Prashanth Iyengar (born 12 January 1973) is a classical

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

and

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.

exponent from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in the

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 ...

genre. He is a performer,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. He is the first composer from

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 ...

to have composed

Varnam Varṇam is a type of composition in the Carnatic music system that encapsulates the key features of a raga, and considered as a foundational element in the learning path. Varnams capture the essence of the ragam in terms of typical swara patt ...

s in all the '72

Melakarta Mēḷakartā is a collection of fundamental musical scales ( ragas) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas are parent ragas (hence known as ''janaka'' ragas) from which other ragas may be derived. A ''melaka ...

Ragas. He holds the Limca national record for his marathon veena concert spanning 24 hours at

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the Britis ...

Temple in the year 2011.

Early days and personal life

Prashanth's mother Vid. Padmasini Narasimhachar was his first veena guru who followed the

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Veena Subbanna tradition. At the age of seven, he could play keertanas like ''Endaro Mahanubahulu''. He later studied under Vid. R. K. Suryanarayana. He has a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy and a Diploma in Computer Engineering.

Career

He worked as the in-charge of the music department in the Directorate of Textbooks,

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

. He later went on to become a full-time musician. His style is known for its rich gamakas along with a rendition that brings out the purity and clarity of notes. He holds the Limca national record for the rendition of a marathon

concert spanning 24 hours at the

Temple in the year 2011. He was accompanied by Vid. Ravishankar Sharma (

Mridangam The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...

), Vid. K S Krishnaprasad (

Ghatam The ''ghaṭam'' (Sanskrit: घटm ''ghaṭ''; Kannada: ಘಟ ''ghaṭa''; Tamil: கடம் ''ghatam''; Telugu: ఘటం ''ghataṃ''; Malayalam: ഘടം ''ghataṃ'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the ...

) and Vid. D V Prasanna Kumar (

Kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in the Indian subcontinent for many centuries. The Kanjira's emergence in Sout ...

Morsing The morsing (also mukharshanku, mourching, morching or morchang; Sanskrit: दंत वाद्यन्तरात्मसत्रस्य, Telugu: మోర్సింగ్, Kannada: ಮೋರ್ಸಿಂಗ್, Rajasthani: मोर ...

and rhythm pad).

Compositions

Prashanth is a prolific composer who has composed 90 varnas that include the 72 of them in each of the

melakarta Mēḷakartā is a collection of fundamental musical scales ( ragas) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas are parent ragas (hence known as ''janaka'' ragas) from which other ragas may be derived. A ''melaka ...

ragas. He is the first composer from Karnataka to have composed Varnams in all the 72

Ragas and second youngest after Dr M. Balamuralikrishna to compose. He has also composed 20

kritis A ''kriti'' () is a form of musical composition in the Carnatic music literature. The Sanskrit common noun ''Kriti'' means 'creation' or 'work'. A kriti forms the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format o ...

, 10 devaranamas and five

thillana A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in South Indian Carnatic music that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in classical indian dance performances. It was popularised by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, M Balamuralikrish ...

Other contributions

Prashanth has authored a book "''Varna Lakshana Ranjani''" which has the 72-mela varnas and 72 Geethes. The book is published in

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 ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and is hand written by his first guru and mother Vid. Padmasini Narasimhachar. He started the Sree Rama Centre of Performing Arts for teaching students music appreciation, the art of the veena and vocal renditions.

Awards & felicitations

* Limca national record marathon veena concert spanning 24 hours at Srirangapatna Temple (2011).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iyengar, Prashanth Saraswati veena players Musicians from Bengaluru Living people 1973 births