Biography

Rajan Srikrishnan is a professional flute player/flautist based out of Kozhikode, Kerala. He is a world music composer and a senior arts administrator. He started learning Carnatic flute from his mother and father. His interest in classical music led him to the art academy, Kalakshetra, Madras, in 1978. There, he learnt vocal music under the masters – MD Ramanathan and Pudukode Krishnamurthi and learnt the flute from H Ramachandra Sastri, one of the last exponents of the Sarabha Sastri Baani. Rajan's experience of over 30 years has taken diverse musical forms. He has composed a lot of light songs in Malayalam, Hindi, and Tamil, choral music, music for church choirs, bhajans, devotional songs, music for Indian classical acts, and for modern dance, plays, films, and documentaries. He also worked for sound and light shows, thematic compositions, and music videos. Veteran singers like Vani Jayaram, Abida Parveen, Mano, Anuradha Sriram, Madhup Mudgal, P Unnikrishnan, and Srikumar have sung Rajan's compositions. He has traveled all over India and countries like former Soviet Union, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, United Kingdom, China, Iran, Russia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Hungary, Latvia, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Columbia, The Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Canada, Malaysia, and United States of America – and as a concert flautist and composer. Oasis, an orchestral presentation of Rajan, was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the jury of Akashwani Awards in 1996. He is a Grade I composer and flautist in All India Radio, Doordarshan and Indian Council for Cultural Relations. In 2004, he received the national award for 'Best Critic' from the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Rajan has composed music for leading classical and modern dancers in India, like: Yamini Krishnamurthy (Bharata Natyam) Narendra Sharma (Modern) Shanta Rati (Dance Film) Raja-Radha Reddy (Kuchipudi) Rama Vaidyanathan (Bharata Natyam) Sasidharan Nair (Modern) Sharon Lowen (Odissi) Kavita Dwibedi (Odissi) Vaswati Mishra (Kathak) Kanaka Srinivasan (Bharata Natyam) Shagun Butani (Experimental Dance) Maithreyi Pahari (Regional traditional dance) Vanasri and Jayarama Rao (Kuchipudi) Ajith Dass (Bharata Natyam) Kalaivani Academy Mythili & Rasika Kumar Janaki Rangarajan (Bharata Natyam) Nava Dance Theatre Title music for NDTV Business Awards Title music for Provista India Title music for DD Bharti channel Awards: June 1995: TN Seshan honoured Rajan when he composed and presented a two-hour, multi-media musical titled 'Reflections', Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi Feb 1996: National jury of Akashwani Award of AIR, when his unique production 'Oasis' got selected as one of the best productions Nov 2004: Received the 'Best Music Critic' award from Minister of Information and Broadcasting ?Jan 2005: Awarded special fellowship by Govt of France to work with French musicians and to compose 'Raga-Symphony' Jan 2007: Thavil maestro Shri Valayapatti honoured him with title 'Venu Gaana Sudaroli' (flute maestro), in Chennai Oct 2011: Justice Ramamoorthy honoured him with title 'Venu Gana Nipuna' from Astika Samajam, Delhi Oct 2012: Honoured by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in Jacksonville, Florida Nov 2013: Greater Atlanta Tamil Sangam honoured him Mar 2014: Govt of Kerala honoured him with 'Sangeetha Natak Akademi' award