(November 10, 2025) The 2026 Grammy nominations have just been announced, and among the flurry of excitement and anticipation stands Kavitha Jayaraman, a Singapore-based musician whose life beautifully intertwines continents, careers, and causes. “It’s Grammy season now, and I’ve been busy with my latest album release, submissions, voting, and travel,” she mentions while connecting with Global Indian.
As a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY®) — the world’s most prestigious peer-voted music institution established in 1959, Kavitha is one of the few Indian classical musicians to have a say in who gets nominated for and wins the coveted golden gramophone. Trained at the Berklee College of Music, where she earned a Master’s in Music Business, she combines global education with deep Indian classical roots. Impressively, she also brings to the table a 15-year corporate career that has taken her from ICICI Bank in India to Hewlett-Packard and DXC Technology in Singapore, Miami, and Florida.
An award-winning Carnatic musician and educator, Kavitha has performed in over 300 concerts across India, Singapore, and the U.S. Her latest album, The Unbound Verse: Bharathiyar’s Legacy, is a 25-year dream finally realized and in her own words, “a groundbreaking fusion of Carnatic tradition and jazz improvisation”. Through her philanthropic platform Kalaadhaanam, founded in 2017, she has also turned her art into activism, raising nearly $95,000 for 18 charities across India, the U.S., and Cambodia, using art education to fund social causes.
The making of a global musician
Born and raised in Mumbai, Kavitha’s journey began at the tender age of four, when she started learning vocal music under the influence of her mother, a musician herself. “My mother is a musician, and my grandfather started a musical organization in Mumbai in the 1950s. So I’m the third generation carrying forward the family legacy,” she shares. At 15, she discovered her lifelong companion, the veena, after hearing her guru Smt. Jayashree Aravind perform. “I was mesmerized by the tone of the instrument and asked her if she could teach me, and she agreed! That was my first step into the world of instruments, which has now become my second voice.”
Kavitha shares that her musical journey has been profoundly shaped by the teachers who guided her at every stage. Her first guru was Smt. Sridevi Kodandaraman at the Mulund Fine Arts Society, Mumbai, who introduced her to the fundamentals of Carnatic music. She later began her veena training under Smt. Jayashree Aravind, a senior disciple of Padma Bhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi Shri K. S. Narayanaswamy, in Mumbai.
At the age of 10, Kavitha had started receiving advanced vocal training from Sangeetha Kala Acharya Bombay S. Ramachandran, and later continued under his disciple Smt. Saraswathy Subramanian. Since 2008, she has been mentored in vocal music by Sangeetha Ratna Smt. Mangalam Shankar, a senior disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Shri T. M. Thyagarajan, and on the veena by Sangeetha Vidwan Smt. Meenakshi Somasundaram — granddaughter of Veena Vidwan Shri Ananthakrishna Iyer, a direct disciple of Smrti Ambi Dikshithar from the legendary Shri Muthuswamy Dikshithar’s lineage.
Even as her musical training deepened, Kavitha simultaneously built a flourishing corporate finance career. She started with ICICI Bank in Bengaluru in 2004, later moved to Singapore after marriage, and spent a decade there before relocating to the United States on work assignments. “I had music as a secondary career all along while I was climbing the corporate ladder,” she says. “But post-COVID, like the rest of the world, I felt the need to focus more on something that brings me joy, so I quit my corporate job after 15 years and turned to music full time.”
The Berklee chapter and the Grammy connection
The next chapter of Kavitha’s life took shape at the Berklee College of Music, where she pursued her Master’s in Music Business. It’s an experience she calls “a turning point.” “Graduating from Berklee was a big highlight of my musical journey,” she says. “It gave me the global perspective I needed to combine art with impact.”
That academic milestone is one of her proudest achievements, just as it is a matter of great pride for her in becoming a voting member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMY®) since the last two years. “Many people don’t realize that the Grammys are entirely peer-nominated and peer-voted,” she explains. “Only invited members can submit and vote each year. The Academy has been consciously diversifying its membership, bringing in more women, people of colour, and artists from underrepresented traditions. That’s how music from our part of the world can now be heard on the global stage.”
As one of the few Indian classical musicians within the Academy, Kavitha sees her role as both symbolic and active. “With my election, I’m looking to build more representation for Indian classical music at the Grammys. I’m also encouraging other musicians from our tradition to submit their work.”
‘The Unbound Verse’: A dream 25 years in the making
Kavitha’s latest album, The Unbound Verse: Bharathiyar’s Legacy, is a fulfillment of a teenage dream. “This project has been 25 years in the making. It’s a teenage dream finally realized,” she says, getting nostalgic.
Inspired by the revolutionary Tamil poet Subramania Bharathiyar, the album features original Carnatic compositions set to his timeless verses. What makes it truly unique, however, is the fusion with jazz, through her collaboration with Grammy-winning pianist Charu Suri and violinist Shreya Devnath. “We’ve created a sound that blends the intricate melodic structures of Carnatic music with the improvisational freedom of jazz,” she explains. “My mission has always been to bring Carnatic music to a wider audience, and this album is perfectly poised to achieve that.”
Awards and accolades
Over the years, Kavitha has earned widespread recognition across continents, from India to the U.S. and Europe. Among her many accolades are silver medals at the Global Music Awards 2025 for Best Indian Classical Album, Best Song, and Best Female Vocalist. She also earned the Best Cultural Music Fusion Artist title at the Clef Music Awards 2025 in India; and the Best Instrumentalist Award at the Intercontinental Music Awards, USA 2025.
Her single Veera Sudandiram was nominated for Best Original Song at the World Film Festival, Cannes 2025. “I was able to attend the Clef Music Awards in India last year, where Varnams Reimaged won in multiple categories,” she recalls. “This year, my single Naan Oru Vilayattu Bommaiya also won, and I was thrilled to receive my trophy in person in Mumbai,” mentions the musician.
Kalaadhaanam: Music as a movement
Founded in 2017, Kalaadhaanam stands at the intersection of music and philanthropy. It’s an initiative through which Kavitha channels her art toward social good. “Growing up in Mumbai, I saw the struggles of street dwellers and always wanted to help in some way,” she reflects. “I never imagined music would become the tool for it.”
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Through Kalaadhaanam, her students contribute regularly to various social causes via crowdfunding platforms. “Since inception, we’ve supported 18 charities in India, the U.S., and Cambodia, raising around $95,000 mainly focused on education and child development,” she says. “Our long-term vision is to have art educators around the globe join the movement and help fund small-scale NGOs in every country.”
Taking Carnatic music global
Kavitha divides her time between performing, recording, and teaching students both in person and online. Despite the challenges of touring with her beloved veena, her passion for spreading Carnatic music across borders remains undiminished. “I love to travel, though carrying the veena has been my biggest challenge,” she laughs. “I’m exploring portable veena designs to make international tours easier.”
With over 300 concerts behind her, Kavitha continues to envision new frontiers for Indian classical music. “At this stage, I’m looking to present Carnatic music on stages and festivals where the art form has never been performed before,” she says. “It’s my humble and sincere effort to build a global audience for our music.”
A voice unbound
Kavitha Jayaraman represents a repertoire of modern musicians who are rooted yet forward-looking, classical yet contemporary. Excited about her latest release The Unbound Verse, the Carnatic singer is reviving Bharathiyar’s poetry and giving it a new voice, new rhythm, and new reach. And as her veena’s notes carry across oceans, one truth rings clear that Kavitha’s verse, like her journey, is truly unbound.
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Great Achievement Kavitha. We’re proud of you