# Ganavya > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ganavya > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ganavya.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganavya > Source revision: 1356923061 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Indian and American singer, songwriter, and musician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Ganavya | birth_name = Ganavya Doraiswamy | image = Ganavya performing at Joe's Pub.jpg | caption = Ganavya performing at Joe's Pub in New York | landscape = no | background = person | birth_date = {{birth date|1991|07|21}} | birth_place = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), United States | website = {{URL|https://www.ganavya.com/}} }} '''Ganavya Doraiswamy''' (born 1991), known [mononymously](/source/mononymously) as '''ganavya''', is an Indian and American singer, songwriter, and musician. She has released four albums, most recently ''Nilam'' in 2025, and has collaborated with musicians including [Quincy Jones](/source/Quincy_Jones), [A. R. Rahman](/source/A._R._Rahman), and [Esperanza Spalding](/source/Esperanza_Spalding). ==Biography== Ganavya Doraiswamy was born on July 21, 1991, in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), United States.{{r|allmusic-bio|nyt}} When she was 7, her family moved to the town of [Senkottai](/source/Senkottai), and then later to [Chennai](/source/Chennai), the capital of the [South India](/source/South_India)n state of [Tamil Nadu](/source/Tamil_Nadu).{{r|line-2024}} In India, Ganavya learned to play [jalatharangam](/source/jalatharangam) from her grandmother [Seetha Doraiswamy](/source/Seetha_Doraiswamy), and studied [Carnatic music](/source/Carnatic_music) and [Bharatanatyam](/source/Bharatanatyam). Her mother practiced the [Pandharpur Wari](/source/Pandharpur_Wari).{{r|allaboutjazz-bio|nyt}} She has one brother. Ganavya was homeschooled for portions of her childhood instead prioritizing arts training, but later obtained undergraduate degrees in theater and psychology at [Florida International University](/source/Florida_International_University) at 19.{{r|allaboutjazz-bio|line-2024}} She then worked briefly as a rehabilitation counselor at [Everglades Correctional Institution](/source/Everglades_Correctional_Institution) in Florida before earning a graduate degree at [Berklee College of Music](/source/Berklee_College_of_Music).{{r|line-2024}} After graduating, Ganavya taught a course on South Asian music at [Berklee Valencia](/source/Berklee_Valencia).{{r|line-2024|allmusic-bio}} She has a graduate degree in [Ethnomusicology](/source/Ethnomusicology) from [UCLA](/source/UCLA) and a Ph.D. in Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University), where she helped lead the Songwrights Apothecary Lab, an experimental music-based research lab founded by Spalding. Her dissertation advisors were [Esperanza Spalding](/source/Esperanza_Spalding) and [Claire Chase](/source/Claire_Chase), with committee members including [Peter Sellars](/source/Peter_Sellars).{{r|line-2024}}{{r|nyt}} She co-founded the We Have Voice Collective.{{r|WHV}} ==Career== In 2015, Ganavya recorded ''Aikyam: Onnu'', a collection of [jazz standard](/source/jazz_standard)s she translated to her native language of [Tamil](/source/Tamil_language) and [abhang](/source/abhang)s. The album was released in 2018.{{r|line-2024|allmusic-bio}} In 2024, Ganavya released her second album ''like the sky I've been too quiet'', co-produced by [Shabaka Hutchings](/source/Shabaka_Hutchings), and named after a line from a poem by [Kaveh Akbar](/source/Kaveh_Akbar).{{r|songlines-2024|ft}} Her third album ''Daughter of a Temple'' was recorded in 2022 at the [Moores Opera House](/source/Moores_School_of_Music) with over 40 featured musicians including [Esperanza Spalding](/source/Esperanza_Spalding), [Wayne Shorter](/source/Wayne_Shorter), [Shabaka Hutchings](/source/Shabaka_Hutchings), [Immanuel Wilkins](/source/Immanuel_Wilkins), [Rasika Shekar](/source/Rasika_Shekar) and [Vijay Iyer](/source/Vijay_Iyer) and was released at the end of 2024 on Leiter.{{r|nyt}} The album is a selection of material from a week-long gathering, with initial decisions being made by Ganavya and Spalding, with the final round of mixing being led by [Nils Frahm](/source/Nils_Frahm) in [Funkhaus Berlin](/source/Funkhaus_Berlin).{{r|songlines-2025a}} ''Daughter of a Temple'' was [Giles Peterson](/source/Giles_Peterson)'s Best Album of the Year, and was named by ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' as one of the best global albums of 2024.{{r|BBC6|guardian-2024}} Her fourth album ''Nilam'' was released in 2025, and features vocals in Tamil, [English](/source/English_language), and [Old Marathi](/source/Old_Marathi).{{r|ft|songlines-2025b}} In 2025, a track from ''Nilam'' titled "Pasayadan" was listed as [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama)'s favorite tracks of the year.{{r|Obama}} ''Nilam'' was ''[Songlines](/source/Songlines_(magazine))'' Album of the Year.{{r|songlines-best-of-2025}} Ganavya has collaborated with [Quincy Jones](/source/Quincy_Jones), [Nils Frahm](/source/Nils_Frahm), [Esperanza Spalding](/source/Esperanza_Spalding), [Immanuel Wilkins](/source/Immanuel_Wilkins), [A.R. Rahman](/source/A.R._Rahman), [Charles Lloyd](/source/Charles_Lloyd_(jazz_musician)), [Alfredo Rodríguez](/source/Alfredo_Rodr%C3%ADguez_(pianist%2C_born_1985)), [Shabaka Hutchings](/source/Shabaka_Hutchings), [Joy Harjo](/source/Joy_Harjo), and [Lauren Groff](/source/Lauren_Groff). She is a solo vocalist on multiple Grammy Award winning tracks, notably for [Songwrights Apothecary Lab](/source/Songwrights_Apothecary_Lab), for which she helped create a lab by the same name at Harvard led by Spalding, and for having written and sung the first Tamil lyrics to win a [Latin Grammy](/source/Latin_Grammy) for [Residente](/source/Residente)'s "[Antes Que El Mundo Se Acabe](/source/Antes_Que_El_Mundo_Se_Acabe)". She has a longstanding collaborative relationship with [Peter Sellars](/source/Peter_Sellars), most recently having co-created an opera titled ''Nine Jewelled Deer'' with set design by [Julie Mehretu](/source/Julie_Mehretu).{{r|allmusic-bio}}{{r|nyt}}{{r|Opera}} ==Albums== *''Aikyam: Onnu'' (2018) *''like the sky I've been too quiet'' (2024) *''Daughter of a Temple'' (2024) *''Nilam'' (2025) ==References== {{allMusic |id=mn0004505541 |title=Ganavya Biography |author=Timothy Monger |access-date=November 17, 2025}} {{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/arts/music/ganavya-daughter-of-a-temple.html |title=The Singer Whose Work Feels Like Prayer |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |author=Marcus J. Moore |date=2024-11-20 |access-date=2025-11-17}} {{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/like-the-sky-ive-been-too-quiet |url-access=limited |title=ganavya – like the sky I've been too quiet |work=[Songlines](/source/Songlines_(magazine)) |author=Charlie Cawood |issue=196 (April 2024) |page=58 |issn=1464-8113 |access-date=2025-11-17}} {{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/awards/2025 |title=Songlines Music Awards 2025 |work=[Songlines](/source/Songlines_(magazine)) |issue=214 (January 2026) |page=64 |issn=1464-8113 |access-date=2026-01-09 |archive-date=December 16, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251216051715/https://www.songlines.co.uk/awards/2025 |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/daughter-of-a-temple |url-access=limited |title=ganavya – Daughter of a Temple |work=[Songlines](/source/Songlines_(magazine)) |author=Charlie Cawood |issue=204 (January 2025) |page=60 |issn=1464-8113 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=December 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251208064703/https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/daughter-of-a-temple |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/nilam |url-access=limited |title=ganavya – Nilam |work=[Songlines](/source/Songlines_(magazine)) |author=Jane Cornwell |issue=210 (August 2025) |page=67 |issn=1464-8113 |access-date=2025-11-17}} {{citation |url=https://www.ft.com/content/efb8bc96-59f1-4d88-b204-db1f6ca65f5b |title=How the singer Ganavya infused jazz with spiritual soul |work=[The Financial Times](/source/The_Financial_Times) |author=David Honigmann |date=2025-09-27 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=November 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251103233421/https://www.ft.com/content/efb8bc96-59f1-4d88-b204-db1f6ca65f5b |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/ganavya-all-life-learning-finding-wisdom-to-stand-still |title=All life is learning: How ganavya found the wisdom to stand still |type=interview |work=[The Line of Best Fit](/source/The_Line_of_Best_Fit) |author=Alan Pedder |date=2024-03-18 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=April 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250420132734/https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/ganavya-all-life-learning-finding-wisdom-to-stand-still |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/ganavya-doraiswamy |title=Jazz Musicians: Ganavya Doraiswamy |work=[All About Jazz](/source/All_About_Jazz) |date=2019-02-15 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=September 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927180407/https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/ganavya-doraiswamy |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002628d |title=BBC6 Music Gilles Peterson's Album of the Year |type=interview |work=[BBC](/source/BBC) |author=Gilles Peterson |date=2024-11-15 |access-date=2026-01-09 |archive-date=December 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241221103502/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002628d |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/obamas-song-list-features-pasayadan-modern-rendition-of-13th-century-marathi-abhang/articleshow/126081594.cms |title=Obama's songfest features Pasayadan |type=interview |work=[The Times of India](/source/The_Times_of_India) |author=Sharmila Ganesan |date=2025-12-20 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=December 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251222103933/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/obamas-song-list-features-pasayadan-modern-rendition-of-13th-century-marathi-abhang/articleshow/126081594.cms |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/arts/music/we-have-voice-jazz-women-metoo.html |title=Women Fighting Sexism in Jazz Have a Voice. And Now, a Code of Conduct |type=interview |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |author=Giovanni Russonello |date=2018-04-30 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401153059/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/arts/music/we-have-voice-jazz-women-metoo.html |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/arts/design/sellars-mehretu-arles-aix-deer-opera.html |title=In a New Opera, Violence Against Women Is Not Just the Stuff of Fables |type=interview |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |author=Laura van Straaten |date=2025-07-17 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-date=September 30, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250930173751/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/arts/design/sellars-mehretu-arles-aix-deer-opera.html |url-status=live }} {{citation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/dec/11/10-best-global-albums-of-2024 |title=The 10 best global albums of 2024 |work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |author=Ammar Kalia |date=2024-12-11 |access-date=2026-01-09}} ==External links== *{{discogs artist|artist=5921752-Ganavya|name=Ganavya}} {{Authority control}} Category:Living people Category:1991 births Category:21st-century Indian women singers Category:Indian women singer-songwriters Category:21st-century American women singers Category:American women singer-songwriters Category:Singers from New York City Category:Florida International University alumni Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Women Carnatic singers Category:Tamil-language singers Category:English-language Indian singers Category:Marathi-language singers Category:Singers from Chennai --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ganavya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganavya) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganavya?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.