Umayalpuram Mali is an Indian

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

player.

Early life

His parents are Kalyani and Jayaraman. He learned the mridangam from Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer and Umayalpuram Sivaraman. Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer taught many mridangam players. The village Umayalpuram ( Tamil Nadu, India) lies on the banks of the sacred Cauvery river, in between the holy towns

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

and

Thiruvayaru Thiruvaiyaru (also spelled as Tiruvaiyaru or Tiruvayyaru) is a panchayat town in Thanjavur District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Etymology Thiruvaiyaru means ''Five Rivers around the city''. The Five Rivers are Vadavaar, Vennaar, Vett ...

. It has produced many musicians of repute. Krishna Baghavathar and Sundara Bagavathar who lived during the 19th century were the direct disciples of Saint Thyagaraja. Several ''laya vidwans'' were popular, followed by Sri Umayalpuram Sivaraman.

Career

Umayalpuram Mali has accompanied various musicians during his career, including

T. Muktha Thanjavur Muktha, also spelt Mukta and often referred as Mukthamma, (1914–2007) was one of the foremost representatives of the Veena Dhanammal school of Carnatic Music. She, along with her elder sister T. Brinda, formed one of the first women d ...

T. Viswanathan Tanjore Viswanathan (13 August 1927 – 10 September 2002) was a Carnatic musician specializing in the Carnatic flute and voice. Early life and background Viswa, as T. (Tanjore/Thanjavur) Viswanathan is often called, was born in Madras, In ...

, Veena S. Balachander,

S. Kalyanaraman S. Kalyanaraman (2 June 1930 – 9 January 1994), popularly known as SKR, was a vocalist in the Carnatic tradition. Hailing from a musical family – his great-grandfather was Komal Muthu Bhagavathar and his grand uncle was vocalist Madirim ...

, Veena

K. S. Narayanaswamy K. S. Narayanaswamy, (full name Koduvayur Sivarama Iyer Narayanaswamy; 27 September 1914 – 1999) was a Carnatic veena exponent of the Thanjavur style, in which nuances and subtleties are given more importance over rhythm based acrobatics.

and Veena Ranganayaki Rajagopalan. Mali has provided mridangam accompaniment to composer Thanjavur Sankara Iyer on numerous occasions. He provided accompaniment to ''vidwans'' violin

T.N. Krishnan Trippunithura Narayana Krishnan (6 October 19282 November 2020) was an Indian Carnatic music violinist. Along with Lalgudi Jayaraman and M. S. Gopalakrishnan he was considered part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic music. He was awarded the Mad ...

, Trichur Ramachandran, Violin

M. Chandrasekaran Mohanan Chandrasekaran is a Carnatic classical violinist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He was born in Calcutta, on 1937 December 11 as the younger of the two sons of T.N. Mohanan and Charubala Mohanan, a violinist herself. He was awarded th ...

, T.N.Seshagopalan,

T. V. Sankaranarayanan T. V. Sankaranarayanan, (7 March 1945 – 2 September 2022) was an Indian Carnatic music, Carnatic vocalist (South Indian classical singer), known for his music that stems from the style of his guru and maternal-uncle, Madurai Mani Iyer. TVS ...

, O.S.Thyagarajan,

Neyveli Santhanagopalan Neyveli Santhanagopalan (born 1963) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and teacher. He has learned from masters such as Shri Thanjavur Sankara Iyer, Shri Maharajapuram Santhanam, and Shri TN Seshagopalan. He has distinguished himself with numero ...

, Sudha Ragunathan,

Vijay Siva N. Vijay Siva (born 29 March 1967) is a Carnatic music vocalist. He is a disciple of the late D. K. Jayaraman. Background Vijay Siva was born to Akhila Siva and A.N.Siva on 29 March 1967. Vijay Siva went to Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Se ...

T.M. Krishna Thodur Madabusi Krishna (born 22 January 1976) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, writer, activist, author and Ramon Magsaysay awardee. As a vocalist, he has made a large number of innovations in both the style and substance of his concerts, ther ...

and others. Mali participated in the programme "Rhythm Spectrum" conceived by his guru Sivaraman at the Music Academy, Chennai. The other participants were

Mannargudi Easwaran Mannargudi Easwaran ( ta, மன்னார்குடி ஈஸ்வரன்) (born April 1, 1947) is a leading contemporary ''mridangam'' player and Carnatic musician. He was a staff artiste of All India Radio and has received several awa ...

, K.V. Prasad and Erode Nagaraj. He participated in the "Laya Vinyasam" programme in Manamadurai along with mridangam ''vidwans''

T. K. Murthy Thanu Krishna Murthy (born 13 August 1924), better known as T. K. Murthy, is an Indian mridangam player. Murthy is a Padma Shri and Sangeetha Kalanidhi awardee. Personal life Murthy was born on 13 August 1924, to Thanu Bhagavathar and Annapurn ...

, Ramnad Raghavan and Tanjavur Ramadass. Umayalpuram Mali toured widely and has performed in countries around the world and also on University assignments. Mali was invited by

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

(Massachusetts, USA) to be a Scholar in Residence (2003). Mali was awarded the Copeland Fellowship (2006). Mali, in coordination with David Reck, conducted workshops and taught mridangam. He researched the topic of ‘The Role of Mridangam as an accompaniment in Carnatic Concerts'. Harvard University invited him to be "Artiste in Residence" in 2010. Mali was awarded a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

in 2012 and invited to Harvard. With Prof Richard Wolf, Mail researched 'The art of Improvisation'. Mali taught Harvard students the art of the mridangam. Mali released a CD titled ''Jack Wood'' that features Mali on mridangam and H. Subramaniam on Gethu Vadhyam. David Reck provided the lead music on the ''Veena''. Mali has trained several students, many of whom are in the concert scene.

Recognition

Umayalpuram Mali won prizes and awards (‘Nadha Vallabha', ‘Kala Acharya Sironmani', ‘Kalaai Isai Sudaroli’ etc.) around the world. The Carnatic Association of Canberra, Australia bestowed upon him the title Kalaimani - Mridangam.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mali, Umayalpuram Living people Mridangam players Indian male classical musicians Year of birth missing (living people)