Artist Information In his career as a Mridangam artiste spanning nearly four decades, Sri Rajarao has earned the respect and admiration of not only the rasikas but also fellow artistes and is now rated among the top few percussionists in the field of Carnatic Music. He hails from a family of fine musicians, his father and grandfather being great vidwans themselves. He is a prime example of great mridangam players trained by the legendary Kumbakonam Rajapaa Iyer and is keeping up the traditions in concerts all over the world. In his more than dozen tours of North America and the countless tours of other countries, he has established himself as a fine artiste, a great accompanist contributing greatly to the success of the concert. He has played for all the leading artistes both in Indian Sabhas and Music Festivals held in every continent. He is a fine vocal artiste himself, though he has confined himself mostly to the percussion field. He has been awarded many titles and awards including the appointment as ‘Asthana Vidwan' by both Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and Sringeri Sarada Peetam, also by the famous Pillayarpatti Ganapathy Temple. North American rasikas honored him with the title of ‘Sangeetha Ratnakara' at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival in 1997. He is a tireless worker in promoting Carnatic Music both in India and abroad and he has contributed greatly towards the success of the Cleveland Thyagraja Festivals over many years