Biography

Hailed today as perhaps the greatest slide instrumentalist in the world today by Radio National, Australia, Ravikiran made headlines as the world’s youngest prodigy at the age of two, stunning the music world, which prompted The Music Academy, Madras, to present him and also declare a fellowship for him (in 1969). He presented vocal concerts from the age of five, chitravina recitals since 12, and performed non-stop for 24 hours at the age of 18. Regarded as ‘An Arresting Virtuoso’ (Los Angeles Times) because of his ‘Teasing precision’ (New York Times) and 'Infectiously lively intricate up-tempo material' (BBC Magazine), Ravikiran has toured around the world several times, played in major international festivals and TV shows and recorded extensively. Recognised in world music for his award-winning concept, Melharmony, he has collaborated with top world music artists such as Glen Velez and Larry Coryell, and orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic. Ravikiran also has nearly 600 traditional music and dance compositions to his credit including operatic dance productions such as Lakshmi Prabhavam, Ramayana, Vinayaka Vaibhavam, Cosmos, etc. The first or youngest to win various awards including the President's Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Harvard University Sangeet Award, citations from cities of Houston, Tulsa, etc as well as titles such as Sangeet Samrat, Sangeeta Ratnakara, Sangeeta Choodamani and Kumar Gandharva Samman, Ravikiran attributes all his successes to his gurus, Chitravina Narasimhan and T Brinda.