Gitanjali Mathur

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Gitanjali (Gitu) Mathur (born March 19, 1977 in Pilani Rajasthan, India) is an Indian-American mezzo-soprano.

She studied Hindustani Classical Music at an early age, in Pilani with Shri Narayan Rao Kelkar, a renowned vocalist in the Gwalior gharana and with her parents. She moved to the US, at the age of 8, first to Atlanta, GA, then to West Lafayette, IN. After completing her high school at West Lafayette Junior and Senior High School, Gitanjali studied music at Indiana University with Ms. Camilla Williams, specializing in Voice Performance. During this period, Gitanjali received several accolades including winning the Keller competition in West Lafayette, Indiana, in ?? after which Gitanjali performed "Exultate, Jubilate!" by W. A. Mozart with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra in Indiana.

She has made her career mainly as a concert and Opera singer with some excursions into opera and has started attracting attention for her recitals and for her superlative interpretive gifts. She is equally at home in Hindustani Classical Music, Carnatic Music, orchestral music, and operas. She made her debut at New York's Lincoln Center in 2001 and her opera debut in 2002 as ??.

She has sung with noted conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Paul Hillier, Nigel North, Stanley Ritchie, and Jan Harrington. She has sung at the Oregan Bach Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Amherst Early Music Festival. She attended the Bloomington Early Music Festival in 2000 and was the cover for the role of Alcina in the opera "Alcina" by Handel. In the summer of 2003, Ms. Mathur was chosen for one of the lead roles at the Amherst Early Music Festival's production of the opera "La Purpura de la Rosa" by Thomas Torrejon y Velasco, conducted by Andrew Lawrence King. In the summer of 2004 she sang with the nationally acclaimed Santa Fe Desert Chorale. In Summer 2005, Gitanjali sang the role of Despina in "Cosi fan Tutte" at the Rome Festival in Rome, Italy.

Ms. Mathur currently sings and is the soloist with various professional groups in Austin, TX such as Conspirare, conducted by Craig Hella Johnson, and the Texas Early Music Project, conducted by Daniel Johnson. She regularly sings with Dr. Kenny Sheppard in the Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble. Gitanjali has previously been the soloist for Handel's Messiah and "Judas Maccabeus" by Handel, Mozart's "Requiem", and "The Midsummernight's Dream" by Mendelssohn with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and Peter Bay. She sings for the Saint David's Episcopal Church with conductor Dr. David Stevens.

Ms. Mathur runs a private voice studio at her home in Austin and also teaches private voice lessons at McNeil High School. Gitanjali has recorded pieces in a few albums, including the Grammy nominated Requiem, John Newton, engineer (Craig Hella Johnson & Conspirare) Clarion Records in 2007.