Dr DEVIE
NEITHIYAR
Some people are a phenomenon as they are born. Some are born to become a phenomenon and some are made to be phenomena by consistent effort.
Dr Devie Neithiyar belongs to the first category. She is born with a voice which will not find an equal as the decades go by! Mellifluous, incredible range, emotions dripping like nectar whatever the language or idiom might be – it is an amazing talent to be exposed to universal display.
Born into an aristocratic family in Kerala in the South of India to Sri. Subash Chandran and Smt. Soudamini Neithiyar, Devie started singing even at the tender age of three as her mother taught her the basics of singing. She was then initiated into serious training by the Nadaswara Vidwan Shri.Nalleppilly Vaidyanathan.
Blessed with a naturally mellifluous and extraordinarily expressive voice, by the age of five, she had already started winning prizes in national-level competitions! She then came under the loving care of the music genius Guruji Dr T.V.Gopalakrishnan (TVG) in Chennai. Living in his house in Chennai, she became Guruji TVG’s foster daughter and blossomed into his premier disciple.
Now, after more than 3 decades of devoted study, Devie is one of South India’s most unique and versatile vocalists.
Awarded with the Nation’s second highest honour of Padma Bhushan for Indian Classical Vocal and Percussion Dr. T V Gopalakrishnan ( Dr TVG) – has created a new era of classical music and rhythm, transcending different styles. The younger generation of musicians and music lovers are influenced by this musical ethos in all their aesthetic endeavours. No other single individual has accomplished as much as Dr TVG in creating new generations of achievers in music bringing them into the limelight in the past 6 decades. Dr TVG’s disciples include many top-ranking international celebrities in India and abroad like Ilayaraja, AR Rehman, Sivamani, Bhupinder Singh, Carola Grey and many others. Dr TVG is today the most acknowledged specialist in singing Voice and Voice therapy.
A Musician who has the unique distinction of being the acclaimed Vocalist in Camatic and Hindustani styles, the Mrdangam wizard par excellence, the original innovator of Indian jazz, the dedicated scholar who has done result-oriented research in Voice-Culture & Music Therapy and the Guru to hundreds of classy performers, a composer par excellence this legendary nanogenarian – Guruji Dr TVG stands out as a Complete Musician in the high profile world of today’s Indian music. It is difficult to encounter such a heady mixture of versatility, creativity and vision, all encapsulated in one man!!