N J Nandini (born 5 August 1991) is a Carnatic musicvocalist from Trivandrum.[1] Nandini was awarded the Chembai Puraskaram, the Isai Chudar title and a M S Subbalakshmi fellowship at the young age of 23.[citation needed] Nandini, who comes from a family that has a musical lineage, has been nurtured by gurus such as Prof Parassala Ponnammal, Prof P R Kumarakerala Varma, Dr S Bhagyalakshmi and Dr M N Moorthy.[citation needed]
Nandini, who is the recipient of 28 prestigious awards[citation needed], has performed in over 900 concerts in India and abroad.[citation needed]
NJ Nandini was born into a musical family. Her late grandfather Vechoor N Hariharasubramania Iyer was a renowned Carnatic vocalist and teacher. Her uncle Vechoor C Sankar is a well-known Carnatic singer and her brother, NJ Nandagopal, a Charted Accountant by profession, is a talented singer and mridangist.
As a child, Nandini's parents, C Neelakantan and S Jayanthi, would take her to nearly all the concerts in town. She could identify ragas and sing small tunes from the age of 3. Noticing her flair for music, her parents ensured she received the very best of training in the field.
She has been nurtured over the years by eminent gurus such as Padmasri B Ponnammal, Prof, PR Kumarakerala Varma, Dr S Bhagyalekshmy and Dr MN Moorthy. Set to receive her Doctorate in Music by November 2022, Nandini is a guest lecturer at Sree Swathi Thirunal Govt. College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram.
Recipient of CCRT Cultural Talent Scholarship since 2002
She has rendered songs for various devotional albums, documentaries, short films and title songs for various television programmes.
She has composed music for various creative concepts & stage shows such as Bharatha Nandini – Tribute to Mother land, Hari Bhakti Navakam – Nava Vidha Bhakthi Krithis, Bharathiyin Kannamma (Poems of Bharathiyar) Vaggeya Vaibhavam (celebrating illustrious composers of Carnatic Music) and Abhyaasa Gaanam (Mic less practice session), with her students.
She has composed many dance musical pieces and collaborated with musicians and danseuses.
She has conceptualized and curated popular musical series such as Malayalam May, Padmanabham and Out of the Box on her YouTube channel.
She has recorded Soundarya Lahari, 100 verses in 100 ragas composed by KR Kedaranathan.
She turned playback singer in M Jayachandran's movie Kambhoji, wherein she sang two Kathakali padams.
