The line between life and music is so thin that it is very difficult to distinguish between the two". It is the first thought to occur to one's mind when one gets to know about Jayashree, the upcoming singer in Karnatic music. Jayashree, the chirpy singing bird from Kannur is a natural gifted singer with an ability to put her heart into what she sings. With her melodious voice and uncompromising style, this unassuming singer catches the attention of the listener almost unobtrusively. Her ragalapana, niravals, manodharmaswaraprasthara and above all, her rendition of krithis are really pleasure to the ears. One can easily see that she reaches a level of transcendence and can send the listeners to a different world with her enviably inimitable style of singing. That is what makes her different from others of her age.

Born in Kannur on 26th April, 1977 to NP Karunakaran [Retd] DIG and Dr. M P Geetha, (retd. DMOH of Kannur), she cannot boast about a lineage in Karnatic music or any other art form. Her mother, the source and strength behind her success, recognized the spark even before she reached the age of five and decided to teach her music. She started her music lessons from a veteran Nadaswara Vidwan Shri Pathur Srinivas of Kannur, who himself was a disciple of Late Tanjore Rajarathnam Pillai, the final word in Nadaswara, and continued under him for almost ten years. Later, she came under the tutelage of Shri Nedumangad Sasidharan Nair, a renowned singer of Calicut, where she honed her skills in advanced music and perfected her style of singing with consummate ease. Shri Thmarakkad Govindan Nampoothiri, himself an accomplished musician with a rich repertoire, is her new Guru and he helps her to explore the stranger shores of singing by guiding and inspiring her.  She started performing concerts in 1990 and still continues to do it with style. Presently she is a B-high grade artist (Karnatic vocal) of AIR, Calicut.

Currently disciple of Sangeetha Kalarcharya Smt. Suguna Varadachari, Chennai

She has also tried her hands in violin under veteran violinist Shri T S Babu, retd. AIR artist of Calicut, and still continues it with equal passion.   In her early years, it was her Guru who accompanied her on the violin in concerts with a parental affection. He does have a high opinion about her singing and attitude.  She has accompanied famous musicians including late V Dakshinamoorthy during concerts.

Jayashree is also a very good dancer and has undergone training under famous dance gurus like Shri Natyakalaratnam P Shrinivasan and  Smt. Kalamandalam Saraswathi. She has passed the audition test for the Nrithamandapam programme of Doordarshan Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram.

Currently works as a Subject Matter Specialist at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Central Plantation Corps Research Institute (CPCRI) Kasaragod, Kerala. She holds a double masters in Agriculture and Music.

  • In 2002, MSc Agriculture - ‘Agricultural Engineering’ from Kerala Agricultural University Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala
  • In 2008, MA Music - First Rank, Gold Medalist - Dept. of Music, Kannur University, Kannur, Kerala

She lives with  husband Rajeev Kumar and two children Harishankar & Gowrishankar at Kannur, Kerala.

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