Native name ஒலிவியா Role Singer Website baratham.com Name Olivia Thanapalasingham | Origin Sri Lanka | |
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Birth name Olivia Thanapalasingham Born 21 July 1986 (age 37)
Gummersbach, Germany ( 1986-07-21 ) Genres Carnatic music, World music | ||
Instruments Vocals, Veena, Dancer | ||
OliviaT (Tamil: ஒலிவியா; Olivia Thanapalasingham) is a dancer, singer, and musician.
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Early life and musical career
Even though her parents moved to Germany in early 70s, they did not forget their roots. Olivia, who was born in 1986, was raised to perfect and follow Tamil culture and art forms. At the age of five, she began to learn Barathanatayam under the guidance of Nirthiyajothy, Adatkalaimani Mrs.Rajini Sathyakumar. Furthermore she also gained valuable guidance from Guru Prakash Yadagudde and Leela Ramanathan (India) of bharathi vidya bhavan in London. Her dance Arangetram was held in 27.10.2001. OliviaT earned the title of "Natiya Kalajothy" when she succeeded in the exam of Oriental Fine Arts Academy - London. She was also conferred the title "ADATKALAI ARASI " by Kalai panpaadu kazhakam- Germany when she won all German classical dance competition.
From the age of eight, she learned classical vocal under the guidance of Sangeethapushanam Selvaseeralan and later from Isaikalaimani, Kalaviththaki Mrs.Vijayaluxmy Posarajahsarma and also of guru T.V.Gobalakrishnan (india) of Bharathi Vidhya Bhavan in London. She was also tutored by Aravindakshan of Kerala. She has won many competitions including gold medals in 1997, 1998 in all German singing contest named "Kaanampaadi" and also the winner of "German Innisaikural 2006" which was held by International Broadcasting Corporation - Tamil (IBC Tamil).
At the age of nine, she also started to learn veena from Sangeethapushanam Selvaseeralan. She was also tutored by Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peeta Aasthana Vidwan - Rajhesh Vaidhya and Karaikudi Subramanian. She also holds diploma "Sangeetha Kalajothy" in vocal and veena. She has shared stages with many industry leading artists such as Gangai amaran, Guru Aravindakshan and also sung for Arangetrams.
In June 2010, she was awarded the title of “Kalaagnaana Vaarathi” by the Oriental Fine arts Academy – Germany, when she successfully held her Vocal and Veena Arangetram in the same stage.
OliviaT is not only a classical musician but also a contemporary singer; she has released many singles and albums. Articles about her have appeared in many leading publications such as Dinakaran-India, Rani Magazine-India, Tamil Murasu-Malaysia/Singapore, Abinaya Magazine-Sri Lanka,Vettimani, Ananthi Magazine.