Praveen D. Rao is an Indian musician, music director and a

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

for

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

language songs. He is based in

Bangalore, India Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and plays the

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

, and other instruments.

Early life

He was trained by R. V. Sheshadri Gawai of Aravinda Sangeetha Vidyalaya and tabla player

Ravindra Yavagal Pandit Ravindra Yavagal (born 1959) is an Indian tabla player, performer and music teacher from the state of Karnataka. An eminent artiste, he is both a soloist and an accompanist. He received Rajyotsava Award in 1995, Karnataka Kalashri for 2 ...

. Rao has composed music for

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, ballets, films, television shows and commercials.

Music direction

Serials

Films

Original scores for dance and theatre

Midlands Art Centre, UK

* Princess Aubergine (1995)

Chitraleka Dance Company, UK

* Panchatantra (1994) * Kaishiki (1995) * Ramayana (1996) * Conference of Birds (2002)

Indira Thiagarajah, London

* Bimba Pratibimba (1993)

Abhinava Dance Company, Bangalore

* Datta Mahima * Dwadashatma (1994) * Spirit of Dance (1995) * Manini (1995) * Samarpan Sweekar (1998) * Saath Saat (2000) * Shringar Raam (2001) * Prem Shanthi (2002) * Nigah (2003) * Ta Dha (2004) * Mushti (2005) * Tad Bharatham (2019)

Monica, Belgium

* Patanjali Yoga Sutra (2000) * Meera (2003)

Radha Sridhar, Bangalore

* Meghadootha (1999)

Prabhath International, Bangalore

* Srinivasa Kalyana (2000) * Shila Baalika (2001) * Flute Fantasy (2001) * Piscean Passion (2002)

Prabhat Kalavidaru, Bangalore

* Cinderella * Karunamaya Shiva

Nadam Academy of Performing Arts

* Antardhwani

Rasika Dance Academy

* Yatra * Devanga Mahima

Piali Ray, UK

* Shyama (1993)

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's Musical

Sampad Yuva, UK

* A Breath of Life * Inequality (1993)

M. P. Suma, Bangalore

* Omkaara * Vijaya Kalyana * Vachana Vybhava

STEM contemporary dance theatre, Bangalore

* CrowsCawsFacades (1995)

Gig Payne, UK

* ConversationsPerforming Abilities of the Multiple Disabled (1994)

Pampa Dance Academy, USA

* Prakriti (2004)

Sandesha, Mangalore

* Life of Jesus (2002) * Jyothirgamaya (2003)

Padmini Ravi, Bangalore

* Tamtana (2004)

ISKCON, Bangalore

* Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (2004)

Supriya Desai, USA

* Mahishasura Mardini * Sri Krishna Parijatha (2003)

Maya Rao, Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, Bangalore

* Yashodara (2004) * The Dust of Brij (2003) * Sare Jahan Se Accha (July 2005)

Pushpanjali, Manchester

* Snow White (2004) * Ramayana (July 2005)

Ramakrishna Vidyashala, Mysore

* Nritya Sangeeth Bharathi (2004) * Sarva Dharma Samanvayacharya Sri Ramakrishna (2004)

Guy Hutchins, Moby Duck Theatre Company, UK

* Maze Maker (March 2004) * Bopoluchi (November 2004) * Fire Girl (January 2005) * Bloodhands (August 2005) * Granny Vampire (August 2006)

Sampradaya Dance Creations, Toronto

* Vivarta (March 2005) * Shoonya * Pralaya

North West Dance Alliance, Manchester

* Devi Diva (July 2005)

Threeaksha, Philadelphia, USA

* Abhika (2005–2006) * Prayog (2007) * Natya Shastra (2018)

Performances

Rao has performed at national and international festivals including Pattadakal Festival, Navaraspur Festival, Lord Mayor's Cultural Event 1994 (

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

), World Veerashaiva Conference 1997 (USA), World Konkani Conference 2002 (Texas),

Soorya Festival The Soorya Festival is one of the world's largest arts festivals, which in 2017 spans 111 days and featured 2,000 artists from across India. It is the biggest art and cultural event in Kerala. The Soorya Festival features various art forms and ...

, and Nishagandhi Festival. He has toured India and abroad performing and conducting workshops.

Other activities

He is the founder of the

event management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

organization Prakruthi, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that works towards a more environmentally-friendly India by bringing people into parks. Prakruthi increases awareness about

Kannada literature Kannada literature is the Text corpus, corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, which is spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half millennia, R.S. ...

and the culture of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

through music, and organizes musical programs all over the state.

Recognition

* Aryabhatta Award1998, 2000, and 2010 * Swaramandara Award (

Hombale Films Hombale Films is an Indian film production and film distribution company based in Bengaluru, India. Founded in the year 2012, the company producing films across multiple languages, with a special focus on Kannada cinema. It has earned signifi ...

)1998 and 2000 * G. V. Athri Award (Upasana)2000 * Silicon Jaycees Award2003 * Best music director award for ''Guptagamini'', an

ETV Kannada Colors Kannada (previously known as ETV Kannada), is an Indian Kannada language general entertainment channel, owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programs such as serials, reality shows ...

serial * ''Kalāvatamsa'' title by Gokulam2010 *

Colors Kannada Colors Kannada (previously known as ETV Kannada), is an Indian Kannada language general entertainment channel, owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programs such as serials, reality sho ...

Best Music Director for "Chitte Hejje"2014 * Colors Kannada Best Music Director for "Love Lavike"2016 * ''Sangeetha Ratnakara'' title from Shivapriya School of Dance2019 * ''Natya Sangeetha Saraswathi'' title from Natyasaraswathi Kuchipudi Dance Centre, Vijayawada2019 * Ananya Nritya Puraskar from Ananya Cultural Academy, Bangalore2019 * ''Shree Kala Jyothi'' title from the Bangalore Gayana Samaja2021 * ''Kala Chakravarthi'' title from Shivapriya School of Dance2022 * ''

Karnataka Kalashri Karnataka Kalashri Award is a State Akademi Award and highest civilian award of the Karnataka state government's Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy and Department of Kannada and Culture. Karnataka is a state in SW India. Each year the Academy Award ...

'' state award and title from Sangeetha Nritya Academy2022

Other works

As a composer, Rao has created his own musical style. He has scored theatre, ballet, film and television productions. Rao scored the music to M. S. Sathyu's short film ''Namak Ki Kankari'' (1996). As an

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, he is known for fusing

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

and

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

with Western techniques and arranging

background score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s for various films. He has worked with theatre personalities including A. S. Murthy, B. V. Karanth and B. Jayashree. Rao has been involved in theatre in various capabilities. He has also worked as an actor and director. He has acted in several

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s including ''Asare'', ''Tulasi'', ''Manvantara'' and ''Muktha''. He was commissioned by SAMPAD, UK to compose music for ''Moving Earth'', a dance and music production that was part of the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He toured as a part of Chakrafonics, a

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

band that performs genres from

Indian classical Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindusta ...

fusion to world music. The band toured the USA, UK and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from 2014 to 2015.

References

External links

* *
Praveen D. Rao at Music India

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Praveen D Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Bengaluru Kannada-language lyricists Kannada film score composers