Nithya Rajendran is an Indian classical vocalist with a difference. Not only is she among very few artists India who are professional performers of both Hindustani and Carnatic music, she also practices her music with a strong philosophy of inclusiveness, emotional wellness and connection and spiritual upliftment for her audiences and students.
She spreads her music and her musical philosophy through many channels under her banner Music Vruksh, which she founded just under a decade ago.Music Vruksh is also a full fledged Classical Music Academy that runs both online and offline classes for all age groups and learner levels. The Music Vruksh team consists of extremely competent and accomplished classical singers who impart high quality classical music education to students both inside and outside the country in both online and offline formats. The Music Vruksh Baithak is an annual event that hosts the Music Vruksh team’s professional performances which showcase compositions by Nithya herself. In addition it is a stage to showcase the progess of all students learning under the academy.
Through her engaging pan India concerts, multiple Tedx talk demos and wide range of workshops, concerts, demonstrations and classes across the world in online and offline platforms, she aims to use Indian Classical music to please the heart while still keeping it inclusive compassionate to the lay ear. She believes Indian Classical Music has rich powers to help people emotionally connect and heal themselves and, therefore, others and espouses this through her various pursuits. An erstwhile columnist on Music for wellness in THE DAILY GUARIAN, she has been mentioned among Women achievers in music in The Score Music Magazine. She has completed a certificate in Music Therapy from Nada School of Music therapy.
She is a passionate composer of revolutionary musical pieces that marry beautiful and aesthetic elements of both Hindustani and Carnatic music. Her Taranas and confluence medleys are foot-tapping and very relatable to learned and lay audiences alike.
Currently under the tutelage of extremely illustrious and accomplished gurus, she has the privilege of training under Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan of the Kirana Gharana blood lineage for Hindustani Classical Music. As the grand nephew of one of the founders of this Gharana Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Mubarak Khan sahab continues to shape and mould her singing into an increasingly refined and authentic form. This armors her with creative material she uses, to further her musical and philosophical goals.
She has had the privilege of learning under various accomplished gurus in the past including Vid. Dhanashree Pandit Rai, Vid. Usha Tikekar Deshpande and Vid. Shuchita Athalekar.
A rank holder, scholarship awardee and distinction holder from Mumbai University, her Hindustani music continues to flourish under her current training.
She is simultaneously flourishing, training under top grade All India Radio artist Vidhwan Shri . T.N. Ashok for carnatic music. She has been extremely lucky to get guidance from Vidhwan Ashok especially for her manodharma Sangeeta that’s helps her further the emotional content of the Raagas she wishes to bring to people so that they can be touched and healed by them.
She has in the past been under the aegis of illustrious gurus for Carnatic including her first training with Smt. Vijaya Natarajan (singer to dance exponent Smt. Padma Subramanian), Padmashree awardee vocalist, violinist and top grade radio artist Padmashree Smt. Gayatri Sankaran and briefly under others like Shri Poorna Pragna Rao and Smt Bhushany kalyanaraman. She was also under the aegis of Smt. Thara Vijayaraghavan in Mumbai under whom she developed a strong base.
Nithya is a deep spiritual seeker and a wellness advocate. She believes Indian classical music has rich potential to foster human connection across all types of audiences and can moreover allow them to use music towards their own happiness, spiritual pursuit and overall wellbeing. She has delved deep into yoga and meditation for many decades and is an ardent reader and traveller. She particularly enjoys reading about and exploring facets of the mind and emotions through material on human psychology, psychotherapy, spirituality and biographies and writings of great people.
It is this interest that amalgamates with the music she sings and imparts, to bring forth a highly compassionate and relatable paradigm to hear and understand Indian Classical Music.