Balakrishnan Raghavan is an accomplished musician, researcher, and educator. He is pursuing a Ph.D. with a Regents Fellowship at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) under the guidance of Prof. Dard Neuman. His research encompasses South Indian Classical Music (Carnatic Music), mystic traditions, poetry, translation, temple art, gender, caste, South Asian performance traditions, and the politics of spirituality.
He received the prestigious BITS Global 30 Under 30 award from his alma mater, BITS Pilani, India, in 2022. His recognition includes the UCSC Arts Dean’s Grant at UCSC, Flow Fund Grant for Arts Practice, and Art Omi Music Fellowship, New York. At BITS Pilani Goa, he was the coordinator of the Music Society, Founder member and Marketing and Sponsorship head, SPICMACAY Goa Chapter, and founder member of Srutilaya, the Indian Classical Music and Dance Society.
He trained from illustrious maestros in Carnatic music for over twenty years, including a two-year-long immersive full-time discipleship (gurukulam) with his guru, Carnatic musician, and scholar, Dr. R. Vedavalli. Additionally, he has been training with Shri. Prahlad Tipaniya, a musician of the “people,” who is part of the folk traditions associated with the 15th-century musician-poet saint, Kabir. These two learning experiences, one folk and the other classical have shaped Bala’s musical approach and deeply informed his politics.
He is a lifelong disciple of South Asian music traditions, a STEM-trained computer science engineer as an undergraduate, and an Arts/Humanities/Social Science trained doctoral student. He is fluent in multiple languages, including written and spoken fluency in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Sanskrit. He is also conversant with Urdu, Malayalam, and Marathi. Bala was a Business Intelligence and Analytics consultant in India and the UK with the global Business consulting firm Thorogood Associates before pursuing his passion for music full time.
As an interdisciplinary artist, he continues collaborating internationally and sharing his music across cities in India, the UK, Mexico, and the US. He has published articles and essays on music in the Sruti magazine, the National Seminar of the Central University Tamil Nadu, and the Finnish Journal of Music Education.