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{{short description|Indian classical musician and percussionist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yella Venkateswara Rao

| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = June 2, 1947
| birth_place = [[Andhra Pradesh]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Classical musician Percussionist
| yearsactive = Since 1956 to now
| known for = [[Mridangam]]
| spouse = thrimurtulamma
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = Rama Murthy Mahalaxmi
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] Golden Lute Hosha Banka Award AIR Annual Award Acharya Award Thyagaraja Vamsi Award [[Government of Andhra Pradesh|GOA]] Best Teacher Award Vishala Bharathi Gaurav Satkar Ugadi Puraskar Award Visista Puraskar Award [[Kala Ratna]] Award Bharathamuni Award Viswa Saahiti Award
}}

'''Yella Venkateswara Rao''' is an Indian classical musician and percussionist, considered by many as one of the leading exponents of [[Mridangam]], an ancient Indian percussion instrument.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao">{{cite web | url=http://www.salivahana.com/YellaVenkat1.htm | title=Mridangam Maestro Prof.Yella Venkateswara Rao | publisher=Salivahana | date=2016 | access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> He has performed as an accompanist to such renowned musicians as [[M. S. Subbulakshmi]], [[Ravi Shankar]], [[Chembai]], [[Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer]], [[M. Balamuralikrishna]], [[L. Subramaniam]], [[K. J. Yesudas]], [[Amjad Ali Khan]], [[Hariprasad Chaurasia]] and [[Bhimsen Joshi]]. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]], in 2008, for his contributions to music.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2016 | access-date=3 January 2016 | archive-date=15 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:Wiki-mridangam.jpg|thumb|240px|Mridangam]]
Venkateswara Rao was born in 1947, in the south Indian state of [[Andhra Pradesh]] in a family of musicians<ref name="Befitting honour for Susheela">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/befitting-honour-for-susheela/article1186755.ece | title=Befitting honour for Susheela | work=The Hindu | date=26 January 2008 | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> to Rama Murthy and Mahalaxmi.<ref name="Yella Venkateswara Rao: on Shodgganga">{{cite web | url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/25437/10/10_chapter%206.pdf | title=Yella Venkateswara Rao: on Shodgganga | publisher=Shodgganga | date=2016 | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> He started his music training at the age of 7 in vocals, violin and veena, apart from mridangam but, later, concentrated more on mridangam and trained under his uncle, Yella Somanna, a known mridangam guru,<ref name="Guru-Sishya Tree of Mridangists">{{cite web | url=http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/guru-sishya-mridangists.html | title=Guru-Sishya Tree of Mridangists | publisher=Carnatic Corner | date=2016 | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> who later adopted the young Rao.<ref name="Yella Venkateswara Rao: on Shodgganga" /> On the academic front, he graduated in Arts (BA) and secured his master's degree in Public Administration (MA) and started his career by joining [[Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University]], Hyderabad, as a faculty member.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> He worked at the university for 27 years in various capacities such as the professor and head of the department of Music and, later, as the Dean of the ''School of Fine Arts''<ref name="Handbook of Universities, Volume 2">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rs-jsaPenxYC&q=yella+venkateswara+rao+biography&pg=PA681 | title=Handbook of Universities, Volume 2 | publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors | author=Ameeta Gupta, Ashish Kumar | year=2006 | pages=472 | isbn=9788126906086}}</ref> during which time, he is reported to have started several new courses at the university. Concurrently, he was also associated with the [[All India Radio]], from 1963 to 1989, in capacities as an instrumentalist, staff artist, composer and mridangam artist.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" />

In 1969, Rao, who is considered by many to have elevated Mridangam from its status of an accompaniment to the level of a solo instrument,<ref name="Yella Venkateswara Rao: on Shodgganga" /> founded ''Yella International Institute of Mridangam'', an institution for promoting mridangam where training is imparted free of cost; the institution is known to have trained over 1500 students under [[gurukul]] system and has since been recognised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> He is associated with ''Thakur Hariprasad Institute for the Mentally Handicapped'', a [[non governmental organization]] for differently-abled children, and is researching the possibilities of music therapy, using mridangam.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> He is a former ''Asthana Vidwan'' (State Scholar) of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1981–1985) and the incumbent state scholar at the [[Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams]] and the ''Datta Peetam'' of Sri Ganapathi Sachindananda Swami.<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao">{{cite web | url=http://www.rgukt.in/aca-yellavenkateswararao.html | title=Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao | publisher=Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies | date=2010 | access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> He is a life member of the Thyagaraja Festival Committee and a member of several organizations such as South Zone Cultural Center, [[Tanjavur]] and Srisailam Culture Centre, and educational bodies such as Board for Degree and Diploma Courses, Syllabus Committee for Technical Education and Sangeetha Academy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> He chairs the Boards of Studies of [[Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University]], [[Sri Venkateswara University]], and the Government College of Music and Dance. He also sits in the syndicate of [[Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University]] and the senate of the [[University of Madras]] and is a visiting professor of [[Banaras Hindu University]].<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao" />

