Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy was  appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Music and 

Fine Arts University by the Hon'ble Chief Minister and Chancellor of  

Tamil Nadu Music and Fine Arts University on 31-1-2018 

 

Dr.Premeela Gurumurthy 

VICE - CHANCELLOR  Dr.M.Premeela Gurumurthy was born on 5-10-1954, started to perform Karnatic concerts from the age of twelve and performed at the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Utsavam in 1969 at the age of sixteen. She joined the Queen Mary’s College, Chennai and graduated in Indian music winning the convocation prize for practical music at the convocation of the University of Madras in November1974. She then continued to do her masters degree at the Centre of Advanced Study in Indian Philosophy from 1974 to 1976 ( in High second class) and also did an M.A in Indian Music ( passed with overall grade A ) both at the University of Madras. Winning a fellowship from the department of culture, New Delhi. She completed her Ph.D in Kathakalakshepa, a study in which she not only researched the art of story telling in the States of Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka but also learned the art to perform musical discourses from veterens of the art such as Embar Vijayaraghavacharya and Smt.C.Banni Bai. Premeela's Gurus are Musiri Subramanya Iyer, T.K Govinda Rao, B. Rajam Iyer, Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer, T.M Thyagarajan and T. Muktha(Karnatic Music). She also learned Hindustani Classical from Krishnanand of Kirana Gharana and performed her maiden concert in the year 1984 presided by Sangita Kalanidhi Sri. R.Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Premeela has also specialized in multi lingual devotional music in languages such as Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marthi, Hindi and Gujarathi. As a musicologist her specialization is in the areas of ancient Tamil Music, composers and the History

of Music. She is both a performing artist and an academician who was the President, the

Chairperson of the School of Fine and Performing Arts, Professor and Head, Dept of Indian Music,

Member Syndicate (2007-2010), University of Madras.

Languages Known

Tamil, English, Sanskrit, Telugu and Hindi

Teaching Tenure

• Dr. M. Premeela joined as a lecturer in the Department of Indian Music, University of

Madras in 1984 and became a Reader in 1992 and a Professor in 1998 and took over as Head

and Chairperson and President of the School of Fine and Performing Arts in 2003.

• She was a Senate and Academic council member from the year 2003 and in 2007 was

nominated to the syndicate of the University of Madras by the Governor of Tamil Nadu

(2007-2010).

• She retired on 30th June 2015.

Total Teaching and Research Experience 30 years.

Courses Introduced after assuming Headship at University of Madras • M. A Bharatanatyam (in 2004)

• M.A Rhythmology (in 2006)

• M.A Folk Music with Tamil Department (in 2006)

• Certificate courses in Karnatic Music under the UICIC ( University Industry Community Interaction Centre) • Certificate course in Hindustani Music

• Harikatha and Bhajana

• Dance Music

Dean

From 2016 to 2017, she was the Dean, School of Music and Fine Arts at

Vels university, Pallavaram, Tamil Nadu.

Recognitions and Honours

Isai Kalai Chelvar - Ramlingar Pani Mandram

Acharya Choodamani - Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.

PUBLICATIONS:

1. Kathakalakshepa A Study, University of Madras 2. Nellai tanda Isai manikal Tamil, Narada Gana Sabha Publication 3. Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Delhi Sahitya Akademi Publication 4. Ghanaraga Pancharatnas of Thyagaraja, Sunaada Trust 5. Musings of Music, University of Madras 6. Articles 100 7.Guided 15 Ph.D candidates 8. 50 Mphil Candidates