GS RAJAN - composer-flautist-arts administrator

GS RAJAN,son of Gayathri and GS Srikrishnan, had his early training in vocal music and Carnatic flute under his mother and father respectively. In his teens, inspired by the example of his parents who were active in performing, teaching and composing music, Rajan composed music and sang, and was a regular broadcaster on All India Radio. Later he moved to Madras where he worked as a keyboard player for mainstream cinema.

Rajan’s serious interest in classical music led him to Kalakshetra, Madras, in 1978. Here he had the good fortune not only of coming underthe 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 SarabhaSastri baani.

Rajan’s creative expression over nearly two 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 modern dance, plays , films and documentaries; and thematic compositions. He has travelled all over India and to many cities in France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, China, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg and USA 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 (national television). 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 his capacity as Programme Officer (Music) and later as the Deputy Secretary at the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national academy of music, dance and drama of the Government of India, 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 year long 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. This is a continuing project that aims to bring all Indian classical and related arts under one umbrella on the Internet, as well as to provide Internet and e-mail access to all artists.

In 2005, Rajan received a special fellowship from the Government of France to compose raga-symphony and present these compositions with French musicians. Thus Rajan lived almost a year in France to complete his compositions and presentations.

On 1 Jan 2007, Rajan received the title, 'venugana sudaroli',(flute maestro) from Apoorva Ragam, music magazine in Chennai.