Rithvik Raja (born 9 March 1989) is a Carnatic Musician (South Indian Classical Music) from India. He has performed in concerts in India and overseas. Since January 2016, Rithvik is married to Bharatanatyam artiste Shweta Prachande.

Early life and background

Rithvik Raja was born in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. He began learning

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

at the age of 5. He had his initial training under Sudha Raja (his mother) for vocal music. Subsequently, after developing a good understanding of the basics and foundation for 6 years, he was trained by Sulochana Pattabhiraman for 2 years. At the age of 13, he started learning from T.M. Krishna, who is one of the leading figures in the Carnatic music circuit today. Training under Krishna has given Rithvik a larger perspective of music and a passion to strive harder in innovating and excelling within the boundaries of classicism.

Education

His schooling in

Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School is a school in India, in the southern city of Chennai. Founded in 1956 by M. Subbaraya Aiyar, R. S. Subbalakshmi and Padmini Chari, the school recently celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2016. It follows the ...

, Mylapore, Chennai. He went on to receive his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Madras. He also completed a one year

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradi ...

course from Image Infotainment, Alwarpet. He is currently studying for a degree in Sound Engineering at

SAE Institute The SAE Institute (SAE, formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College) is a private for-profit college with campuses and facilities, including licensed franchise operations, in 50 cities in 20 countries. It was founde ...

of Technology.

Career

Rithvik has been giving public performances and concerts since a very young age. Today, he has performed in all the leading institutions in places such as Chennai as well as Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Delhi and other places in India. He has also toured Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka. Apart from performances, he currently heads as the President of an organisation called The Youth Association for Classical Music that deals with spreading the awareness of Classical Music among the youth. Rithvik is known for his solid voice with perfect pitch, mastery over laya and adherence to classicism. Rithvik's music and his commitment to the artform have led him to tour and perform in a number of esteemed venues across the globe. His has recently completed tours in New Zealand, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia to name a few.

Awards and titles

* Bala Rasika Award 2004 - Carnatica, Chennai * Best Male Vocalist Award 2005 - RA Puram Bhaktha Jana Sabha, Chennai * Most Promising Youngster Award 2006 - Ganamukundapriya, Chennai * Best Concert Award 2007 - VDS Arts Academy, Chennai * Best Junior Vocalist Award 2008 - Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai * Best Male Vocalist Award 2009 - Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai * Best Ragam Tanam Pallavi Award 2011 - Music Forum, Chennai * Best Male Sub-Senior Vocalist 2011 - Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai * Maharajapuram Santhanam Award 2012 - Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai * Isai Chudar 2012 - Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai * Yuva Kala Bharathi 2012 - Bharat Kalachar, Chennai

References

External links

Rithvik Raja

Youth Association for Classical Music

YACM Interview

Article on Core Values of Classical Music

Influence of Internet on students of Arts

Article on YACM's 25th Anniversary

Article on Youth influence in Carnatic Music

Rithvik sharing with his counter parts from the North

Rithvik interviewed about Pallavi singing in a concert

Rithvik & his designing interests
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raja, Rithvik 1989 births Living people Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers