Dr. Shobana Vignesh

Dr. Shobana Vignesh

Head 

Area: Centre for Performing and Fine Arts
Affiliation: Faculty of Science and Humanities, SRM University, Kattankulathur.

Education

Research Interests

• Ethnomusicology
• Comparative Music
• Tamil Music   

Selected Publications:

• Published a book chapter, entitled ‘A Study on Dance Drama and Musical Plays’ in the book, ‘The Different dimensions of Dance and Music.’
• Paper entitled 'South Indian Operas and Western Operas-A Survey' in the Journal 'Samakalika Sangeetham' in April 2009.
• Paper entitled ‘A Study on Ramanatakam' in the Journal 'Naadhabrahmam' in January 2009.
• Presented a paper, 'Contribution to the development of South Indian Operas' in an international conference in February 2008.
• Presented a paper, 'Evolution of South Indian and Western Operas' in an international conference in January 2008.
• Book Chapter entitled ‘Music across Boundaries’ (Isai Ellaigalai Kadandhu) in the book ‘A Collection of 50 essays’ (Katturai Kothu) published in the Tamil language.

Academic Experience: 

• Dr. Shobana has conducted Master Classes, Lectures and Demonstrations in Carnatic Music at several prestigious venues in India and abroad.

Professional / Industry Experience:

Dr. Shobana Vignesh is one of the leading Carnatic Vocalists and Recording Artists in India with over 2 decades experience in the industry. She has given numerous concerts and showcased her talent in prestigious venues across the world. She has been trained in Carnatic music by stalwarts in the Carnatic music field like Sri. P.S. Narayanaswamy, Prof. T. R. Subramaniam, and Sri. Swamimalai Janakiraman. She is popularly known as ‘Mahanadhi’ Shobana due to her stint as a child actor and singer in the National award winning Indian movie, “Mahanadhi’ released in 1994. Shobana has cut more than 150 albums in various Indian languages. As an internationally renowned artist, Shobana has performed in several parts of India, United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and Sri Lanka. She is often featured by leading Television channels in India and other countries and has been performing concerts for them for over 2 decades. Her lecture demonstrations on Carnatic Music are well received and she captures her audience with her in-depth knowledge in the field and her practical experience as a performer. Dr. Shobana is an A grade Artiste with the All India Radio and empanelled with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Albums:

Dr. Shobana rendered her first audio album at the age of 12. Since then, she has cut more than 150 albums numbering more than 1500 songs in various Indian languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. She has recorded these albums for leading audio companies in India and has released albums across different genres of music such as Carnatic music, devotional, semi-classical, folk songs and film music. She has sung a poem written by Dr. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, and the song is featured in the audio album titled ‘India- A Musical Journey.’  Dr. Shobana’s album, ‘Live in Concert at Bharat Kalachar’ received two nominations in the ‘Best Carnatic Music Album’ category at the prestigious Global Indian Music Awards in 2010.   

Achievements and Awards:

• Received the title, ‘Isai Selvam’ from the Muthamizh Peravai, Chennai in May 2015.
• Received the title, ‘Tamil Isai Peroli’ from the New York Tamil Sangam in April 2014.
• Awarded the title, ‘Isai Arasi’ from Trinity Arts Festival of India in December 2013.
• Received the title of ‘Tamizhisai Vani’ from the Atlanta Tamil Sangam for her excellence in spreading Tamizhisai across the globe in May 2011.
• Received an international honor, ‘Individual Artist Award’ from the Maryland State Arts Council, USA for artistic excellence in Classical Music and a citation from the Governor of Maryland, USA for the year 2010. 
• Honored with the ‘Young Achiever’ award in the field of Carnatic music by the India Today magazine in 2007.
• Scholarship for ‘Outstanding Talented Young Artistes’ (Vocal Classical Music) by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India from 2003-2005.
• ‘Bala Ratna’ title awarded by Bala Peetam, Nemili, India in appreciation of achievements in the music field in 2005.
• ‘Yuva Kala Bharathi’ title by Bharath Kalachar awarded in the presence of Governor of Tamilnadu, Ram Mohan Rao on December 12th, 2003.
• ‘Young Achiever of The Year 2002’ award by The Cosmopolitan club of Madras awarded by the Chief Justice of High Court, Chennai, Mr. Subhashan Reddy on April 17th, 2002.
• Recipient of National Scholarship (Center for Cultural Resources and Training), Government of India from 1994-2001.