Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

Vijay Raghav Rao (born Vijaya Raghava Rao; 3 November 1925 – 30 November 2011) was an Indian

flutist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with Reed (instrument), reeds, a fl ...

, composer, choreographer, musicologist, poet and fiction writer. He was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1970, and in 1982 the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

in Creative and Experimental music category, the highest for performing artist conferred by the

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Personal life

He was born in Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

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

References

External links

* http://www.feenotes.com/db/artists/r/raovijayraghav.php * http://www.themusicmagazine.com/vijayraghav.html * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Vijay Raghav 1925 births Hindustani instrumentalists Indian musicologists Indian choreographers Indian flautists Musicians from Chennai Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Indian film score composers Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 2011 deaths 20th-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 20th-century male musicians 20th-century flautists