal Mrs Kavitha, who has over 25 years of classical music experience, SFA has developed under her leadership over these years with a curriculum that reflects our Ancient cultural heritage. She has combined her Professionalknowledge and teaching experiencewhile formulating the curriculum, taking into account, the recent trends and developments in the music field. The centre has fostered and developedour home grown Singapore talent, who have excelled at National level competitions.

Throughout these years, SFA's efforts were principally directed towards teaching Carnatic Vocal to young children, providing strong fundamentals and preparing them to perform in concerts and eventually evolving them into stage performers. SFA is dedicated to inculcating the music in the minds of children so that they will eventually will be become the torch bearers for our culture and music. From year 2018, SFA commenced courseson Dance, Key Board, Piano and other musical instruments.

Young singers in the school archive — Finding their voice, together · AI-enhanced

Students singing with microphones — A tradition shared through song · AI-enhanced

02 / Find your expression

Different arts.
The same love of learning.

Explore the disciplines listed by the school.
Contact Sapthaswaras to confirm current classes and tutors.

Carnatic Vocal

The voice at the heart of Sapthaswaras. Follow a structured learning path or discuss an individual programme with a tutor.

Published tutors
Mrs. Kavitha · Mr. Raja Swaminathan · Miss Janani Raja

Meet the vocal tutors

Bharatha Natyam

Connect with Indian classical dance through the course listed in the school’s programme.

Published tutor
Miss Janani Raja

Meet Janani

Keyboard & Piano

Explore instrumental music alongside the school’s classical arts programme. Published lessons are 45 minutes per week.

Published tutor
Mr. Raja Swaminathan

View the learning guide

03 / The people behind the practice

Lessons passed on.
Passions brought to life.

Meet the teachers profiled on the school’s website. Biographies reflect the published source; current faculty arrangements should be confirmed. Portraits have been AI-enhanced, with backgrounds extended to a square format.

Principal · Carnatic Vocal

Mrs. Kavitha

A musical journey that began at age five, followed by studies in music at the University of Madras and teaching in Singapore.

Read the published biography

Mrs. Kavitha is the principal of the school. She started learning Vocal music at the age of 5, under the guidance of Mrs. Bama and then under Sri VijayaRaghavan who was a disciple of Madurai T.N. SeshaGopalan. She participated in many competitions, and at the age of 10 gave her first full-fledged stage performance - Arangerttram. She continued her journey in music as well as academic studies, and passed with a distinction in Bachelors of Commerce from University of Madras. Her passion for her music made her pursue her studies in Music. She has completed B. Music from University of Madras. She has given more than 200 music performances throughout India, such as the ThiyagarajaAradahana festivals at Thiruvaiyaru as well as December musical festivals at Chennai. She also gave performance in visual media i.e., T.V. and satellite channels in India. At a later stage, she fine-tuned her talent under the guidance of Mrs. SubhaGanesan, who was a disciple of (late) Shrimati M.L. Vasanthakumari, famously known as MLV and Dr. RadhaBhaskar, who is senior disciple of Padma Bhooshan P S Narayanaswamy. She was also conducting music classes at a music school run by her Guru.

Mrs. Kavitha came to Singapore in August 1999, and started ol “SapthaSwaras Fine Arts” in 2000. She has been conducting Carnatic Vocal lessons since then. She was a Senior Faculty member- Part-time in “Rhythms of India” for 3 years. She is a PA (People’s Association) Registered Trainer and is conducting music Lessons in various Community Centres- CC’s. She conducted vocal classes at “Saraswathi Kindergarten - Yishun” for 2 years. She also taught music lessons at the Holy Tree Balasubramanian Temple, Yishun for 2 years.

She has given performance in “Oli – 96.8” FM and in many Indian Temples during festival times. Her students have given performances in various events, schools and in temples, as well as won prizes at various competitions. She has also presided over as a Judge in various music competitions.

Carnatic Vocal · Keyboard & Piano

Mr. Raja Swaminathan

A singer and instrumentalist whose musical learning began with his mother, Mrs. Kavitha.

