Dr. Nithyashree Mahadevan - Carnatic Musician

Dr Nithyasree Mahadevan, also previously referred to as S. Nithyashri, (born August 25, 1973) is an eminent Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Her paternal grandmother was the legendary Carnatic vocalist D. K. Pattammal, while her maternal grandfather is the legendary mridangam maestro, Palghat Mani Iyer. Her granduncle is the legendary Carnatic vocalist, D. K. Jayaraman.

Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas in India and has presented her concerts in many destinations around the world. She has received multiple awards and honours and has released more than 100 commercial albums.

She is a highly popular and a well-known person in the Carnatic field, is a prominent and most popular carnatic musician and also she has sung various language songs in various film industries as a very popular playback singer. Nithyashree's is very popular with the help of her paternal grandmother D.K.Pattammal and her grand uncle D.K.Jayaraman were prominent Carnatic vocalists and were established disciples of Ambi Dikshithar, Pananasam Sivan, Muthiah Bhagavathar and others. Nithyashree's maternal grandfather was a highly prominent and well known Mridangam maestro named Palghad Mani Iyer. Musically she was brought up in such a way that it was only music and always music that she could do in all her ages of life. This was the only success mantra she could follow and make her career and profession as music.

Nithyashree has performed in all major Sabhas in India and has presented concerts in many destinations worldwide. For all her passion towards music and the effort that she had put into music has fetched her many awards and honors concerned with music. Apart from many albums, she has also sung many songs in the cine industry and made her an established singer and this even brought her fame.

Personal life and background

Nithyasree was born to Lalitha Sivakumar and I. Sivakumar. Her paternal grandmother is the legendary Carnatic vocalist D. K. Pattammal, while her maternal grandfather is the legendary mridangam maestro, Palghat Mani Iyer. Her granduncle is the legendary Carnatic vocalist, D. K. Jayaraman.

Her mother, Lalitha Sivakumar, was her first guru (teacher). Like her mother, Nithyashree was also the disciple of D. K. Pattammal, and would accompany her in concert. Nithyashree's father, an accomplished mridangist and disciple of Palghat Mani Iyer, would constantly show his support and accompany Nithyashree when she performed.

Nithyashree's commanding, high-pitched voice is well suited to various genres of music including Carnatic music, devotional music, as well as patriotic and popular songs.

Nithyashree and her husband, Mahadevan, have a daughter named Tejashree.

Music career - Touring

Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas all over India and has presented her concerts in the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, France, Singapore, Malaysia and various other destinations throughout the world.

Titles and Awards

Nithyashree's maiden performance was titled 'best concert of the series'. She is an A.I.R. Prize Winner (1990) and has been an 'A' grade artist. She has been awarded the "Yuva Kala Bharathi" title by Bharath Kalachar in 1994, "Innisai Maamani" by Tamil Nadu Welfare Association, and various other prestigious awards such as "Kalaimamani", "Isai Paeroli" (2001). She has received "Best Concert Award" from The Music Academy during the music festivals a couple of times and has also performed for the "Sangeeth Natak Academy" twice in their International Music Festivals in Bombay and Hyderabad. She has also received the "Best Promising Artiste" from "Mohanam" Music Club, and made a thematic album of compositions popularizing the Ragam Mohanam. She was awarded a doctorate degree from Sathyabama university of Jeppiar in Chennai in late 2007.

Performances

Nithyashree's first Carnatic performance was for the Youth Association For Classical Music on 10th August 1987. The concert lasted 1 hour and was scheduled between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Prominent Carnatic musicians that were present at the concert included D. K. Pattammal, D. K. Jayaraman, Vijay Siva, R. K. Shriramkumar, as well as the chief guest at that concert, K. V. Narayanaswamy

She has given numerous concerts consisting of only patriotic songs to commemorate the 50th year of Indian Independence, a few with D. K. Pattammal before her grandmother stopped performing in public.

1. K. Jayaraman and D. K. Pattammal was known for singing and popularizing the compositions of Papanasam Sivan, having learnt them directly from the composer himself. Nithyashree has continued this tradition. She has also given a lecture-demonstration in Coimbatore for Manoranjitham on "Papanasam Sivan - A Legend", and made two special thematic albums that solely contained his compositions.

Like D. K. Pattammal, Nithyashree has also popularized compositions of Gopalakrishna Bharathi. She presented a paper on the Life and Contribution of Gopalakrishna Bharathi for the Music Department of PSG College, Coimbatore. Her two thematic albums that solely consisted of his compositions have been very popular, both online and offline.

Nithyashree's introduction to playback singing came when A.R. Rahman called her to Panchathan Recording Inn, in Chennai, for a voice test sometime in 199X. The output from her visit became a huge hit, and was used in the movie "Jeans" starring Aishwarya Rai. After this, Nithyashree was in demand for playback singing for films and drama serials.