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| Sri Karunamayee |
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Born into a family of artists and
educators, Sri Karunamayee resides in New Delhi, India. Music has saturated her
from childhood and throughout her professional career as a performer and
educator and many years as an ashram member. In 2006 she celebrated her
fortieth anniversary as a resident of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a spiritual
community dedicated to the teachings of the great Indian mystics, Sri Aurobindo
and The Mother. In this inspired setting, she offers her music as an integral
support for the ashram's daily meditations and special events programs.
Sri Karunamayee's singing joins spirit and sound in its most profound
expression. Whether she renders her own compositions or draws from her vast
repertoire of traditional Indian music, her singing represents the finest
synthesis of India's highly specialized and demanding vocal genre. Her music
comprises North Indian classical forms including khayal, dhrupad, dhamar,
thumri, dadra, as well as the devotional forms of geet, ghazal, bhajan, and
mantra. The depth and spontaneity of her singing are rooted in a journey of
spirit. She believes that music is a Divine gift given to all creation. Thus it
is to be kept in service of the Divine only, and as she has aptly expressed, it
becomes a "sacred mirror capable of reflecting the Divine and the Soul with its
varied expressions in life." It is from this fulcrum that her musical mastery
has impetus to transform both artist and listener.
Sri Karunamayee
began her music study with Pandit Vinay Chandra Maudgalya in 1943, training in
Hindustani classical singing at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. It was later, after
completing her M.A. degrees in music and philosophy, and while she held
prominent positions as an educator, composer, performer and 'A' class
broadcasting artist for All India Radio, that she intensified her search for
music which would give deeper expression to her inner spiritual experiences.
She encountered Pandit Pran Nath in 1953, master vocalist of Kirana style, who
embodied the music she was seeking. With great fortune, she had the privilege
to receive his direct guidance. It was under his revered tutelage from 1953
through 1965 that she refined her understanding of music and its classical
forms, raising her singing to new heights.
As a performing artist,
Sri Karunamayee has been highly recognized throughout the years. Most
prominently, she won the prestigious Tansen-Vishnu Digambar Award, in Calcutta
in 1960. She performed in the famed music festival, organized by Sur-Singar
Samsad, Bombay in 1963 and received high acclaim from master musicians
including Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Begum Akhtar and Baba Gyani. She has won All
India (Radio) competitions. She has received the highest rating for an artist,
"Class A", given by the All India Jury in All India Radio, for her rendering of
light classical music. She was a regular performer on All India Radio for over
58 years.
Sri Karunamayee's unique contribution to the devotional
music of India has also been formally recognized. In 1988, she was awarded an
honorary Doctorate of Meditational Music from the World Development Parliament
(Vishwa Unnayan Samsad) of West Bengal. In 1996 she composed original music and
recorded the "Geet Govind" (a sacred text written by the 13th century poet and
musician, Jai Dev) for inclusion in the archives of the Indira Gandhi National
Center of Art and Culture, India's foremost and most respected institution for
the preservation of the arts. In 1999, she was invited to compose and perform
original music based on the Sikh scriptures, in conjunction with Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco's exhibition, 'Arts of The Sikh Kingdoms', celebrating
the tercentenary of the founding of the Sikh tradition. In May of 2000, she was
a participant in the World Festival of Sacred Music in Delhi, which was
inaugurated worldwide by H.H. The Dalai Lama, to foster global peace and
understanding through the interface of sacred music traditions.
Over
the years, Sri Karunamayee has also had renown as an innovative educator of
Indian vocal music. Her teaching experience has included students of all ages
from pre-school to post-graduate level. From 1961 through 1964, she was the
vice-principal and head of the music department at V.M. College of Ghaziabad of
Agra University. Afterwards, she dedicated her life to the spiritual work of
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother by joining the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. There she
founded Mother's Matri Kala Mandir (Temple of Fine Arts), a center for the
study of music and dance, part of the Ashram's extensive education endeavor.
Presently, Sri Karunamayee remains a vital member of the Sri
Aurobindo Ashram where she is an active trustee and co-editor of the ashram's
spiritual journal, "Sri Aurobindo Karmadhara." She also receives music students
from India and abroad and continues to support the daily meditations and
special events with her music. Annually she travels to the U.S. to present
recitals and to guide aspiring students in the art, science and spiritual
depths of Indian vocal music.
© 2006 Joan Allekotte
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