Nedunuri Krishnamurthy
Background information
Born	(1927-10-10)10 October 1927 Kothapalli, Pithapuram Taluka, Godavari dt, British India
Died	8 December 2014(2014-12-08) (aged 87) Visakhapatnam, India
Genres	Indian Classical Music
Occupation(s)	classical vocalist
Years active	1945–2014
Labels	Kosmik, PM Audios & Entertainments, Sanskriti
Website	Official website

Nedunuri Krishnamurthy (Telugu: నేదునూరి కృష్ణమూర్తి;10 October 1927 – 8 December 2014) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist.^[1] He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1991.

Early life

Krishnamurthy was born in 1927 at Kothapalli, Pithapuram Taluka, Godavari dt, Andhra Pradesh in what was then British India to Rama Murthy Panthulu and Vijayalakshmi.^[2]

His father held a minor job at the estate of the Raja of Pithapuram.^[3] He was under influence of his mother who sang Ashtapadis, Tarangas and the Adhyatma Ramayana kritis. She had a great influence on him while growing up.^[2]

Krishnamurthy joined the Maharaja's Music College at Vizianagaram in the year 1940 and received initial training in Violin and Vocal from the Dwaram Narasinga Rao Naidu. In 1949, he was influenced by carnatic vocalist, Sripada Pinakapani, and under his guidance developed his style of music.^[2]

Performing career

Krishnamurthy worked as Principal of S. V. College of Music and Dance, Tirupati; M. R. Government College of Music and Dance, Vizianagaram; Government College of Music and Dance, Secunderabad; and retired as Principal of G. V. R. Government College of Music and Dance, Vijayawada in 1985.^[2] Nedunuri's performances are characterised by adherence to tradition and his alapanas are renowned for capturing the essence of important Carnatic ragas. He formed a popular partnership with the renowned violinist, Lalgudi Jayaraman, and the performances of the duo are much admired by listeners.^[4]

He was Dean of Faculty of the Fine Arts and Chairman of Board of Studies in Music of Sri Venkateswara University and Nagarjuna University. He contributed to Annamacharya Project of the TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) in tuning most of the Annamacharya kritis as we know them today.^[5]

Krishna Gana Sabha, Madras, conferred on Nedunuri the title 'Sangeetha Choodamani' in 1976. The Music Academy, Madras conferred on him the most prestigious title of 'Sangeeta Kalanidhi' in 1991.^[6]

He was named 'Asthana Vidwan' of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and also of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.^[3][2]

Prominent disciples^{[citation needed]}

1. Domada Chittabbayi
2. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad
3. Shobha Raju
4. Saraswati Vidyardhi
5. Malladi Brothers
6. Sarada Subramanyam
7. Seshulatha Viswanath
8. T. Sreenidhi
9. Padmavathi Thyagaraju
10. Subba Narasiah Kramadathi
11. Chaitanya Brothers (Varanasi Venkateswara Sharma & Bukkapatnam Krishnamacharyulu)
12. Neetha Chandrasekhar
13. Lalitha Chandrasekhar
14. Lahari Kolachela

Death

Nedunuri Krishnamurthy died on 8 December 2014 at Visakhapatnam, aged 87, while undergoing treatment for lung cancer.^[7]

Albums & Songs

Discography

• Annamayya Antaranga Tharangam
• Annamayya Pada Kadambam
• Annamayya Pada Kamalam
• Annamayya Pada Neerajanam
• Annamayya Pada Ravali
• Annamayya Pada Sammohanam
• Annamayya Pada Vasantham
• Pahi Nareyana by PM Audios & Entertainments
• Guru Upadesham by PM Audios & Entertainments
• Srihari Rasakrithi (TTD Release)
• Bhadrachala Ramadasu Keerthanalu (with Dasarathi Sataka Poems) (Alivelumanga Sarvayya Charitable Trust)
• Raga Sudha Rasam
• Rare Krithis of Tyagaraja
• Classical Treat by Nedunuri Krishnamurthy ^[9]
• Raga Madhur (Audio) by Swathi Soft Solutions Company release
• Raga Ranjani (DVD) by Swathi Soft Solutions Company release

Awards and honours