Stephen Devassy
Encyclopedia
Stephen Devassy is an India
n pianist
. He composes, sets tunes and arranges music for the Indian music
industry.
, where he completed his Eighth Grade examination conducted by the Trinity College of Music
, London.
on his European tour.
He has also accompanied the violin
maestro L. Subramanian at the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival.
At age 19, he started a music band called Seven, with singers Franco Simon and Sangeeth. A Hindi pop band, they released an album titled Yeh Zindagani.
Stephen, who started performing at a young age, has done the music arrangement for many films. Some of the films he scored were Majaa
, Thambi
, Nammal
, Azhagiya Thamizh Magan
and Hariharan's album, Waqt Par Bolna.
Hariharan Pillai Happy Aanu
(2003) was his maiden music directorial venture in Malayalam.
He is one of the regular band members in Rexband
, a Christian contemporary band singing gospel fusion, a musical outreach of the Jesus Youth
Movement. He performed with the band before Pope John Paul II
during World Youth Day
performance in 2002 at Canada. At the time, it was the only catholic band invited from India. Stephen has orchestrated an instrumental version of the popular Rex Band melodies called Different Vibes.
In association with Kosmic Music, Stephen has also set to tune to a background of Western music, Sanskrit
slokas, mantras and verses from the Upanishads, called Sacred Chants of Kosmic Music, and albums of holy chants on Ganesha, Shiva and Vishnu.
He has also assisted Sarod
maestro Amjad Ali Khan
with his album of Christmas carols, Breaking Barriers..
He has released his album Romanza, which was a mix of world music
sprinkled with the flavor of piano. Indian raga
s have been treated with the rich use of contemporary piano. Hariharan, Ouseppachan
and a Russian vocalist appeared as guest artists on the album.
Stephen’s solo stage shows have propelled him to the top league of onstage performers.
Recently, Stephen Devassy made his first appearance on a Tamil channel by playing for the contestants and playback singers Srinivas
, Chinmayi
, Sujatha Mohan
and Unnikrishnan in the unplugged round for the famous Tamil reality music show Airtel Super Singer 2008.....
Stephen performed at Shakthi foundation's annual fundraising concert, Ghananjani 2009, along with Zakir Hussain
, U Shrinivas, Sivamani
and Dominique Piazza.On March 10, 2011,he performed in Ragam'11,the annual cultural fest of NIT Calicut
And then he also went to perform for NMAM Institute of Technology(Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial)on 4 Of November in the TechFest also called Technidarshan.]. On march 12,2011,he performed in the popular cultural fest Spring Spree,held by NIT Warangal.
’s highest scorer in solo piano exams from Trinity College of Music
, London with a score of 92.2%.
He also holds the record of completing the course in three years’ time.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. He composes, sets tunes and arranges music for the Indian music
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
industry.
Early life
Stephen Devassy started learning the piano at age 10; he entered the world of music under the guidance of Leslie Peter, who was his first teacher. He learned the organ and then was introduced to the piano by Fr. Thomas at Chetana Music Academy in ThrissurThrissur
This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...
, where he completed his Eighth Grade examination conducted by the Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
, London.
Career
Stephen's first major break came when he was just 18, through Johny Sagarika, for whom he did the music orchestration of six songs on the album Ishtamannu. He then went as an accompanying artist to play the keyboard for HariharanHariharan (singer)
Hariharan , born 3 April 1955) is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. His melody is strongly appreciated by the film fraternity...
on his European tour.
He has also accompanied the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
maestro L. Subramanian at the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival.
At age 19, he started a music band called Seven, with singers Franco Simon and Sangeeth. A Hindi pop band, they released an album titled Yeh Zindagani.
Stephen, who started performing at a young age, has done the music arrangement for many films. Some of the films he scored were Majaa
Majaa
Majaa is a 2005 Tamil film directed by Shafi, starring Vikram, Asin, Vadivelu, Pasupathy, Vijayakumar, Manivannan, Sindhu Tolani, Murali and Biju Menon. The music is composed by Vidyasagar. It tells the story of two adopted children changing from their old, mischievous ways of life...
, Thambi
Thambi
Thambi is Tamil film released in 2006. The Madhavan, Pooja starrer is directed by Seeman. It carries the message that violence doesn't pay, and is not the answer to the problems of today.-Plot:...
, Nammal
Nammal
Nammal is a blockbuster Malayalam movie released in 2002. It is directed by the notable director, Kamal and produced by David Kachapalli. The movie stars Jishnu, Siddharth , Renuka Menon and Bhavana. It is best known for its award winning song, "Sukamanee Nilavu", sung by Vidhu Prathap and Jyotsana...
