An unbelievable live performance featuring 2024 Grammy Award winner Ganesh Rajagopalan (violin) and Anantha R. Krishnan (mridangam) as broadcast on WKCR from the Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works in 2024. You can hear our conversation after the set on the previous podcast. A virtuoso since childhood Ganesh Rajagopalan has been performing on stage since the tender age of 7 years old. He has been dazzling audiences for 50 years, most recently with John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain and the Shakti ensemble.
The grandson and disciple of mridangam maestro, Shri. Palghat R. Raghu, Anantha R. Krishnan started learning the fundamentals of the mridangam under his uncle, Shri. R. Ramkumar and then began an official tutelage under his grandfather at the age of five. He performed his first concert at the age of seven. During this period, he received many awards from traditional organizations of Carnatic Music in India, including the Best Mridangist Prize from the Music Academy, Madras, a record five times in six years. Also, he was awarded the State of the Arts Award from the New Jersey government twice in 1997-1998 as part of the National Endowment of the Arts’ effort to promote cultural awareness in the U.S.A.
Anantha holds a BA in Western Music and Philosophy from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Electronic Music and Percussion from Mills College, California. During this time he studied Western percussion under William Winant. Specializing in contemporary 20th century percussion music. He is also a special interest student of tabla under Ustad Zakir Hussain for the past six years.
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