# Nagai Muralidharan

Nagai Muralidharan (born 4 December 1958 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu) is a Carnatic violinist from India. He was awarded Kalaimamani by the State Government of Tamil Nadu in 2003.

## Musical career

Muralidharan first began to learn how to play the violin from his mother, Shrimati R. Komalavalli. Later he studied under Sri R.S. Gopalakrishnan, a violinist from Chennai.
His first performance was at the age of 10, with his career as a violinist spanning over 50 years. Today, as a violinist, he is noted for his clarity, rich tonal quality and crispness, and has developed a distinct scholarly style. He is also a regular feature in the Radio Sangeetha Sammelan concerts on Doordarshan and has been a violin accompanist on several albums. He also served as a top-ranking violin artist in All India Radio, Trichy from 1978 to 2004.
Over the years, Muralidharan has traveled and performed in countries all over the world including the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Japan, and Kuwait.
He has accompanied many artists in their vocal and instrumental concerts including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Alathur Srinivasa Iyer, M.D. Ramanathan, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Voleti Venkateswarulu, Nedunoori Krishnamurthy, R.K. Srikantan, Maharajapuram V. Santhanam, Madurai Somasundaram, Palghat K.V. Narayanaswamy, T.M. Thyagarajan, D.K. Jayaraman, T.K. Govinda Rao, Dr. S. Ramanathan, B. Rajam Iyer, Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, Chidambaram C.S. Jayaraman, K.J. Yesudas, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Sanjay Subrahmanyan and P. Unnikrishnan.
He has also accompanied instrumentalists including S. Balachander (veena), M. Balamuralikrishna (viola), T.R. Mahalingam (flute), Dr. N. Ramani (flute), Namagiripetai Krishnan (nadaswaram), A.K.C Natrajan (clarinet) and Kadri Gopalnath (saxophone).
In solo concerts, many esteemed senior percussion artists have accompanied him, including Dr. T.K. Murthy, Vellore Ramabadran, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Trichy Sankaran, Guruvayur Dorai, Tanjore Upendran, Karaikudi R. Mani, Mannargudi Easwaran, Srimushnam Raja Rao, Thiruvarur Bakthavatsalam, T.H. Vikku Vinayakram, Thirupanithura Radhakrishnan, Coimbatore Mohanram, V. Suresh, and several others.
In 1985, he performed a 26 hours non-stop marathon violin concert held at Sri Rangam Temple at Tamil Nadu. Muralidharan has accompanied Sri K.J. Yesudas in Dubai on the anniversary of the 50th Indian Independence Day celebration in 1997.

## Awards and titles

Kalaimamani – Tamil Nadu State Government – (2003)
Arsha Kala Bhushanam – Arsha Kala Gurukulam – Poojya Swamiji Dayananda Saraswathi – (2007)
Maharajapuram Santhanam Memorial Award – Maharajapuram Santhanam Trust (2009)
Sahrudaya Seva Rathna – Shi-Ba Sangeetha Sabha Chennai (2009)
Vani Kala Sudhakra – Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha (2010)
Sangeet Natak Academi Award – Government of India (2010)
Gaana Padhmam – Brahma Gana Sabha, Chennai (2011)
Asthana Vidwan – Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Kanchipuram – (2014)
Sangeetha Rathnakara – Bhairavi Fine Arts, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (2015)

## Discography

* "Young maestros" (1988)
* "Na Jeevadhara" (2014)