Nirmala Rajasekar is a

Carnatic Carnatic may refer to: *Carnatic region, Southern India *Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India *, the name of several ships *, a minesweeper of the Royal Indian Navy *, the name of several ships of the Royal Navy See also *Karnata ...

Saraswati veena The Sarasvatī vīṇa (also spelled Saraswati veena) (, , , Malayalam: സരസ്വതി വീണ) is an ancient Indian plucked veena. It is named after the Hindu goddess Saraswati, who is usually depicted holding or playing the instrume ...

player, composer, vocalist, and educator. One of the world's premier veena players, Rajasekar has performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, the

Madras Music Academy Madras Music Academy is one of the earliest established music academies in South India. Before the concept of infrastructure was introduced to India in the early 1920s, it was a gathering for elite musicians simply called (and is still more ...

Narada Gana Sabha Narada Gana Sabha is one of the foremost music associations in the city of Chennai, India. It regularly organises programmes during the Chennai Music Season. History The Narada Gana Sabha was founded on 9 February 1958, in Mylapore. After f ...

, Sawai Gandharva Festival, and the Konya International Mystic Music Festival. Rajasekar is the current co-chair of the

American Composers Forum The American Composers Forum is an American organization that promotes and assists American composers and contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with activities ...

Early life

Nirmala Rajasekar began her training in the Saraswati veena at the age of 6 in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

with Sri Deva Kottai Narayana Iyengar and Smt. Kamala Aswathama, the mother of Smt. E. Gayathri. After moving to

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, she studied at the Gana Mandira School in Basavangudi with Smt. G Chennama and Smt. E. P. Alamelu. Rajasekar also received guidance from violinist Sri A.D. Zachariah and Veena Sri S. Balachander. Rajasekar began her career as a soloist at the age of 13. Upon returning to Chennai, Rajasekar came under the tutelage of Saraswati veena player Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan, with whom she trained for nearly thirty years. Through Swaminathan, Rajasekar is part of the

Dikshitar Dīkṣitars or Thillai Vazh Anthaanar are a Vedic Shaiva Brahmin servitor community of Tamil Nadu who are based mainly in the town of Chidambaram. Smartha (especially the Vadamas), Sri Vaishnava and other Brahmins in South India also carry ...

''shisya parampara''. In Chennai and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, Rajasekar studied Carnatic vocal music with Sri B. Sitarama Sarma and Prof T.R. Subramaniam, receiving a

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

scholarship to study with the latter.

Musical career

Nirmala Rajasekar has been performing and composing for over forty years. In her career, Rajasekar performs traditional Carnatic repertoire as a Saraswati veena exponent and creates contemporary works through compositions and collaborations. In 2020, Rajasekar was the annual Commissioned Composer of the

University of Wisconsin-River Falls A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Past composers include

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminacy in music, a development associated with the experimental New York School o ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

Jennifer Higdon Jennifer Elaine Higdon (born December 31, 1962) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and three Grammy Awards for Best Contemp ...

, and

Julia Wolfe Julia Wolfe (born December 18, 1958) is an American composer and professor of music at New York University. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe's music has "long inhabited a terrain of its own, a place where classical forms are rech ...

. In 2007, Rajasekar's album ''Song of the Veena'' was released by

Innova Recordings Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minne ...

, and in 2010, Innova released her album ''Into the Raga.'' Rajasekar's third album with Innova, a collaborative

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

album called ''Maithree: The Music of Friendship'', was released in 2018. The album was reviewed by

Songlines A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dr ...

, WNYC New Sounds, and Jazz Weekly. Other albums include Sudha Saagara, released by Charsur Digital Workstation, and Melodic Expressions. Rajasekar has collaborated with artists including Pt.

Ronu Majumdar Ronu Majumdar is an Indian flautist (Bansuri player) in the Hindustani classical music tradition. Early life Ronu Majumdar was born in Benares. His father was a homeopathic doctor, oil painter, and amateur flautist who took lessons from Pandit ...

, Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya, Pt. Gaurav Majumdar, Sri

Mysore Manjunath Mysore Manjunath (born in Mysore, India), is an Indian violinist. The son and disciple of violinist Vidwan S. Mahadevappa, Manjunath performed his first concert at the age of eight in Mysore as a child prodigy. He is one of the Mysore broth ...

Sounds of Blackness Sounds of Blackness is a vocal music, vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B cha ...

, Gao Hong, Anthony Cox, and poet

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

. Rajasekar is an A-Grade artist of

All-India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and is one of the two divisions of Prasar Bharati. Headquar ...

, and has appeared on

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

British Broadcasting Company The British Broadcasting Company Limited (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British Gener ...

, and Doordarshan Television. Since 1989, Rajasekar has been a performing artist for the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 April ...

. Rajasekar has been featured at the

National Music Museum The National Music Museum: America's Shrine to Music & Center for Study of the History of Musical Instruments (NMM) is a musical instrument museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. It was founded in 1973 on the campus of the Univers ...

and the "Beyond Bollywood" exhibit presented by the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Educational institution, educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the Minnesota Terr ...

and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Since 1995, Rajasekar has lived in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, touring several months each year to countries such as

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Rajasekar's daughter and student, Shruthi Rajasekar, is a composer and vocalist.

Positions

Nirmala Rajasekar is the founder and artistic director of the Naadha Rasa Center for Music, and was recognized with the Prof. T.R. Subrahmanyam Teaching Award by the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival. She is also a COMPAS teaching artist. Rajasekar currently serves as the co-chair of the Board of the

and the Vice President of the Global Carnatic Musicians Association.

Awards

Kalaimamani Award The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government o ...

from the Government of Tamil Nadu * 2020 Annual Commissioned Composer of

* 2018 Pratibha Puraskar ("Genius Prize") from Delhi Telugu Academy * Vocational Excellence Award from Rotary Club International * 2010 McKnight Fellowship * 2006 Bush Fellowship

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajasekar, Nirmala Saraswati veena players Living people Musicians from Chennai Year of birth missing (living people) Indian women classical musicians Women Carnatic musicians Carnatic musicians Indian music educators Women musicians from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian women musicians 20th-century Indian composers Indian women music educators 20th-century women composers