>Tom.Reding at 21:07, 21 September 2019

2019-09-21T21:07:22Z

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{{Short description|American academic}}
'''Harihar Rao''' (January 21, 1927 – January 13, 2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pasadenastarnews/obituary.aspx?pid=162628129|title=Obituary|date=Jan 25, 2013|work=Pasadena Star News|accessdate=21 March 2014}}</ref> was an Indian-born American musician, noted for playing [[tabla]] and [[sitar]].

He was born into a prominent musical family in [[Mangalore]], [[India]]. He moved to the [[United States]] in 1964, residing in [[Pasadena, CA|Pasadena]], [[California]]. Rao was a [[Fulbright Scholar]] at [[UCLA]].,<ref>{{cite news|title=(untitled)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56&dq=harihar+rao+fulbright&hl=en&sa=X&ei=z5IrU_KpMMiGogTazYDYDA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=harihar%20rao%20fulbright&f=false|date=Sep 3, 1966|work=Billboard|page=56|accessdate=21 March 2014}}</ref> He worked in the [[ethnomusicology]] department at UCLA and privately taught and mentored students of the sitar.

Rao explored a variety of fusions of Indian and western music. His 'Hindustani Jazz Sextet', which included the trumpeter [[Don Ellis]],<ref name="BroughtonEllingham2000">{{cite book|last1=Broughton|first1=Simon|last2=Ellingham|first2=Mark|title=World Music: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzX8THIgRjUC&pg=PA111|accessdate=21 March 2014|year=2000|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=9781858286365|pages=111–}}</ref> combined classical Indian rhythms and jazz forms.<ref name="Brend2005">{{cite book|last=Brend|first=Mark|title=Strange Sounds: Offbeat Instruments and Sonic Experiments in Pop|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6KRDxYOp4UC&pg=PT155|accessdate=21 March 2014|year=2005|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=9780879308551|pages=155–}}</ref> In 1965 Rao and Ellis co-wrote ''An Introduction to Indian Music for the Jazz Musician'', which was printed by [[Jazz Magazine]]. The 1966 album ''[[Raga Rock (album)|Raga Rock]]'' combined Rao's sitar playing with the Folkswingers' western instruments to cover popular rock songs, such as "[[Paint It Black]]" and "[[Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)|Norwegian Wood]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?ei=iqArU8qtLNHtoATr-4JY&id=lj9LAAAAYAAJ&dq=harihar+rao+sitar&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=harihar+rao|title=Raga Rock|year=1966|work=High Fidelity|publisher=ABC Leisure Magazines|page=50|accessdate=21 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Vale1993">{{cite book|last=Vale|first=V.|title=Incredibly strange music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8I3AQAAIAAJ|accessdate=21 March 2014|year=1993|publisher=RE/Search Publications|isbn=9780940642225|page=176}}</ref> In 1967, Rao published the book ''Introduction to Sitar'', which sold more than 500 copies in its first two weeks of publication,<ref name=obit>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Peer-Southern Publication on Sitar Is a Fast Mover|date=Apr 15, 1967|work=Billboard|page=6|accessdate=21 March 2014}}</ref> and ultimately thousands of copies in four printings. Rao was the longest-standing [[protégé]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79276565.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611094740/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79276565.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 11, 2014|title=American lover of ragas creates melodies in computer|last=Singh|first=Kuhu|date=April 7, 2000|work=India Abroad|access-date=21 March 2014}}</ref> and a close friend for more than six decades of sitar player [[Ravi Shankar]]. Rao and Shankar co-founded the Music Circle, an organization dedicated to promoting Indian classical music.<ref name="Inc.1983">{{cite book|title=Yoga Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9usDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13|accessdate=21 March 2014|date=September 1983|publisher=Active Interest Media, Inc.|pages=13–}}</ref> He served as the Artistic Director of the Music Circle for 40 years.

He became a U.S. citizen in 1969. Rao taught at a number of colleges and universities in Southern California, including UCLA, [[Cal State Long Beach]], [[Cal State Los Angeles]], [[California Institute for the Arts]], and [[Caltech]].<ref name=obit/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Rao, Harihar (1967). Introduction to sitar. Peer International.
* Rao, Harihar; Don Ellis (April 1965). "An Introduction to Indian Music for the Jazz Musician". Jazz magazine.

==Additional references==
* "Peer Southern Increases Indian Music Collection". Billboard 81 (15): 44. April 12, 1969. Retrieved Aug 11 2011.
* "About the Music Circle". The Music Circle. Retrieved Aug 11 2011.
* Fenlon, Sean (2002). The Exotic Rhythms of Don Ellis. Baltimore, MD: The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. pp. 6.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Harihar}}
[[Category:Sitar players]]
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:Fulbright Scholars]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian musicians]]

Harihar Rao - Revision history

>Tom.Reding at 21:07, 21 September 2019