Swathi Thirunal College of Music
Encyclopedia
Swathi Thirunal College of Music is a music college in Thiruvananthapuram
, Kerala
, India
. It was founded in 1939. It was first named as "The Music Academy. The name was renamed as Swathi Thirunal College of Music in 1962. The founder of this institution was L. Muttayyah Bhagavathar.
The primary objective of this venture was to popularize the kritits of Maharaja Sri. Swathi Thirunal. This institution from the date of its inception has produced a lot of talented artists who have contributed much to the realm of Carnatic music.
The administration of the institution was under the control of the royalty earlier. The institution was renamed as Sree Swathi Thirunal College of Music in 1962. Situated at the heart of the capital city, the institution is one of the prestigious and well managed music institutes of South India.
Presently the college has entered into new avenues, announcing 8 new courses as part of continuing education programme. The courses are meant for those who have an aptitude in learning music, those who would like to go for advanced studies in group kritis, ragamalikas, and ragam-tanam-pallavis and for those who are interested in 'music direction'.
Eminent Principals and Students of the College
Late Dr. L. Muttayyah Bhagavathar was the founder Principal of this esteemed music institution. He was replaced by the great Carnatic Music doyen, the late Sri. Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer. G. N. Balasubrahmaniam, Vechur N. Hari Hara Subrahmania Iyer have also served as the heads of this eminent organization. K. Vasantha Kumari is at present the Principal of this institution.
Dr.K.J.Yesudas, Neyyatinkara Vasudevan, Dr. K. Omanakutty, Chalakkudy Narayana Swami, Pudukkode Krishna Murthy, Mavelikkara Prabhakara Verma, Velukkutty Nair, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Raveendaran (Music Director) and Parassala Ravi are some of the illustrious students of this institution. New talents like Kallara Gopan and Panthalam Balan were also the products of this college.
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India
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...
. It was founded in 1939. It was first named as "The Music Academy. The name was renamed as Swathi Thirunal College of Music in 1962. The founder of this institution was L. Muttayyah Bhagavathar.
The primary objective of this venture was to popularize the kritits of Maharaja Sri. Swathi Thirunal. This institution from the date of its inception has produced a lot of talented artists who have contributed much to the realm of Carnatic music.
The administration of the institution was under the control of the royalty earlier. The institution was renamed as Sree Swathi Thirunal College of Music in 1962. Situated at the heart of the capital city, the institution is one of the prestigious and well managed music institutes of South India.
Courses
Earlier, a three-year certificate course in Music - “Gayaka and Gayika” for male and female students respectively was provided in the Institute. In 1961, a committee, which included eminent musicians and music educators like Mrs. Lekshmi Narayanan Nair, Sri. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Dr. Musuri Subrahmanya Iyer and Prof. P. Sambamurthy constituted by the Government of Kerala prepared a comprehensive curriculum and syllabus for the course in this institution. Later “Ganabhooshanam and Ganapraveen”, (four year Diploma course) were introduced. The college was affiliated to the University of Kerala in 1999 and a unique 'Bachelor in Performing Arts' course was initiated.Presently the college has entered into new avenues, announcing 8 new courses as part of continuing education programme. The courses are meant for those who have an aptitude in learning music, those who would like to go for advanced studies in group kritis, ragamalikas, and ragam-tanam-pallavis and for those who are interested in 'music direction'.
Eminent Principals and Students of the College
Late Dr. L. Muttayyah Bhagavathar was the founder Principal of this esteemed music institution. He was replaced by the great Carnatic Music doyen, the late Sri. Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer. G. N. Balasubrahmaniam, Vechur N. Hari Hara Subrahmania Iyer have also served as the heads of this eminent organization. K. Vasantha Kumari is at present the Principal of this institution.
Dr.K.J.Yesudas, Neyyatinkara Vasudevan, Dr. K. Omanakutty, Chalakkudy Narayana Swami, Pudukkode Krishna Murthy, Mavelikkara Prabhakara Verma, Velukkutty Nair, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Raveendaran (Music Director) and Parassala Ravi are some of the illustrious students of this institution. New talents like Kallara Gopan and Panthalam Balan were also the products of this college.
Notable alumni
- Dr. K.J. YesudasK. J. YesudasKattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
Classical and playback singer. - Neyyattinkara VasudevanNeyyattinkara VasudevanNeyyattinkara Vasudevan was an acclaimed Carnatic music vocalist from Kerala in south India. The Padmasree-winning Carnatic vocalist and disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Ramnad Krishnan, he combined tradition and innovation in his widely acclaimed career.- Biography :Vasudevan born in a...
Classical and playback singer. - RaveendranRaveendranM. Raveendran , fondly called as "Raveendran Master" was a popular South Indian music composer and Playback singer from Kerala. He was always referred to as the aristocratic music director of Malayalam who had a distinctive style of his own. He composed more than 150 films primarily for the...
Film Music composer and singer. - M. G. RadhakrishnanM. G. RadhakrishnanM. G. Radhakrishnan was a senior music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala. He is highly regarded as one of the most successful light music and film music composer in Malayalam.- Personal life :M. G...
Film Music composer and singer. - Dr. K. Omanakutty
- Chalakkudy Narayana Swami
- Pudukkode Krishna Murthy
- Mavelikkara Prabhakara VarmaMavelikkara Prabhakara VarmaMavelikkara Prabhakara Varma was an Indian carnatic singer. and teacher who descended from the royal family of Mavelikkara, Kerala.-Biography:...
- Velukkutty Nair
- Parassala Ravi