Neyveli Santhanagopalan (born 1963) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He has distinguished himself with numerous concerts worldwide, and is the recipient of many awards from music associations in India and overseas. He is known for his traditional and purist styles of rendering ragas, musical compositions and swaras. Currently, Santhanagopalan acts as anchor for the Jaya TV program "SaRiGaMaPa".
Santhanagopalan's style is distinguished by his adherence to strict raga interpretation, especially in his rigorous manodharma (creative interpretation) and raga sancharams (bringing out the essential elements or qualities of a raga). This quality of his is evident in his deep mastery of neravals and lack of ostentation in ragam-tanam-pallavis.[citation needed] As a consequence, he is often favorably compared by musical connoisseurs[who?] as following the more "purist" and academic vocal traditions of K. V. Narayanaswamy, Ramnad Krishnan and Nedunuri Krishnamurthy. His conformity and respect for the traditional approach to carnatic vocal music is equally evident in his orthodox manner of concert attire (the panchagacham and namam).
Santhanagopalan has been acknowledged as one of the most talented singers around,[citation needed] and his emphasis on purity of nada and tone, and his restrained and measured grasp of kritis is regarded well with the Carnatic musical fraternity. Being a thinking man's musician, his cerebral, methodical approach to raga delineation reflects his own growth in music.
He is a regular and sought after performer during the December and January Madras "Music Season", and his concerts have consistently sold out in such prestigious venues as Madras Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts, and Narada Gana Sabha. He is, in addition, a Grade 'A' artist with All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Santhanagopalan is a recipient of the Vani Kala Sudhakara of the Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, and has also received awards and felicitations from Bharat Kalachar, Kartik Fine Arts, Tyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, and the Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Foundation. He is also the recipient of the title Vidhya Tapasvi from TAPAS Cultural Foundation in 2008. He got Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2014
