A freelance carnatic musician,who is a native of PALAKOL, West Godavari Dist, ANDHRA PRADESH. Raju, underwent 7 years of rigorous training through Gurukulavaasam system from Late Sri. R.SUBBARAJU.
SRI. R.SUBBARAJU ,who is also a native of Raju’ s hometown was a disciple of the legend late SRI.CHEMBAI VAIDHYANADHA BAGHAVATHAR.It was SRI R.SUBBARAJU who was instrumental in introducing Mandolin to the field of Indian Classical Carnatic Music.
SRI.R.SUBBARAJU,who was a vocalist used to sing and explain the nuances of gamakas which RAJU tried in his own style to adopt the phrases on the Mandolin. For more than two decades Raju has been performing in various sabhas of Chennai and other major cities of India for different festivals.
He is a regular performer at the Chennai’s most esteemed December season Music festival. He is also training many students in this unique instrument, which includes online classess for the students in CANADA,USA,SWITZERLAND.
Raju,has extensively performed around the globe in the countries like SOUTH AFRICA, USA, CANADA, SINGAPORE, AUSTRALIA, DUBAI, SRI LANKA, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, and GERMANY . Raju, has also achieved name and fame through his solo/ duo Audio cd’s and cassettes under the banners of AVM, MUDHRA, SANGEETHA, HMV, and GEETHA Cassettes.
RAJU and his wife NAGAMANI, together they form a formidable MANDOLIN DUO. Raju, has won many awards and prizes from various esteemed Organisations.
Awards & Titles
• In 1997 – He was assessed as an ‘A’ Grade artiste by the ALL INDIA RADIO, Chennai.
• In 1998 – NARADA GANA SABHA , Chennai has awarded him The music critic ‘K.S.M AHADEVAN’ endowment for showing excellence in foreign instrument.
• In 1999 – SARASWATHI GANA SABHA, Cuddalore, Tamilnadu , has conferred him the title ‘SRUTHI LAYA SAMRAT’.
• In 2004 – BHARAT KALACHAR, Chennai has conferred the title ‘YUVA KALABHARATHI’ to him.
• In 2010 – U.P.Raju has also released a DVD named ‘LEARN TO PLAY MANDOLIN’ Under the banner ‘super audio company’. This DVD on Mandolin is First Of Its Kind.