Read the published biography

Swaminathan is a versatile singer with a passion to explore more about the intricacies of music. He started learning vocal music at the age of 5, under the guidance of his mother Smt Kavitha. He has participated in many competitions and at the age of 11, gave his first full -fledged stage performance in Singapore. He fine-tunes his vocal skills under tutors of SIFAS Singapore, Sri K. Vijaya Raghavan and under Dr Radha Bhasker. He also plays Piano and Key Board. Apart from classical music, he also excels in light music. He was a finalist in the Teen Singing competition � YaarAndha Star 2012� and 1 st runner up in the Adult Singing competition �Vasantham Star 2015� both conducted by MediaCorp, Singapore.

Carnatic Vocal · Bharatha Natyam

Miss Janani Raja

A dancer and singer whose journey began with vocal lessons and classical dance as a child.

Read the published biography

Janani is a passionate dancer and a creative singer, not afraid of challenging her limits in whatever she does. Apart from classicals arts, she also excels in western dance & music. She started learning vocal music at the age of 6, under the guidance of her mother Smt Kavitha. At same time, she also started learning dance under her first guru ArcharyaKalavipanche V Balagurunathan. Later she learnt under smtShobinyaas her guru SriBalagurunathan has relocated to India. In recent times, she again fine tuned her dance skills under Sri Balagurunathan. Janani has participated in many competitions for both classical dance & singing and won prizes.

From the principal’s message

“Our mission is to inculcate and cultivate the Indian music in the heart of young children.”

Mrs. Kavitha · Principal

Read the full principal’s message

Art in any form is a divine and its god's gift to humanity. There is no end for any form of Art. Our rich heritage in classical form of music has existed for thousands of years and it is passed on to generations after generations by sacred Gurus. Following the footsteps laid down by our great composers and gurus, our mission is to inculcate and cultivate the Indian music in the heart of young children, who will grow up to become the torch bearers for our tradition. I thank all students and patrons whose support has been the back bone of our success.

I invite you to be part of SFA community and strengthen us by participating in all our events and activities.

04 / Your learning journey

A clear path.
Room to grow.

The school’s published curriculum offers structured certificate courses and programmes tailored to individual students.

Basic

Build the foundation

Two levels. A grade of C or above is required to progress.

Intermediate

Develop your practice

Three stages. Progression requires a grade of C+ or above.

Advanced

Bring it to the stage

Three stages, including a stage performance and classroom examination.

Four students performing Carnatic music — A moment from the school’s performance archive

Practice meets performance

Learning to listen.
Confidence to share.

The school’s published curriculum treats concert attendance and participation as part of learning. Students from Basic to Advanced level are asked to take part in at least one performance.

Eight years in the structured pathway. Annual examinations include external examiners from the first year. Learners who prefer an informal route can discuss a customised programme.

Children from age five. The published minimum examination age is seven. Students transferring from another institution are assessed by the principal.

A class arrangement to suit the learner. The source describes individual, small and group classes of 4–10 students, usually one hour each week for music and dance.

Published information, checked against the school’s website on 7 October 2026. Fees, admissions, faculty and class availability have not been confirmed directly with the school.

Published tuition fee schedule

Music & dance: one hour per week. Keyboard & piano: 45 minutes per week. The original website lists the same monthly rates for both schedules.

Published monthly fees in SGD · confirm current rates
Class arrangement	B1	B2	I1	I2	I3	A1	A2	A3
Individual · weekend	140	140	150	150	160	170	170	180
Individual · weekday	120	120	130	130	140	150	160	160
2–3 students · weekend	90	90	100	105	115	135	145	145
2–3 students · weekday	80	80	95	100	110	130	140	140
4–10 students · weekend	75	75	90	95	105	125	140	140
4–10 students · weekday	70	70	85	90	100	120	130	130

Registration, membership & examination fees

Registration Fee and Membership Fees

A one-time non-refundable registration fee of $30 is charged for all the students. The Annual Membership Fee is $30/- per calendar year. Membership renewals are due in the month of January of each year irrespective of which month you join as member. The membership fee collected will be used for events organised by the SFA. Failure to renew your Membership will disqualify your child from participating in the events organised by the SFA. Members/Students are requested to update SFA in writing of any changes to their correspondence address, phone, fax, and email address.

