T. N. Seshagopalan


Madurai Thirumalai Nambi Seshagopalan is a noted Carnatic singer, musician and composer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2006. As well as being a master of the veena and harmonium, he is an exponent of harikatha.

Early life

Though T. N. Seshagopalan uses 'Madurai' in front of his name, he was actually born in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. He first learnt under his mother, and later under tutelage of Ramanathapuram C. S. Sankarasivan. He holds a degree in science from Madras University and a degree in music from Madurai Kamaraj University where he later served as professor of music.

Music career

He is proficient in rendering Harikatha and performs as per the guruparampara of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar. Seshagopalan continues to increase his wide repertoire with compositions of his own. He is noted for his own elegant thillanas, bhajans, namavalis and abhangs. He is equally at home with North Indian ragas and has participated in several jugalbandhis.

Tours

In 1984 he was invited to sing at the Adelaide International Festival in Australia. In 1987 he was India's cultural ambassador to Russia. He has performed in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Bahrain and Sri Lanka and has visited and performed in the United States of America numerous times.

Film

In 1983 he produced and played hero in a Tamil movie "Thodi Raagam". He also acted as Prashanth's father in Jambhavan.

Awards and titles