Chandana Bala Kalyan
A rare breed of singer-songwriter in the world of Indian classical music! Of unusual musical dexterity, she sings in polyrhythm cycles: using both the hands to keep time of different patterns.
Trained and steeped in the Carnatic classical tradition, Chandana brings a unique sensibility to the music she creates and performs. She is a contemporary singer who experiments with genres both as a composer and a singer. Her incredible ability to traverse scales and move between genres as diverse as Carnatic, Hindustani, Sufi and Jazz, exhibits her versatility. She has taken the Carnatic idiom and given it newer expressions in her experiments with different musical styles.
She has an extensive repertoire of devotional music including poetry of different Bhakti saints across the subcontinent such as Andal, Annamacharya, Haridasa sahitya, Vachana Sahitya, Varkari poets, Meerabai, Kabir, Surdas, Jayadeva, Sadashiva Brahmendra and many many more excelling in multi genres such as Devaranama, Abhanga, Bhajan, Viruttam, Shlokam and so on.
Over the years, Chandana has been recognised with numerous prestigious honours for her contributions to music. She received the Aryabhatta Youth Award (1998), the Ghantasala Award (2004), and was celebrated as the Star of Vani (2009). Her artistry and dedication were further acknowledged with the Ananya Yuva Puraskara (2015), followed by dual recognitions in 2019 – the M. S. Subbalakshmi Award from Vishakha Academy of Music and the M. S. Subbalakshmi Award from Ghantasala Music College, Vijayawada. Most recently, she was conferred the Nadajyothi Puraskara (2022), reaffirming her stature as a leading force in Indian classical music.
