PRASANNA
From being a pioneer in bringing the electric guitar to international acclaim as a concert instrument for the ancient Indian art form of Carnatic music, to being a force in the cutting edge of Jazz, Classical and World music, Prasanna continues to stun music enthusiasts with an ever-evolving palette of vocabulary as a composer and improviser.
With an engineering degree in Naval Architecture from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Prasanna went on to pursue his passion for music and graduated Magna-Cum-Laude with an honours degree from the famed Berkley College of Music in Boston.
Prasanna has received numerous awards including the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Carnatic music for 2003’ from H.H. Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, India’s most revered spiritual leader and ‘Acharya’ of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. His orchestration and arranging credits include the title score for the Oscar nominated Bollywood film ‘Lagaan’. Prasanna’s acclaimed guitar instructional DVD ‘Ragamorphism’, gives an in-depth look at how he stretches the boundaries of improvisation.
In the words of one Jazz critic ‘Prasanna plays guitar like nobody on the planet’.
As a true artist, Prasanna is both a traditionalist and modernist and everything in between. In the words of one critic, ‘Worlds merge and vapours mingle when Prasanna plays’, while another critic says ‘Prasanna is a wondrous wake-up call for tired aural neurons’. Prasanna collaborated with Astad Deboo and Lingalayam Dance Company for the production ofThe Tempest in 2004.