Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao (November 3, 1925 - November 30, 2011) was an Indian flutist. He was born in Madras (now Chennai), India.

Personal Life

He was married since 1947 to Smt. Lakshmi V. Rao. They have four children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He was an Indian-American, a permanent resident of the United States.

Career

Rao has been bestowed with honors in India, the United States, the former Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. In India alone, he has received multiple Sangeet Natak Akademi awards, the titles of Sangeet Kala Shiromani and Gana Kala Prapoorna, the Gaurav Puraskar, Lifetime Achievement awards and honorary doctorates. In 2002, the Governor of Maryland bestowed Panditji with an honorary citation for his contributions to strengthening cultural ties between India and the United States. In 2008, he received the Aditya Birla Kala Shikhar (Zenith of Art) award from the Governor of Maharashtra. He was a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Rao composed scores for Mrinal Sen’s ‘Bhuvan Shome’ (honored with the Golden Peacock, IFF, New Delhi) and painter M.F. Hussein’s ‘Through The Eyes of a Painter’ (honored with the Golden Bear, Berlin Film Festival).

As a poet, Panditji has published five well-received anthologies of poems and short stories in English and Telugu.

External links

• http://www.feenotes.com/db/artists/r/raovijayraghav.php
• http://www.themusicmagazine.com/vijayraghav.html