Nalini Vinayak, a professional sitarist and tabla player from India, hails from a family of composers and musicians. Nalini has carved a niche for herself in the field of performing arts, as a performer, composer, director and teacher. Nalini was introduced to the world of music by her mother Smt. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy, who inculcated her in Carnatic Music. She was initiated in sitar and Hindustani Classical Music under her Guru Pandit M. Janardan (disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar), and tabla under Sri. Srinivasa Rao. This knowledge of both Carnatic and Hindustani styles gave her an added edge in combining the two styles. Till today, she is the only female artist to have performed Carnatic music concert on the sitar. In fact, she was the first female sitarist called upon to perform Carnatic kritis of Saint Thyagaraja at the 'Thyagaraja Aradhanai' at Thiruveyaru.

 

She has performed at major music institutions like Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha etc., during the December music season in Chennai, India. She has also performed in many venues in the U.S. Nalini was the founder of her fusion band called 'Agni' that drew record crowds at Florida State University, School of Music and at the Southeastern Chapter of ethnomusicology at the Tuland University at New Orleans. Her performances both in India and U.S. have been highly acclaimed both by music lovers and the harshest of critics. She was a graded artist of All India Radio. Nalini's performances include solo concerts, jugalbandies (duets) with violin, veena, guitar and zheng, fusion music and lecture demonstrations. Nalini is also an inspired painter. Her acrylic and oil paintings of religious motifs are truly spectacular and show her gentle touch in illustrating the rural Indian scene.