Biography

Kamalakar Rao is a professional mridangam player based out of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He is the son of great philanthropist and music lover, Shri G Varada Rao and Smt Netravathi. Born in 1936, Rao's interest in music developed from a very early age; he started playing mridangam when he was five years. Noticing this, his father sent him to Shri Raju Garu for training. Later, Kamalakar was guided under Late Varanasi Yagnanarayana Sastry of Rajahmundry. When Kamalakar turned 10, his father put him under the guidance of Late Yella Somanna of Pallakollu. In 1949, Somanna joined AIR Vijayawada and hence, Kamalakar used to travel every week to Vijayawada for mridangam lessons. Noticing Kamalkar's exceptional skills, Shri Somanna advised his father to put him under the guidance of universally-acclaimed mridangam player, Padmashree Shri TS Mani Iyer in Palakkad. At 13, Kamalakar became Shri Mani Iyer’s student in Palghat. During his college time, he was awarded the President of India medal at an inter-university competition from the then President of India, Sri S Radhakrishnan. His intricate rhythmic patterns and sense of proportion played a major role in the enhancement of his concerts. He has accompanied several masters from the yesteryears, like Alathur Srinivasa Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, GN Balasubramanyam, Chembai Vaidhayanadha Bhagavathar, Mahavadi Venkatappaya Sastry, TK Rangachari, Sripadha Pinakapani, Emani Sankara Sastry, and Eathara Nagarau.  He has also accompanied the masters of present time, like Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, Nookalachinna Satyanarayana, Nedunuri Krishna Murthy, MS Balasubramanya Sharma, TV Sankaranarayanan, TN Seshagopalan, Lalgudi G Jayaraman, N Ravikiran, Mandolin U Srinivas, Chittibabu, L Subramanayam, TR Subramanayam, Annavarapu Rama Swamy, and Dwaram Durgaprasadrao. He participated in the Hong Kong Festival during the 70s, along with Chitti Babu. He performed in the Adelaide Festival during the 80s with L Subramaniam. During 1997, he played in Greece and Syria with violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman in the 50th year of India’s Independence Festival. He also released several CDs in US, France, Australia, and India. He is a Grade A artist on AIR and has taken part in many Akashvani Sangeetha Sammelans and national programs by AIR and Doordarshan. Achievements: Felicitated with Kanakabishekam and honored with title Mridanga Vidwanmani by Shri Thyagaraja Narayadasa Seva Samithi, Rajahmundry 'Mridanga Ratnakara' by Sri Ramabhaktha Ganasabha, Rajahmundry 'Mridanga Kalavathamsa' by Thyagaraja Ganasabha, Ananthapur 'Mridanga Kovida' by Kannada Seva Sangam, Vijayawada 'Mridanga Sudhakara' by Kannada Seva Sangam, Rajahmundry 'Mridanga Kadal' by Karaikudi Sangheetha Sabha, Karaikudi 'Nada Bageeratha' by Parupalli Sangheetha Samakhya, Vijayawada 'Mridanga Kala Praveena' by Sangheetha Kala Samithi, Vizag 'Mardhangika Sarvabouma' by Thygaraja Ganasabha, Thadepalligudem 'Mridanga Sudhanidhi' by Ragasudha, Rajahmundry 'Sangheetha Kala Sagara' by Visaka Music Academy, Vizag 'Sangeetha Vidyanidhi' by Andhra Music Academy, Hyderabad Recipient of Ganapati Sachidananda Award by Srutilaya Sevakendra Natarajalaya of Karaikudi R Mani Palghat Mani Iyer Memorial Award with title 'Mridanga Kala Siromani' Central Sangeet Natak Academy Award (1999) 'Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham', Chennai (2010)