| T. V. Gopalakrishnan | |
| Birth Name: | Tripunithura Viswanathan Gopalakrishnan |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Date: | 1932 6, df=y |
| Origin: | Kerala, India |
| Occupations: | singer, violinist, mridangist |
Tripunithura Viswanathan Gopalakrishnan (born 11 June 1932 in Tripunithura, Kerala), known as TVG, is a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from Cochin, Kerala, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2014.[1]
Gopalakrishnan was born on June 11, 1932 into a family of musicians with a history spanning over two centuries.[2] His father, T.G. Viswanatha Bhagavathar, was a court musician for the Cochin Royal Family and a professor of music at the S.K.V. College in Thrissur.[3] Gopalakrishnan was the eldest child of his parents, who totally had nine siblings. started playing the mridangam at the age of four and had his arangetram at the Cochin palace at the age of six.[4] He is a disciple of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.[5]
Gopalakrishnan is married to Radha. The couple have 3 children - Two sons named Viswanath (Late), Ramanath, and one daughter named Aparna Raghavan. The popular violinist T.V. Ramani and ghatam exponent T. V. Vasan were his siblings.[6]
He is a musician who is equally proficient in both Carnatic and Hindustani vocals, mridangam and violin.[7] TVG has toured with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, John Handy, Ravi Shankar, Ustad Alla Rakha. He has also collaborated with drummer/composer Franklin Kiermyer, Don Peake, Seigfried Kutterer and Carola Grey.[8]
Gopalakrishnan was given the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in the year 2012.[9]
In 2018, he was awarded a doctorate by Bharatidasan University for his research on the topic "Layathwam in Carnatic music".[10]
This is an incomplete list of releases. The release dates are also not always indicative of the original release date of the associated record.
In his career spanning over five decades, many honours and awards have been bestowed on Gopalakrishnan. These include: