Supriya Nagarajan - MANASAMITRA
Manasamitra is an artist-led organisation based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, delivering a range of exciting and original cross-cultural experiences. Our work is rooted in the creative vision of Supriya Nagarajan, a classically-trained Carnatic singer who is inspired by not only the traditions of her South Asian roots but also by a drive to work with new ideas, forms and aesthetics from across the world, presented within a contemporary British context.
Supriya is the founder and Artistic Director of Manasamitra. She is a singer-composer trained, since the age of 5, in Carnatic (classical South Indian) vocal music in Bombay (Mumbai).
Since setting up Manasamitra in 2005 she has collaborated with musicians from different genres and disciplines. She strives to create inclusive music which explores the relationship between her practice and her country of residence, now called home.
Over the past 15 years Supriya has led Manasamitra as Artistic Director often creating music in response to different art forms. Her niche is to work in unusual spaces and she has been commissioned to create music responses to artists Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and other sculptors exhibiting at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. She also worked closely with a Cultural Olympiad project Stanza Stones exploring the Yorkshire Moors, the poetry of Simon Armitage and Indian classical music.
It was her passion for music and commitment to unlocking other’s potential which led her to set up Manasamitra.