About Jayan Gopinathan

Jayan Gopinathan is genuinely passionate about Carnatic music. His ardent pursuit of this passion has led to the evolution of a truly soulful Carnatic musician, leaving behind a medical background from Australia to be immersed in music full time. He is now based in Chennai, India, the home of Carnatic music.

Jayan’s mesmerizing voice expresses a perfect balance of power and beauty, and never ceases to enthrall audiences worldwide, including devoted and knowledgeable ‘rasikas’ as well as new comers and younger audiences. His mastery over ‘ragam’ and ‘layam’ are fully revealed with his advanced vocal techniques, making him one of the excelling young artistes to watch out for.

His sublime performances are characterised by his own distinct style, with highly traditional delivery and authentic renditions of ‘krithis’ and all other compositions. His extensive handling of ‘manodharma’ is spontaneous, creative and exciting, from stirring ‘alapanas’, to spellbinding ‘niraval’ and ‘kalpanaswaras’.

His stage presence exudes pure confidence in music, supplemented with respectful humility toward the art form. Through his dedication and rigorous, consistent training, his rise through the world of Carnatic music is absolutely inevitable.

Jayan Gopinathan was initiated into Carnatic vocal music under Smt Jayalakshmi Raman from Perth, Western Australia. After being advised to learn further from a Guru in India, he spent a year in Thrissur, Kerala and studied under late Smt Komattil Shanthakumari, a renowned disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri G N Balasubramiam. He was referred to Smt Shanthakumari by the well-known, top ranking Carnatic musician Sri P Unnikrishnan, after sending a demo tape to him.

He is now a disciple of the highly respected and dedicated Vidwan Sri Vaikam T V Jayachandran, with whom he has been learning for the past 6 years. Sri Vaikam Jayachandran was a disciple of late Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri T M Thyagarajan and also currently learns from Vidwan Sri Mavelikkara P Subramaniam.

Jayan also takes advanced training from Vidwan Sri P Unnikrishnan regularly in Chennai.

He has performed in many prestigious venues in India, notably in famous temples and sabhas. He has also performed abroad in Australia, USA and Malaysia.

Jayan has had the honour of being accompanied and commended by many leading musicians in the field such as Sri Vittal Ramamurthy, Sri Neyveli Narayanan, Sri Palakkad Mahesh, Prof Sri Swaminathan, Sri R Raghul and many others.

He has also received high commendations and blessings from great stalwarts of the field such as Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Trichur V Ramachandran, Padmabhushan Sri P S Narayanaswamy, Kalaimamani Sri Guruvayur Dorai and Sri Trichur R Mohan.

To his credit, Jayan has worked on audio production of albums both in Carnatic as well as other genres of music. He is also a professional guitarist, having worked on many live and studio productions, in various genres including rock, heavy metal, hip hop, indian, bollywood, fusion etc.

Jayan Gopinathan founded and directs a nonprofit organisation, KWJ Music, named after his maternal family name, ‘Karimpuzha Warriem’. With KWJ Music, Jayan plans to spread and increase the exposure of Carnatic music worldwide, while giving opportunities to upcoming artists in the field. KWJ Music will also be involved in music teaching and music therapy.

“Carnatic music has always been the most powerful influence on my life; I had no choice but to follow it. I feel it is always revealing further to me the infinite depths of life”