Ilayaraja Honored with Padma Vibhushan, Upcoming First Time Performance in Houston

HOUSTON: Ilaiyaraaja is a critically acclaimed Indian film composer, singer, and lyricist and the first Asian Composer to score a Symphony. He is a gold medalist from Trinity College of Music; London and has composed over 6000 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 Indian films in various languages in a career spanning for more than 30 years. Ilaiyaraaja is accredited with setting a trend for film music in South India, by introducing Western musical nuances into songs. Apart from Tamil, he has also worked in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films as a music director.

He was honored with Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India. “A joint Secretary level official from the Information and Broadcasting ministry had telephoned me to inform me about the honor. He asked if I’d like to accept the award and I said I would. I also told him I would participate in the function to receive the award. This honor to me means that Modi government respects Tamil Nadu and Tamil people a lot,” Ilayaraja told reporters in a brief interaction. Soon after, wishes started pouring in from everyone for Ilayaraja. Superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan called and congratulated the 74-year-old legendary composer. Oscar-winning composer A.R Rahman congratulated Ilayaraja via a tweet.

Having made his debut as a composer with 1976 Tamil film Annakkili, Ilayaraja is known for many hit albums which include 16 Vayadhinile, Nayakan, Sagara Sangamam, Mouna Ragam, Sindhu Bhairavi, Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal and Raaja Paarvai among others. Some of his best Hindi albums are Sadma, Paa and Cheeni Kum.

He will be performing for the first time in Houston on Saturday, March 10 at the Smart Financial Center in Sugar Land.
The concert is presented by Rajender Singh of Star Promotion. For further information, sponsorships, and tickets call Rajender Singh at 281-222-4500 or visit starpromotioninc.com