G S Rajan

G. S. Rajan (born 17 June 1962) is one of the top ranking exponents (Indian flautist) of the Carnatic music tradition and an outstanding world music composer. He was born in Kozhikode, Kerala to Gayathri and Guruvayur Srikrishnan who respectively trained him in Carnatic vocal music and Carnatic flute.

He had his early training in vocal music and Carnatic flute under his mother and father respectively. Rajan's serious interest in classical music led him to Kalakshetra, Madras, in 1978. Here he had the good fortune not only of coming under the personal guidance of the inspiring founder-director, Rukmini Devi Arundale, but also of studying vocal music under the acclaimed masters MD Ramanathan and Pudukode Krishnamurthi and flute under H Ramachandra Sastri, one of the last representatives of the Sarabha Sastri baani.

Rajan's creative expression over nearly three decades has taken diverse musical forms. He has composed numerous light songs in Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil; choral music; bhajans; music for church choirs; devotional songs; music for Indian classical and modern dance, plays, films and documentaries; sound and light shows, music videos and thematic compositions. Veteran singers such as Vani Jayaram, Mano, Abida Parween, Anuradha Sriram, P Unnikrishnan, Madhup Mudgal, Srikumar and many others have sung Rajan's compositions. He has travelled all over India and to many cities in the former Soviet Union, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Russia, China, Iran, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Columbia, Sri Lanka, Canada, United States of America and Malaysia as a concert flautist and composer.

One of Rajan's orchestral presentations, Oasis, was awarded the Certificate of merit by the jury of the nationwide Akashwani Awards for 1996. He is a Grade I composer and flautist of AIR and Doordarshan and Indian Council for Cultural Relations. He also contributes articles on art and culture to national journals. In 2004, Rajan received the national award for best critic from the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. In 2005, Rajan received a special fellowship from the Government of France to compose raga-symphony and present these compositions with French musicians. On 30 October 2011, Justice Ramamoorthy honoured GS RAJAN with the title 'venu gana nipuna' from Astika Samajam, Delhi. In 2014, Rajan received the prestigious Akademi award from the Government of Kerala for his contribution to Indian music round the globe.

In his capacity as the Deputy Secretary at the National academy of music, dance and drama of the Government of India for 14 years, he has also been involved in the organization of several Festivals of India and of reciprocal festivals of other countries in India. Rajan has also served as the Officer-in-Charge of the yearlong German Festival in India SNA Cell.

Rajan conceived and designed the first dedicated Internet site - www.artindia.net - on Indian Performing Arts, which was executed in association with Communicators and inaugurated by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in December 1998.