Rajeev Taranath

Internationally acclaimed performer and award-winning composer, Rajeev Taranath is today one of the world's leading exponents of the sarod, the richly textured Indian classical instrument which is an ancestor of the late. Pt. Taranath's performances masterfully combine the depth and rigor of the tradition of Hindustani (North Indian) classical music with an inspired imagination and emotional intensity. He is a distinguished disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan.

Rajeev was hailed a prodigy in Hindustani vocal music as a young boy. He had been trained by his father Pandit Taranath and other eminent musicians and was a concert and radio artist before he was twenty.

Rajeev has toured extensively as a performer in India, Australia, Europe, Yemen and throughout the U.S. In 1998 he received the prestigious national 'Chowdiah' Award from the government of Karnataka in India for excellence in the field of instrumental music. In 1980 he was the subject of a documentary made for the television in Eden, Yemen, entitled "Finnan Min-Al- Hind" ("Artist from India"). He has received three additional awards from the Indian government for his contribution to music,- the 'Sangeet Nritya Akademi Award' in 1993, the 'Karnataka Rajya Prashasti' in 1996 and recently the 'Sangeet Natak Academy award in 2000. He has also composed music for several nationally and internationally honored Indian films.

Rajeev Taranath's distinctive musicianship demonstrates striking imaginative power, technical excellence and emotional range. He is respected for the clarity of musical understanding which he brings to the unfolding of a raga and the beauty of tone he evokes from the sarod. The New York Times (April 14, 1982) described his music by commenting with great enthusiasm about the exuberance and versatility of his playing, which ranged from the "spiritual to the spirited".

Rajeev was a Ford Foundation scholar (1989 to 1992) and researched during this period on the "Teaching Techniques of the Maihar-Allauddinn Gharana".

Rajeev has also received guidance from Pandit Ravi Shankar and Shrimati Annapurna Devi.

He is currently a faculty member in the Indian music department at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, California and divides his time between teaching and performing.