Geetha Navale
“Geetha had the audience lapping up every single semi tone she dished out. It was reminiscent of Ravi Shankar’s performance at Woodstock…” – The Asian Age.
Veena Vidhushi Geetha Navale is a very spontaneous veena player touching the listener’s heart with her skillful playing. Her unique sound comes from a deep study of the traditions and idioms of Carnatic Music. She has had the privilege of learning the ancient art of playing the veena from the renowned Gurus Sri. J. Anjaneyalu and Sri. R. K. Suryanarayana.
Born in Hyderabad, at the tender age of nine her talent was spotted by the venerable Sri. J. Anjaneyalu, Vice-Principal of Music College, Hyderabad, who took her under his wing. As a child she had the honour of performing with her Guru at Sri. Thygaraja Aradhana, at Tiruvayaru, the birthplace of Sri. Thyagaraja.
eing a staunch purist from the traditional Vijayanagaram School, Sri. Anjaneyalu trained her vigorously in all the fundamentals and subtle nuances of playing the veena. The classes would commence of 4.30 am every morning and the practice would continue for hours daily. As a child prodigy she gave a number of live broadcasts on All India Radio, Hyderabad, aside from performances at sangeeth sabhas, ceremonial functions and educational institutions, where she won recognition in the form of awards and prizes, regularly obtaining first position in competitions
After her marriage to songwriter-guitarist Gopal Navale, Geetha moved to Bangalore. She continued her studies under the late Sri. C. Krishnamurthy AIR Bangalore, a disciple of the celebrated vainika Sri. Doreswamy Iyengar and consolidated the sound foundation given by her previous guru.
Since 1989 she has been under the guidance of the legendary Sri R. K. Suryanayana, veena maestro, whose explosive techniques inspired her to further heights of excellence. Under him she has matured as a performing artiste. He has introduced her to modern style of playing and also new original compositions.
She regularly gives concert performances, sometimes individually, sometimes as part of pancha veena group with her guru and his disciples. At present she has many students of her own and also teaches veena at the Krishnamurthy Foundation Valley School, Bangalore.