B. Sivaramakrishna Rao

Basavaraj Sivaramakrishna Rao, fondly called Sitar Siva by friends, is a distinguished sitarist and composer who hails from a family of musicians. Initiated into the niceties of music at the tender age of seven by his father B. Sudarsana Rao, he went on to become a disciple of the illustrious and veteran sitarist, late Ustad Ahmed Hussain Khan of the Mian Achpal and Senia Gharana.

The melodious and mellifluous music that he brings out through the Sitar illustrates his strong creative imagination that scales great heights. Uniquely versatile, he is equally at home with the Hindustani classical idiom of alaap, jod, jhala and gath as with the Carnatic alapana, kriti and kalpanaswaras — a rare mastery among sitarists.

He has performed extensively across the globe — in the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, China, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Mauritius, and the Middle East — gracing prestigious stages from the Melbourne Arts Festival and Drive East Festival in New York to the German Embassy in Berlin and Stanford University.

As the founder of Aruna Music Entertainment, he produces and composes music for artists across genres, and continues to teach the next generation through his SRK Academy of Music.