♢ ♡ ♦︎ ♥︎ ♢ ♡ ♦︎ ♥︎ ♢ ♡ ♦︎ ♥︎ ♢ ♡ ♦︎ ♥︎ ♢ ♡
Navya Myneni
BIO
Navya is an artist trained and working in several disciplines, find out more about her below!
Follow her on Instagram for updates on her work.
Work
Overview
Recent News:
Navya launched
an organiser app! Find out more about Cocoon Organiser here!
Performing: Singing and Acting
I am a trained singer in three different classical styles of singing, my formal training in Carnatic singing began at the age of 12. I also began acting in school at the age of 6, while I may have had times when I was stuck, acting is the one art that comes naturally to me. Studying literature and analysis of poetry was extremely important in preparing me as an actor. Understanding the character and interpreting the layers of meaning in the words is the best part of preparing for a role. Of course I also love combining the two in musical theatre.
Composition
I studied composition at the University of York where I focused on Ethnomusicology (predominantly Javanese Gamelan). The sounds of mallets are still my favourite, and Gamelan continues to influence my composition. I love researching relevant musical traditions before I start on a composition. I started out composing for live theatre, but now I compose for films.
Writing and Directing
I have been writing all my life, I think I loved pretending to write even before I knew how. A poem I wrote won a world-wide poetry competition when I was 17, and I began writing scripts for my projects (which I composed for and directed) when I was at University.
I ran (and later closed) a blog on gender and postcolonial issues, I will share my posts from it on the blog in this website soon (you can request them if you like).
I have since written scripts for others and for my own animations. I have worked on a lot of small animated films, writing and directing them myself (but you might see them a book before the animations get made)!
Skills
• Singing: Carnatic, Western Classical, Javanese
• Acting (including musical theatre)
• Writing : poetry, scripts, academic writing, articles
• Character design and storyboarding for animation
• Directing live theatre
• Classical guitar (trained till Grade 8)
• Puppeteering with flat puppets • Basic ballet and martial arts (trained for a year in each)
• Basic drumming (I have studied mrigangam and kendang to allow me to compose for them)
Education
MA in Music
Ethnomusicology & Composition
University of York
This degree involved me attending lectures with the composers, but also studying Ethnomusicology separately. It was extremely rewarding. Every project at the end of the term was a composition and accompanying essay demonstrating my studies; I composed most of my work combining the traditions I had studied with Gamelan, which was my main subject of interest. The final project was a play I wrote and co-directed combining Gamelan with Inuit folktales and elements of traditional Inuit music.
I continued to work on my singing and got many solo performance opportunities during this time.
BA in Music
First study: Voice
University of York
I did plenty of performance (solo and as part of ensembles) during my undergraduate degree. I also began to compose and explored my interest in societies and cultures as they relate to music. At the end of this degree was my puppet show project which I wrote, composed for, and directed.