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= Sandeep Narayan =

Sandeep Narayan is a California born Carnatic vocalist and music educator currently residing in Chennai, India. He was the recipient of the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2018, and is an A-Grade Artiste with All India Radio, Chennai.

Family
Sandeep was born on October 23, 1984 in Cerritos, California to K.S. Narayan, a retired software engineer and Shubha Narayan, a retired school teacher and music educator. Sandeep is the youngest of three boys in the Narayan family. His eldest brother Nikhil Narayan is a flautist trained by the legendary artiste, Dr. N. Ramani. Their other brother Nirmal Narayan is a mrudangam artist who received training from the percussion virtuoso, Umayalpuram Dr. K. Sivaraman. In 2014, Sandeep married Radhe Jaggi, a professional Bharathanatyam dancer.

Musical Training
Sandeep began his initial lessons in Carnatic Music at the age of 4 from his mother, Shubha Narayan at the Sampradaya School of Music in Cerritos, California. Early signs of his knack for music led his mother to start formally teaching him, and he gave his debut performance under her guidance at the age of 11. He then relocated to India for 1.5 years to learn from Calcutta K.S. Krishnamurthi. After Krishnamurthi's passing away in 1999, he began training under Sanjay Subrahmanyan. Today, Sandeep regularly performs concert tours across Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

Academic Education
Sandeep shuttled for many years between the US and India in order to complete high school as well as his undergraduate studies. He graduated from Whitney High School, Cerritos in 2002, and received his Bachelor of the Arts in Law & Society from UC Santa Barbara in 2006. Upon completion of his degree, he permanently relocated to Chennai, India.

Music Educator
Beyond his career as a performing artiste, Sandeep is a dedicated teacher, instilling a deep appreciation for the art form in the next generation. He enjoys educating through individual classes, group workshops, and conducting lecture demonstrations, especially to global audiences. Sandeep conducts private lessons as well as classes through the Sampradaya School of Music, Cerritos, California.

Awards & Titles

 * “Artiste of the Year” – Mandolin Shrinivas Institute of World Musique, Chennai – Feb 2024
 * "Isai Peroli”, Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai – Dec 2021
 * “Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar”, Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi – Aug 2019
 * “Kala Ratna”, Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana – Apr 2019
 * Yuva Purandara Award, Indranagar Sangeeth Sabha, Bangalore – Jan 2019
 * Best Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi Award, Madras Music Academy, Chennai – Dec 2017
 * “Isai Arasar”, Trinity Fine Arts, Chennai – Dec 2017
 * Yagnaraman Award of Excellence, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai – Jul 2017
 * “Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani”, Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai – Dec 2016
 * North American Young Musician Award, Sringeri Vidya Bharathi Foundation, New York – Nov 2014
 * Best Concert & Vocalist Awards, Madras Music Academy – Dec 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, & 2014
 * “A-Grade” from All India Radio, Chennai in Jul 2010

Projects & Collaborations
Today, Sandeep is a regular in all the traditional Carnatic sabhas (or organizations), including the Margazhi Music Season in Chennai. However he aims to take Carnatic Music to wider audiences through collaborations with artistes from a variety of genres. He has worked with musicians from the Hindustani classical tradition, the Indian film industry, folk artistes from North and South India, artistes and producers of hip-hop and r&b, and has more recently even given his voice to jazz and Lo-Fi albums with award winning producers. Recently he released "Arul", a Carnatic-House fusion album with Toronto based producer Yanchan. Sandeep is also known for his popular releases such as "Gopala Gokula" with Sean Roldan, "En Appan Allava" with Sounds of Isha, "Oru Murai" with Sounds of Isha and Hindustani vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty, "Nannu Vidachi" with producer and singer Ravi G, and "Neelambari" with Sounds of Isha and violinist Ragini Shankar.