Monthly Tuition Fees

A monthly tuition fee is payable based on the number of tuition hours; class type and year of study (please refer to Fees Schedule). All monthly tuition fees are due by the first class of each month. Students who do not pay their monthly tuition fees by the end of the month will be required to pay a $10/- late charge.

Examination Fees

Students registering for examinations must be at least seven years of age. Students must register for examinations by 30 November by submitting the completed Examination form together with the requisite Examination Registration Fee for each examination. (Please refer Fees Schedule). There will be a late registration fee of $20 per subject for registration received within 1 week of the close of registration.

Student guidelines & examination requirements

Passing and Promotion Requirements

Grade

Marks

Remarks

A +

85 +

Distinction

75-84

Very Good

70-74

Good

C +

65-69

Fair

50-64

PASS

Below 50

FAIL

Admission as Students

Children from the age of 5 may enrol for the classes. However they will be eligible to register for the 1st year examination only when they attain the age of 7.

Students joining SFA from another institution are required to meet with the Principal/ who will assess the student and determine the year of admission.

General guide lines

Students must handle the classroom equipment and musical instruments with care. Any mishandling of the equipment will lead to penalty.

Staff and students must be appropriately attired at all times.

Students attending group classes may make only two changes to their timetable in any academic year, as frequent changes affect the progress of the other members in the group.

In cases where withdrawal of a student results in change of group class to double or single, SFA will make its best efforts for the remaining students to join another group class. In circumstances where this is not feasible, students are required to pay the fees due in accordance with the new class type. The new fee structure will be effective from the following month.

Disruption of classes

Classes may be disrupted from time to time to hold rehearsals for students participating in external programmes/annual events. For the students who are participating in such external programmes/annual events, rehearsals will be considered part of their curriculum class time. For the students who are not participating in the external programmes/annual events, SFA will endeavour to arrange for compensatory.

Students may be allowed to discontinue classes for a specific month under special personal circumstances. A written request must be submitted to the Principal at least one month before withdrawal. However they are required to pay a re-registration fee of $30/- upon re-admission when they return to continue classes. Students who discontinue their classes and re-register later will be eligible for the examination in January / February of that Academic year based on the assessment of the principal.

A. Students

Students who absent themselves from classes without advising the Academy for one month (after payment of fees) and for two weeks (without the payment of fees) may be removed from the Student Register and cease to be a student of SFA. No compensation classes will be given to the students who are absent from classes due to personal reasons.

B. Tutors

If a tutor is not able to take a class due to unforeseen circumstances or on medical leave, students will be given compensation class to replace / rearrange such class. The classes will be taken by a SFA senior student/part-time tutor.

Students are required to complete at least 80% of the total class hours annually to be eligible for taking the examination.

Concert Attendance

Students are strongly advised to attend the performances and annual events organised by SFA, during the academic year. This will be useful for the students in their grooming years. Students from Basic to Advanced level are required to participate in at least one performance. Please note that attending a concert is a learning process and definitely enhances students’ performance in the exam.

Theory Classes

After every quarter, one class will be dedicated for compulsory theory classes. Students are requested to attend the classes and get topic details from their tutors. Students must attain a minimum of 50% as pass mark for the theory paper. It is a compulsory requirement as a part of their yearly examinations.

Students following a structured course must obtain a Pass grade in the final examination for the basic level/year before proceeding to the next level/year. To enroll for the Intermediate and Advanced courses,students are required to have attained at least a C+. Examinations for all grades are conducted by SFA together with external examiners whose responsibility is to supervise and act as moderators for the exams. All decisions taken by SFA are final.

Advanced Level Examinations

From Advanced Level 1 to Advanced Level 3 examination will comprise of a minimum of 1 hour stage performance/concert and a 1 hour classroom examination. Students will be tested on the complete syllabus from year 1 onwards. Both parts of the examination will be based on the syllabus for each discipline.

05 / Beyond the classroom

When learning
becomes a performance.

The school’s archive records annual days, community programmes, media appearances and temple performances. These are historical records, rather than upcoming events.