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, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

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 ...

. He began learning

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 ...

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 private, coed school in Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1956 by M. Subbaraya Aiyar, R. S. Subbalakshmi and Padmini Chari. It follows the Central Board of Secondary Education (C ...

, Mylapore, Chennai. He went on to receive his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, named after Swami Vivekananda, was formally inaugurated on 21 June 1946 by professor, philosopher, and politician, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. It is in Mylapore, the centre of Chennai, India, on 20 acres (81 ...

, 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 (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

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

SAE Institute The SAE Institute (SAE) and SAE University College (in Australia), formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College and badged SAE Creative Media Education, is a network of colleges around the world that provides creativ ...

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