ReinaSligo4 at 21:49, 11 March 2026

2026-03-11T21:49:49Z

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{{Short description|Indian and American singer, songwriter, and musician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Ganavya
| birth_name = Ganavya Doraiswamy
| alias =
| image = Ganavya on KEXP.jpg
| caption = ganavya playing for [[KEXP]].
| landscape =
| background =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1991|07|21}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], United States
| website = {{URL|https://www.ganavya.com/}}
}}

'''Ganavya Doraiswamy''' (born 1991), known [[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]], [[A. R. Rahman]], and [[Esperanza Spalding]].

==Biography==
Ganavya Doraiswamy was born on July 21, 1991, in [[New York City]], United States.{{r|allmusic-bio|nyt}} When she was 7, her family moved to the town of [[Senkottai]], and then later to [[Chennai]], the capital of the [[South India]]n state of [[Tamil Nadu]].{{r|line-2024}} In India, Ganavya learned to play [[jalatharangam]] from her grandmother [[Seetha Doraiswamy]], and studied [[Carnatic music]] and [[Bharatanatyam]]. Her mother practiced the [[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]] at 19.{{r|allaboutjazz-bio|line-2024}} She then worked briefly as a rehabilitation counselor at [[Everglades Correctional Institution]] in Florida before earning a graduate degree at [[Berklee College of Music]].{{r|line-2024}} After graduating, Ganavya taught a course on South Asian music at [[Berklee Valencia]].{{r|line-2024|allmusic-bio}}

She has a graduate degree in [[Ethnomusicology]] from [[UCLA]] and a Ph.D. in Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry from [[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]] and [[Claire Chase]], with committee members including [[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]]s she translated to her native language of [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[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]], and named after a line from a poem by [[Kaveh Akbar]].{{r|songlines-2024|ft}} Her third album ''Daughter of a Temple'' was recorded in 2022 at the [[Moores School of Music|Moores Opera House]] with over 40 featured musicians including [[Esperanza Spalding]], [[Wayne Shorter]], [[Shabaka Hutchings]], [[Immanuel Wilkins]], [[Rasika Shekar]] and [[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]] in [[Funkhaus Berlin]].{{r|songlines-2025a}} ''Daughter of a Temple'' was [[Giles Peterson]]'s Best Album of the Year, and was named by ''[[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 language|English]], and [[Old Marathi]].{{r|ft|songlines-2025b}} In 2025, a track from ''Nilam'' titled "Pasayadan" was listed as [[Barack Obama]]'s favorite tracks of the year.{{r|Obama}} ''Nilam'' was ''[[Songlines (magazine)|Songlines]]'' Album of the Year.{{r|songlines-best-of-2025}}

Ganavya has collaborated with [[Quincy Jones]], [[Nils Frahm]], [[Esperanza Spalding]], [[Immanuel Wilkins]], [[A.R. Rahman]], [[Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)|Charles Lloyd]], [[Alfredo Rodríguez (pianist, born 1985)|Alfredo Rodríguez]], [[Shabaka Hutchings]], [[Joy Harjo]], and [[Lauren Groff]]. She is a solo vocalist on multiple Grammy Award winning tracks, notably for [[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]] for [[Residente]]'s "[[Antes Que El Mundo Se Acabe]]". She has a longstanding collaborative relationship with [[Peter Sellars]], most recently having co-created an opera titled ''Nine Jewelled Deer'' with set design by [[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==
<references>
<ref name=allmusic-bio>{{allMusic |id=mn0004505541 |title=Ganavya Biography |author=Timothy Monger |access-date=November 17, 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=nyt>{{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]] |author=Marcus J. Moore |date=2024-11-20 |access-date=2025-11-17}}</ref>

<ref name=songlines-2024>{{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 (magazine)|Songlines]] |author=Charlie Cawood |issue=196 (April 2024) |page=58 |issn=1464-8113 |access-date=2025-11-17}}</ref>

<ref name=songlines-best-of-2025>{{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/awards/2025 |title=Songlines Music Awards 2025 |work=[[Songlines (magazine)|Songlines]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=songlines-2025a>{{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/daughter-of-a-temple |url-access=limited |title=ganavya – Daughter of a Temple |work=[[Songlines (magazine)|Songlines]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=songlines-2025b>{{citation |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/nilam |url-access=limited |title=ganavya – Nilam |work=[[Songlines (magazine)|Songlines]] |author=Jane Cornwell |issue=210 (August 2025) |page=67 |issn=1464-8113 |access-date=2025-11-17}}</ref>

<ref name=ft>{{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]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=line-2024>{{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]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=allaboutjazz-bio>{{citation |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/ganavya-doraiswamy |title=Jazz Musicians: Ganavya Doraiswamy |work=[[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 }}</ref>

<ref name=BBC6>{{citation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002628d |title=BBC6 Music Gilles Peterson's Album of the Year |type=interview |work=[[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 }}</ref>

<ref name=Obama>{{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]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=WHV>{{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]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=Opera>{{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]] |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 }}</ref>

<ref name=guardian-2024>{{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]] |author=Ammar Kalia |date=2024-12-11 |access-date=2026-01-09}}</ref>
</references>

==External links==
*{{discogs artist|artist=5921752-Ganavya|name=Ganavya}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganavya}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1991 births]]
[[Category:Indian women musicians]]
[[Category:Indian women singers]]
[[Category:Indian women songwriters]]
[[Category:American women musicians]]
[[Category:American women singers]]
[[Category:American women songwriters]]
[[Category:Musicians from New York City]]

Ganavya - Revision history

ReinaSligo4 at 21:49, 11 March 2026