Prof K G Vijayakrishnan- HTML PAGE

Dr.K.G.Vijayakrishnan, Professor, Centre for Linguistics, School of Language Sciences, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad is a linguist by profession and a vainika by training. He started learning the veena at the tender age of six from his mother Late Srimati Karpagavalli Gopalakrishnan who learnt the art of veena playing from the musicologist of Kritimanimalai fame Late Sri Ranga Ramanuja Ayyangar. It is well known in music circles that Sri Ranga Ramanuja Ayyangar’s veena technique is derived from the famous Veena Dhanammal style of veena playing. Thus Vijayakrishnan’s style can be traced to the unique Dhanammal bani of veena playing which is noted for the delicacy of the strumming and the intricacy of the left hand technique. This style is also famous for blending the veena with the voice. True to this tradition of veena playing, Vijayakrishnan has retained its chamber music orientation, adhering to the Dhanammal tradition of the Friday evening open house recitals. Vijayakrishnan gave his first recital at the age of nine in New Delhi and has been giving recitals ever since both in India and abroad. Besides being an accredited player for the All Young KGV India Radio, Hyderabad, he has given performances at the Music Academy, Madras (1975, 2002 when he was adjudged the best instrumentalist in the sub-senior category), Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, The Indian Fine Arts Society, Kalasagaram (Secunderabad), Sri Swati Tirunal Sangeetha Sabha (Trivandrum, latest in 2006), Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar Trust (Trivandrum 2006), Angayarkanni Sabha (Madurai) and several others. He has also given recitals in New York, Los Angeles, Lincoln- Nebraska (where his recital was the inaugural programme of the local chapter of SPICMACAY), Paris, Berlin, Utrecht, Amsterdam. He has also given lecture demonstrations on music appreciation (State Bank of India, Hyderabad), University of Paris (France), University of Konstanz (Germany). His book “The Grammar of Carnatic Music” published by Mouton de Gruyter, Germany (2007) applies the principles of modern linguistic theory to Carnatic music. The unique feature of the book is that it has an accompanying MP3 CD with music demonstration by him and the artist Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan. As a follow up of the book, the departments of Musicology and Linguistics, Utrecht University, the Netherlands and CNRS, Paris III and Paris VIII invited him to present a paper “Markedness in Language and Music” followed by a recital on April 23 rd and April 26 th, 2008 respectively. A prerecorded cassette of his music was released by Kirtana Cassettes in 1993. Kalavardhani released a CD of his music REC371 on 7th December 2006 and is available at

Giri Traders, Mylapore and also with Sri Vijaykumar (telephone: 044-65259799/ email: kalavardhani@hotmail.com, reviewed in Sruti, August 2007.

Office: Dr. K. G. Vijayakrishnan,

Professor, Department of Linguistics,
School for Language Sciences,
The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad - 500 007.
Residence: 'Mathi Oli',
003, Padma Raag Apartments, Plot No. 12-5-59, Chenna Reddy Lane,
Vijaypuri, Secunderabad - 500 017. India.
Tel: 091-040-27002657
Email: kgvijayakrishnan@gmail.com

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Dr.K.G.Vijayakrishnan, Professor, Centre for Linguistics, School of Language Sciences, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad is a linguist by profession and a vainika by training. He started learning the veena at the tender age of six from his mother Late Srimati Karpagavalli Gopalakrishnan who learnt the art of veena playing from the musicologist of Kritimanimalai fame Late Sri Ranga Ramanuja Ayyangar. It is well known in music circles that Sri Ranga Ramanuja Ayyangar’s veena technique is derived from the famous Veena Dhanammal style of veena playing. Thus Vijayakrishnan’s style can be traced to the unique Dhanammal bani of veena playing which is noted for the delicacy of the strumming and the intricacy of the left hand technique. This style is also famous for blending the veena with the voice. True to this tradition of veena playing, Vijayakrishnan has retained its chamber music orientation, adhering to the Dhanammal tradition of the Friday evening open house recitals. Vijayakrishnan gave his first recital at the age of nine in New Delhi and has been giving recitals ever since both in India and abroad. Besides being an accredited player for the All India Radio, Hyderabad, he has given performances at the Music Academy, Madras (1975, 2002 when he was adjudged the best instrumentalist in the sub-senior category), Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, The Indian Fine Arts Society, Kalasagaram (Secunderabad), Sri Swati Tirunal Sangeetha Sabha (Trivandrum, latest in 2006), Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar Trust (Trivandrum 2006), Angayarkanni Sabha (Madurai) and several others. He has also given recitals in New York, Los Angeles, Lincoln- Nebraska (where his recital was the inaugural programme of the local chapter of SPICMACAY), Paris, Berlin, Utrecht, Amsterdam. He has also given lecture demonstrations on music appreciation (State Bank of India, Hyderabad), University of Paris (France), University of Konstanz (Germany). His book “The Grammar of Carnatic Music” published by Mouton de Gruyter, Germany (2007) applies the principles of modern linguistic theory to Carnatic music. The unique feature of the book is that it has an accompanying MP3 CD with music demonstration by him and the artist Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan. As a follow up of the book, the departments of Musicology and Linguistics, Utrecht University, the Netherlands and CNRS, Paris III and Paris VIII invited him to present a paper “Markedness in Language and Music” followed by a recital on April 23 rd and April 26 th, 2008 respectively. A prerecorded cassette of his music was released by Kirtana Cassettes in 1993. Kalavardhani released a CD of his music REC371 on 7th December 2006 and is available at Giri Traders, Mylapore and also with Sri Vijaykumar (telephone: 044-65259799/ email: kalavardhani@hotmail.com, reviewed in Sruti, August 2007. Office: Dr. K. G. Vijayakrishnan, Professor, Department of Linguistics, School for Language Sciences, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad - 500 007. Residence: 'Mathi Oli', 003, Padma Raag Apartments, Plot No. 12-5-59, Chenna Reddy Lane, Vijaypuri, Secunderabad - 500 017. India. Tel: 091-040-27002657 Email: kgvijayakrishnan@gmail.com