Dr. Deepti Navaratna

Dr. Deepti Navaratna is a musician and neuroscientist deeply interested in an alchemy of sounds involving Carnatic music. She is an A-grade artist of the All India Radio since 2001, consequent upon winning the AIR National Award in the categories of Carnatic devotional music  and light classical music. She has released four albums of  Carnatic classical music;  ‘Ka’ released in 2013, which features Carnatic chamber music recorded with a contemporary music ensemble based in the United States called ‘Boston Musica Viva’. Her recent album ‘Carnatic Cadenzas’ (2018) reimagines immortal songs of Bharataratna M.S.Subbulakshmi with contemporary classical orchestration.  In 2019, Bharataratna C.N.R Rao released her album 'Echoes of Royal Mysore' - featuring rare kritis of Mysore Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar

 Her music has been presented at premiere performing spaces in the United States and cross the globe such as such as Asia Society (New York City), Symphony Space (New York City), Jordan Hall (Boston), Harvard Arts Museum (Cambridge), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Srilanka, among others. From South Indian classical music to avant garde to world music, her music embodies a rare mix of versatility, classical wisdom and virtuosity that is distinctly her own. She has received several distinctions as a traditional musician such as Cambridge Arts Council Education and Access Grant (2011 &2015), Emerging Artist Award from St.Botolph Foundation (2011) and the Traditional & Ethnic Arts Fellowship from the Utah Arts Council (2009), Cambridge Arts Council Fellowship (2014) among others. She is the director of ‘The Carnatic Alchemy Project’; a non-profit organization dedicated to taking South Indian Classical music to diverse audiences across the globe.

Deepti currently serves as the Regional Director, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Bengaluru, India. She heads the centre’s research, academic and outreach activities at the intersection of science and humanities - with a focus on Indian knowledge systems. Deepti holds a doctorate degree in Neuroscience and has authored over twenty original scientific research papers, several book chapters and has over 500 citations to her credit.