Divyanand Caird
Veena Player (South Indian Lute)
A half Scotsman, Carnatic Classical and strings? I represent the 10th generation lineage of disciples in the Karaikudi Veena Tradition. My mission is to make Veena a global instrument.
About Divyanand Caird
Divyanand is a professional Carnatic (South Indian Classical) musician based in London specialising on the Saraswati Veena (an ancient 7 stringed South Indian Lute). A half-Scotsman and with a lineage of (Late) Rukmini Devi Arundale – a catalyzer of the renaissance of the Bharata Natyam dance form in South India – he began his formal music training in Carnatic music from his early teens. In 2003, he joined Brhaddhvani (http://brhaddhvani.com), a premier world music research and training institute based in Chennai, South India, to pursue music full time. He is one of the senior and prime disciples of Veena maestro Dr. Karaikudi S. Subramanian a ninth-generation musician from the illustrious Karaikudi Veena Tradition and the founder of Brhaddhvani. He has had a unique blended experience of both institutional training and the traditional Gurukula method of training.
While at Brhaddhvani, India (2005-2015), Divyanand was a faculty and cultural coordinator. He was involved in implementing COMET (Correlated Objective Music Education and Training) a pioneering methodology which is an interdisciplinary approach to music education. COMET was developed by Dr Subramanian. By undergoing training in the COMET methodology, Divyanand has had a rich experience of the connectedness of music with technology, dance, language, theatre and crafting of instruments.
While at Brhaddhvani, India (2005-2015), Divyanand was a faculty and cultural coordinator. He was involved in implementing COMET (Correlated Objective Music Education and Training) a pioneering methodology which is an interdisciplinary approach to music education. COMET was developed by Dr Subramanian. By undergoing training in the COMET methodology, Divyanand has had a rich experience of the connectedness of music with technology, dance, language, theatre and crafting of instruments.
Divyanand has widely toured with his guru Dr. Subramanian assisting him with workshops and performances in North America and Europe. Since moving to London in 2015 Divyanand has been actively teaching, performing and collaborating with world musicians. He is the founder-director of Brhaddhvani Global Centre for Music in the UK, a registered charity to promote COMET defining excellence in Indian and world music through pedagogy, performance, connectivity to other musical genres & other arts, and therapy, in a world music context. Divyanand has been associated with PRSSV Institute of Performing Arts and Heritage, UK (http://prssv.org) in the roles of an academic advisor, teacher, examiner and a performer at their World Music and Dance examination board (http://sangeet-examinations.co.uk).