Beloved throughout India, Viswanathan came from an illustrious family of musicians and dancers there. His grandmother is considered to have been one of the greatest veena players of her time. His sister, the late South Indian classical dancer Srimati T. Balasaraswati, and his late niece, Lakshmi Knight, were regarded as premiere Bharata Natyam performers. He and his brother, the late mridangam player T. Ranganathan, both performed solo concerts and dance performances with their sister throughout the world. In 1990, Viswanathan received a Ford Foundation Grant that allowed him to conduct a six-month workshop reviving and preserving rare compositions from his family repertoire.

For more than a quarter century, Viswanathan taught at Wesleyan, first as an artist-in-residence and later as an adjunct professor. He instructed students in South Indian flute and vocals, adapting his teaching style to a more descriptive method in order to overcome the cultural and language barriers many students experience when attempting to learn Karnatak music. Several of his students have gone on to illustrious music careers including the late Jon Higgins -— the first non-Indian to have been accorded recognition in India as a professional performer of classical Indian vocal music. Viswanathan also served as the founder and coordinator of Wesleyan's 26-year-old Navaratri Festival, one of the oldest festivals in the United States featuring dance and music of South and North India.

He trained under his mother, singer T. Jayammal, and under flutist T.N. Swaminatha Pillai in India before traveling to California to study ethnomusicology at UCLA on a Fulbright grant. Upon completing his study at UCLA, he returned to India to head up the department of Indian music at Madras University for five years. He later returned to the United States to earn a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan.

A world-renowned musician, Viswanathan received many accolades including the Kalaimamani (Crest Jewel of Fine Arts), recognizing him as the instrumentalist of the year in 1978, by the state government of Madras, India; the Federal Government of India's Sangeet Natak Akademi (President's) Award for Karnatak Instrumental Music; and the Sangita Kalanidhi (Treasure of Musical Art) from the Music Academy of Madras, the most prestigious title given to a South Indian musician. Last December, he was honored by the Bharat Kalachar with the title of "Viswa Kala Bharathi."

His accomplishments were noted in the United States as well. He was the first Indian traditional artist to be honored as a National Heritage Fellow—America's highest tribute for traditional artist—by the National Endowment for the Arts for his contribution to culture in the United States and for his achievement in South Indian music. He also received a distinguished award for contributions to Indo-American understanding from the Taraknath Das Foundation of Columbia University in 1998.

He recorded seven albums of his own, including the 2000 release Tribute, and contributed to recordings for five films.

In addition to teaching at Madras University and at Wesleyan, Viswanathan also taught at California Institute of the Arts, the American Dance Festival and the American Society for Eastern Arts.

He is survived by his wife, Josepha "Jody" Cormack Viswanathan of Middletown, Conn., and three children.

A memorial service will be held at Wesleyan on Friday, Sept. 20, at noon in Crowell Concert Hall. All are welcome to pay their respects.

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