Mani Krishnaswami


Mani Krishnaswami, was a Carnatic music Vocalist of Tamil Nadu, India.

Family

Her birth name was Mani Perundevi. Her father, LakshmiNarasimhachari, was the Secretary of Vellore Sangeetha Sabha. When Mani was six years of age, her mother Maragathavalli taught her to play violin. Mani's husband Krishnaswamy is an active arts promoter.

Training in Carnatic Music

Mani's first mentor in Carnatic music was a family musician friend named Gopaalachaari. She learned more than 500 songs while still a child.
After completing secondary education she enrolled for the Sangeeta Siromani course in Kalaakshetra at Adayar, Chennai.

At Kalaakshetra she came under the influence of doyens like Rukmini Devi Arundale, Tiger Varadaachariar and Paapanaasam Sivan.

She has the distinction of learning Carnatic music from five giants in the field who were also recipients of the coveted "Sangeetha Kalaanidhi" award. They are: Mysore Vasudevaachaar, Budalur
Krishnamurthy Saastry, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tiger Varadaachaariar and
Paapanaasam Sivan.

Mani Krishnaswamy followed the Musiri Tradition. She was a key figure in popularizing the works of Musiri Subramania Iyer.

Musical Journey

She was chosen by the government of India and she performed music concerts in the Festival of India held in the then Soviet Union and in Germany.

She has rendered numerous music concerts both within India and in many other countries. She was a visiting Faculty at San Francisco University for a short period.

Mani Krishnaswami was the Asthaana Vidhwan at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

Soundarya Lahari rendered by Mani Krishnaswami is considered by carnatic music connoisseurs as a musical treasure.

She rendered Desikar's Achuta Satakam in the ancient Prakrit language and set it to music.

A well-known music critic Subbudu commended her voice as golden and mellifluous.

Awards

Mani Krishnaswami died on 12 July 2002 due to cardiac arrest.