“It is like many of these continuous processes that our body has–like breathing, it goes on over a lifetime. Our relationship with a raga is like that.”—Rajeev Taranath

“His sad demise is a huge loss to not just Karnataka, but the entire world of music. He was not just an artiste, but also a great humanist.”—Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

The revered and universally beloved musician Rajeev Taranath passed away on June 11, 2024 in Mysore, India. As we share this, we are truly heartbroken and yet also full of gratitude for the experience of knowing and learning from this extraordinary musician. He was a generous and noble human being. His often repeated line from T.S. Eliot was “you are the music while the music lasts.”

A distinguished exponent of the Senia Maihar Gharana, Pt. Taranathji’s distinctive musicianship demonstrated striking imaginative power, technical excellence, and emotional range. Pt. Taranathji’s was honored nationally by the Government of India with the 2019 Padma Shri and the 1999-2000 Sangeet Natak Akademi award and within his home state of Karnataka (including the 1998 Chowdiah Memorial and the 2018 Sangeet Vidhwan, 2019 Nadoja awards) where he was recognized as a pioneering influence in South India. “A brilliant mind of our times, Taranath espoused honesty, pluralism, secularism and compassion as the most enabling values of life.”—C S Sarvamangala

A venerable disciple of the great sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, he received crucial guidance from two other legendary musicians of this musical lineage, Pt. Ravi Shankar and Vidushi Annapurna Devi. “Any conversation with Rajeev was enlightening. He would come with fresh insights, give a new perspective. (…) Rajiv was large hearted and generous.”–Chiranjiv Singh

“It is this love and warmth that he shared with people around him that will be remembered for long along with the soul-stirring strains of his sarod.”—C S Sarvamangala