Indian classical musician and percussionist
Yella Venkateswara Ra
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Born
| June 2, 1947
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Occupation(s)
| Classical musician
Percussionist
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Years active
| Since 1956 to now
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Known for
| Mridangam
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Spouse
| thrimurtulamma
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Parent(s)
| Rama Murthy
Mahalaxmi
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Awards
| Padma Shri
Golden Lute
Hosha Banka Award
AIR Annual Award
Acharya Award
Thyagaraja Vamsi Award
GOA
Best Teacher Award
Vishala Bharathi Gaurav Satkar
Ugadi Puraskar Award
Visista Puraskar Award
Kala Ratna
Award
Bharathamuni Award
Viswa Saahiti Award
|
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Yella Venkateswara Rao
is an Indian classical musician and percussionist, considered by many as one of the leading exponents of
Mridangam
, an ancient Indian percussion instrument.
[1]
He has performed as an accompanist to such renowned musicians as
M. S. Subbulakshmi
,
Ravi Shankar
,
Chembai
,
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
,
M. Balamuralikrishna
,
L. Subramaniam
,
K. J. Yesudas
,
Amjad Ali Khan
,
Hariprasad Chaurasia
and
Bhimsen Joshi
. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the
Padma Shri
, in 2008, for his contributions to music.
[2]
Biography
[
edit
]
Mridangam
Venkateswara Rao was born in 1947, in the south Indian state of
Andhra Pradesh
in a family of musicians
[3]
to Rama Murthy and Mahalaxmi.
[4]
He started his music training at the age of 7 in vocals, violin and veena, apart from mridangam but, later, concentrated more on mridangam and trained under his uncle, Yella Somanna, a known mridangam guru,
[5]
who later adopted the young Rao.
[4]
On the academic front, he graduated in Arts (BA) and secured his master's degree in Public Administration (MA) and started his career by joining
Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University
, Hyderabad, as a faculty member.
[1]
He worked at the university for 27 years in various capacities such as the professor and head of the department of Music and, later, as the Dean of the
School of Fine Arts
[6]
during which time, he is reported to have started several new courses at the university. Concurrently, he was also associated with the
All India Radio
, from 1963 to 1989, in capacities as an instrumentalist, staff artist, composer and mridangam artist.
[1]
In 1969, Rao, who is considered by many to have elevated Mridangam from its status of an accompaniment to the level of a solo instrument,
[4]
founded
Yella International Institute of Mridangam
, an institution for promoting mridangam where training is imparted free of cost; the institution is known to have trained over 1500 students under
gurukul
system and has since been recognised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
[1]
He is associated with
Thakur Hariprasad Institute for the Mentally Handicapped
, a
non governmental organization
for differently-abled children, and is researching the possibilities of music therapy, using mridangam.
[1]
He is a former
Asthana Vidwan
(State Scholar) of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1981?1985) and the incumbent state scholar at the
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
and the
Datta Peetam
of Sri Ganapathi Sachindananda Swami.
[7]
He is a life member of the Thyagaraja Festival Committee and a member of several organizations such as South Zone Cultural Center,
Tanjavur
and Srisailam Culture Centre, and educational bodies such as Board for Degree and Diploma Courses, Syllabus Committee for Technical Education and Sangeetha Academy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
[7]
He chairs the Boards of Studies of
Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University
,
Sri Venkateswara University
, and the Government College of Music and Dance. He also sits in the syndicate of
Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University
and the senate of the
University of Madras
and is a visiting professor of
Banaras Hindu University
.
[7]
Rao has composed music for three Telugu movies;
Sapthapadi
,
Viswamitra
and
Bhadram Koduko
.
[7]
He is reported to have performed on several stages in India and abroad, including
Marghazhi Festival
, a cultural festival of Andhra Pradesh.
[8]
On 16 August 2011, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Andhra Pradesh organized an event at
Shanker Mutt
where Rao played mridangam continuously for 36 hours, which earned an entry in the
Guinness Book of World Records
.
[9]
Nava mridangam
, playing 9 mridangams at the same time, was another notable performance of Rao,
[1]
which has been brought out as a video CD in 2011.
[10]
He has accompanied the concerts of many renowned musicians on mridangam
[11]
and has performed
jugalbandis
with musicians such as
Sivamani
,
Zakir Hussain
,
Alla Rakha
and
T. H. Vinayakram
. among others.
[7]
A book written by him on the theory and practice of mridangam is a prescribed text for academic studies in Andhra Pradesh.
[1]
Awards and honours
[
edit
]
Rao has won several awards and honours, starting from the
Golden Lute
he received from
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
, then President of India, in 1961, for coming first in a music competition conducted nationwide by the
All India Radio
.
[4]
The Jakarta chapter of the
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
awarded him
Hosha Banka Award
, for his performance on multiple mridangams in connection with a program titles,
Sivathandavam
, in 1979.
[4]
He received the AIR Annual Award for a similar feat,
Nava Mridanga Sammelanam
, held in New Delhi the same year.
[7]
After he received the Gold Medal at the World Music Festival of Rome in 1981, the Telugu Association of Houston honoured him with
Acharya Award
and the Mayor of City of Temple, Texas, conferred honorary citizenship on him in 1985.
[7]
Rao, who received the Thyagaraja Vamsi Award in 1993, was selected as the
Best Teacher
by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1994.
[1]
The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the
Padma Shri
in 2007; the same year as he received the
Vishala Bharathi Gaurav Satkar
of the Delhi Telugu Academy.
[1]
He is a recipient of the DLitt (
honoris causa
) from the
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University
and several other honours such as Ugadi Puraskar Award, Visista Puraskar Award,
Kala Ratna
Award, Bharathamuni Award and Viswa Saahiti Award, besides others.
[1]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]