Rao has composed music for three Telugu movies; ''Sapthapadi'', ''Viswamitra'' and ''Bhadram Koduko''.<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> He is reported to have performed on several stages in India and abroad, including ''Marghazhi Festival'', a cultural festival of Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="From the land of ANNAMACHARYA">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/chennai-margazhi-season/from-the-land-of-annamacharya/article6672756.ece | title=From the land of ANNAMACHARYA | work=The Hindu | date=8 December 2014 | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> On 16 August 2011, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Andhra Pradesh organized an event at [[Shanker Mutt]] where Rao played mridangam continuously for 36 hours, which earned an entry in the [[Guinness Book of World Records]].<ref name="Mridangam Maestro: Dr. Yella Venkateshwara Rao on NTRMT">{{cite web | url=https://ntrmemorialtrust.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/mridangam-maestro-dr-yella-venkateshwara-rao/ | title=Mridangam Maestro: Dr. Yella Venkateshwara Rao on NTRMT | publisher=NTR Memorial Trust | date=9 November 2011 | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> ''Nava mridangam'', playing 9 mridangams at the same time, was another notable performance of Rao,<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> which has been brought out as a video CD in 2011.<ref name="Nava Mrudangam">{{cite AV media | url=https://www.amazon.in/Nava-Mrudangam-Dr-Yella-Venkateswara/dp/B00GXZMYBO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1453219106&sr=1-1 | title=Nava Mrudangam | publisher=Aditya Music | date=2011 | people=Yella Venkateswara Rao | medium=Video CD | ASIN=B00GXZMYBO}}</ref> He has accompanied the concerts of many renowned musicians on mridangam<ref name="Violin Maestros">{{cite web | url=http://www.violinindia.com/gallery.htm | title=Violin Maestros | publisher=Violin India | date=2016 | access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> and has performed [[jugalbandi]]s with musicians such as [[Sivamani (percussionist)|Sivamani]], [[Zakir Hussain (musician)|Zakir Hussain]], [[Alla Rakha]] and [[T. H. Vinayakram]]. among others.<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> A book written by him on the theory and practice of mridangam is a prescribed text for academic studies in Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" />

== Awards and honours ==
Rao has won several awards and honours, starting from the ''Golden Lute'' he received from [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]], then President of India, in 1961, for coming first in a music competition conducted nationwide by the [[All India Radio]].<ref name="Yella Venkateswara Rao: on Shodgganga" /> The Jakarta chapter of the [[Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union]] awarded him ''Hosha Banka Award'', for his performance on multiple mridangams in connection with a program titles, ''Sivathandavam'', in 1979.<ref name="Yella Venkateswara Rao: on Shodgganga" /> He received the AIR Annual Award for a similar feat, ''Nava Mridanga Sammelanam'', held in New Delhi the same year.<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> After he received the Gold Medal at the World Music Festival of Rome in 1981, the Telugu Association of Houston honoured him with ''Acharya Award'' and the Mayor of City of Temple, Texas, conferred honorary citizenship on him in 1985.<ref name="Padmasri Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao" />

Rao, who received the Thyagaraja Vamsi Award in 1993, was selected as the ''Best Teacher'' by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1994.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 2007; the same year as he received the ''Vishala Bharathi Gaurav Satkar'' of the Delhi Telugu Academy.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" /> He is a recipient of the DLitt ([[honoris causa]]) from the [[Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad|Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University]] and several other honours such as Ugadi Puraskar Award, Visista Puraskar Award, [[Kala Ratna]] Award, Bharathamuni Award and Viswa Saahiti Award, besides others.<ref name="Mridangam Maestro Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao" />

== See also ==
{{Portal|India|Music}}
{{Div col}}
* [[Khol]]
* [[Thavil]]
* [[Pakhawaj]]
* [[Tabla]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite AV media | url=https://www.amazon.in/Nava-Mrudangam-Dr-Yella-Venkateswara/dp/B00GXZMYBO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1453219106&sr=1-1 | title=Nava Mrudangam | publisher=Aditya Music | date=2011 | people=Yella Venkateswara Rao | medium=Video CD | ASIN=B00GXZMYBO}}
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv87ZRjuB7M | title=Nava Mrudanga Brahma Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao - Mantra pushpam | publisher=Aditya Devotional | work=[[YouTube]] video | date=11 April 2012 | access-date=20 January 2016}}
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxhPqmMi9M | title=Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao | publisher=NTR Memorial Trust | work=[[YouTube]] video | date=7 November 2011 | access-date=20 January 2016}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Yella Venkateswara}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Kala Ratna]]
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Musicians from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Telugu people]]
[[Category:Indian classical composers]]
[[Category:Indian male classical musicians]]
[[Category:Indian percussionists]]
[[Category:Mridangam players]]
[[Category:All India Radio people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:World record holders]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male classical singers]]
[[Category:Indian male composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian drummers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]

Yella Venkateswara Rao - Revision history

Rahuljogi: Added