Tirupanithurai Viswanatha Gopalakrishnan (born 11 June 1932 in Thripunithura, Kerala) is a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from
ChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
Gopalakrishnan hails from a family of musicians, spanning over two centuries; his father was a court musician for the
Cochin Royal FamilyThe Cochin royal family were rulers of Cochin, or Kochi, India. They were also known as Perumpadapu Swaroopam or Kuru Swaroopam.-Tradition of Perumpadapu Swaroopam:...
. He is a vocalist, plays the
violinThe 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....
and is also an exponent of the
mridangam. Gopalakrishnan started playing the mridangam at the age of four and had his
arangetramArangetram , also Arangettam in Malayalam, is the debut on-stage performance of a Bharatanatyam student, after undertaking years of training.Bharatanatyam is an ancient Indian dance form originating in Tamilakam....
at the
Cochin palaceHill Palace is the largest archaeological museum in Kerala, near Tripunithura, Kochi,. It was the administrative office of Kochi Rajas. Built in 1865, the Palace complex consists of 49 buildings in the traditional architectural style, spreading across in . The complex has an archaeological museum,...
at the age of six. He is a disciple of
Chembai Vaidyanatha BhagavatharChembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad . Known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1896, at Kottayi near Palakkad on Janmashtami day, with Bharani star in the month of Chingam...
.
His students include Yesudas, Ilayaraja, A.R.Rahman, Rajkumar Bharati, and
Kadri GopalnathDr. Kadri Gopalnath is an Indian saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music on the saxophone.-Early life:...
. He has also collaborated with drummer/composer
Franklin KiermyerFranklin Kiermyer in Montréal, Canada, is a drummer/composer who came to prominence in the 1990s during his long residency in New York City. Kiermyer's work is inspired by a variety of spiritual musics including the late period of John Coltrane...
on live performances.
Gopalakrishnan was given the
Sangeet Natak Akademi AwardSangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
in 1990.