The Maestro, the Legendary composer, and one of the most influential musicians of Indian Cinema, Ilayaraaja is familiar to every Indian. There are many audiophiles among the westerners as well who are fanatics of his work. The man who had received scores of accolades (both national and international), is truly the most revered Indian musician in the entire world.
A composer, songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, orchestrator, and a lyricist- Ilayaraaja earned a reputation in many areas. Born in Pannaipuram, Theni District of Tamil Nadu, Ilayaraaja works predominantly in Tamil Film Industry. Known for integrating Indian folk music and traditional instrumentation with the western classical music techniques, he has written over 7000 songs and provided background score for over 1000 movies.
A composer, songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, orchestrator, and a lyricist- Ilayaraaja earned a reputation in many areas. Born in Pannaipuram, Theni District of Tamil Nadu, Ilayaraaja works predominantly in Tamil Film Industry. Known for integrating Indian folk music and traditional instrumentation with the western classical music techniques, he has written over 7000 songs and provided background score for over 1000 movies.
The man had also performed in more than 20,000 concerts worldwide and is the recipient of five Indian National Film Awards, Padmabhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and the most revered Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He was voted as the all-time greatest Film Music Director of India in a poll conducted by CNN-IBN. The man also bears a reputation of being the first Asian to compose a full symphony with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London to which he had written the entire symphony in just 13 days- a feat which was never achieved by any of the musicians around the world.
The Maestro also known as Ragadevan, Isaignana, Raja Sir, etc., has composed music for countless number of films among which Thalapathi, Saagara Sangamam, Sindhu Bhairavi, Rudra Veena, Vishwa Thulasi, Bobbili Raja, Pithamagan, Naan Kadavul, Sri Rama Rajyam, Rudraveena, Yeto Vellipoindi Manasu, etc. are the most popular and have won many awards.
Ilayaraaja rarely performs in live concerts and his first major performance in 25 years was held in Chennai, India. Performing not more than 2-3 times a year, the man had traveled around the world performing in major cities like Modena- Italy, Bangalore, Toronto, New Jersey, San Jose, London, Washington DC, Dallas, Chicago, Sydney, etc.
He had performed recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia named as “Raaja- The One Man Show", in which many reputed singers, musicians, and composers from India accompanied the Maestro. The entire live in concert is made available digitally on YuppTV Mini Theatre internationally. Since not many of the Maestro’s live concerts are available online, this might be your only chance of watching the legend at work on your flat screens.
“Raaja- The One Man” Show is available on YuppTV Mini Theatre. Make the best use this opportunity and watch the 75-year-old God of music at his best.