, Azhagiya Thamizh Magan
Azhagiya Thamizh Magan
The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman and was cited as "an excellent effort".The track Pon Magal, the remix in the album was done by Krishna Chetan.-Controversy:...
and Hariharan's album, Waqt Par Bolna.
Hariharan Pillai Happy Aanu
Hariharan Pillai Happy Aanu
Hariharan Pillai Happy Aanu is a 2003 Malayalam film by Viswanathan Vaduthala starring Mohanlal and Jyothirmayi. This was Viswanathan's debut film as a director and the debut music directorial venture of renown pianist and arranger, Stephen Devassy....
(2003) was his maiden music directorial venture in Malayalam.
He is one of the regular band members in Rexband
Rexband
Rexband is the first Catholic band from the Indian subcontinent to be invited to the World Youth Day performance in 2002 at Toronto. From then, they have been consistently invited for the later World Youth days in 2005 at Cologne, in 2008 at Sydney and in 2011 held at Madrid...
, a Christian contemporary band singing gospel fusion, a musical outreach of the Jesus Youth
Jesus Youth
Jesus Youth is an International Youth Movement in the Catholic Church. The Movement evolved as an outcome of the Charismatic revival that spread across India in the mid-seventies...
Movement. He performed with the band before Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
during World Youth Day
World Youth Day
World Youth Day is a youth-oriented Catholic Church event. While the event itself celebrates the Catholic faith, the invitation to attend extends to all youth, regardless of religious convictions....
performance in 2002 at Canada. At the time, it was the only catholic band invited from India. Stephen has orchestrated an instrumental version of the popular Rex Band melodies called Different Vibes.
In association with Kosmic Music, Stephen has also set to tune to a background of Western music, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
slokas, mantras and verses from the Upanishads, called Sacred Chants of Kosmic Music, and albums of holy chants on Ganesha, Shiva and Vishnu.
He has also assisted Sarod
Sarod
The sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in the classical music of Hindustan...
maestro Amjad Ali Khan
Amjad Ali Khan
Amjad Ali Khan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. Khan was born into a musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s...
with his album of Christmas carols, Breaking Barriers..
He has released his album Romanza, which was a mix of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
sprinkled with the flavor of piano. Indian raga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s have been treated with the rich use of contemporary piano. Hariharan, Ouseppachan
Ouseppachan
Ousephachan is a National Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film Award-winning Indian music director who sets scores for Malayalam films. He is one of the most sought-after musicians in the Malayalam film industry.-Biography:...
and a Russian vocalist appeared as guest artists on the album.
Stephen’s solo stage shows have propelled him to the top league of onstage performers.
Recently, Stephen Devassy made his first appearance on a Tamil channel by playing for the contestants and playback singers Srinivas
Srinivas (singer)
Srinivas 'Srini' is an award winning playback singer who has sung over 2000 songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He is also a music composer.-Early life:...
, Chinmayi
Chinmayi
Chinmayi Sripada is an Indian playback singer, singing predominantly in Tamil. She is also a voice actor in Tamil and Telugu films, and has worked as a television presenter and a radio jockey as well. She is the founder and CEO of a translation services company called Blue Elephant.-Early life and...
, Sujatha Mohan
Sujatha Mohan
Sujatha Mohan , usually credited as Sujatha, is an award-winning Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She has also sung for Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies. She is widely popular for her evergreen melodies and her sweet voice is considered to be her...
and Unnikrishnan in the unplugged round for the famous Tamil reality music show Airtel Super Singer 2008.....
Stephen performed at Shakthi foundation's annual fundraising concert, Ghananjani 2009, along with Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (musician)
Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
, U Shrinivas, Sivamani
Sivamani
Anandan Sivamani , popularly known as Sivamani, is a percussionist based in India. He plays many instruments including drums, Octoban, Darbuka, Udukai, and Kanjira, as well as many more. He performed drumming during the IPL Championships in 2008 & 2010. He is affiliated to the Chennai Super Kings...
and Dominique Piazza.On March 10, 2011,he performed in Ragam'11,the annual cultural fest of NIT Calicut
And then he also went to perform for NMAM Institute of Technology(Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial)on 4 Of November in the TechFest also called Technidarshan.]. On march 12,2011,he performed in the popular cultural fest Spring Spree,held by NIT Warangal.
Achievements
Stephen holds a record as AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
’s highest scorer in solo piano exams from Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
, London with a score of 92.2%.
He also holds the record of completing the course in three years’ time.
External links
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMjxTVx31KU
- http://team1dubai.blogspot.com/2008/01/interview-with-stephen-devassy-my.html
- http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/02/24/stories/2009022450170600.htm
- Stephen Devassy at MSI