Flute virtuoso Ravichandra Kulur was Initiated into the hallowed realms of Carnatic classical music (South Indian music) at the tender age of six, Ravi initially took up the South Indian percussion instruments, the Mridangam and the Kanjira under the guidance of guru E P Narayana Pishardi.
Regularly practicing under his father & Guru K Raghavendra Rao’s guidance, Ravi started performing duets with his father and held solo concerts in Carnatic Sabhas since he was nine years old!
After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Ravi worked for few years all the while nurturing his classical flute-playing and in 1999 he decided to take up music professionally. Ravi has ever since grown as an artist, carving a niche for himself in the field governed by great maestros and emerged as one of the most sought after flutists from India. His powerful lungs, clarity of individuals notes and high-paced fingering techniques are his forte and have been widely regarded with appreciation by music-lovers and critics alike.
Ravi has developed a unique style of performing his flute and plays rare South Indian ragas in complicated rhythmic cycles with advanced fingering techniques . His playing field also includes the Bansuri (North Indian flute), western key & flute from different parts of the world , wind midi controller, Kanjira and vocal percussions .
Ravi has performed in keystone music festivals and famous venues collaborating with artists around the globe. He has extensively toured over 30 countries including USA, Canada, UK, UAE, Sweden, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Hungary, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic, Switzerland for his Solo, Duets, Fusion, Jazz concerts and Dance productions.
After listening to Ravi in 2005 legendary musician Pandit Ravi Shankar invited Ravi to join him for the upcoming concerts titled “Festival of India III” in the year 2005-06. During this time, Pandit Ravi Shankar hailed Ravichandra Kulur as a “flute maestro, fantastic, brilliant and very well known flutist from India”. Since 2005, Ravi has been part of most of Ravi Shankar & Anoushka Shankars concert tours around the world, reaffirming his position as a sought after flutist.
To date, Ravi has played more than 1200 concerts and participated in international music festivals like WOMAD in UK, Paleo in Swiss, Java Jazz fest, Roskilde in Denmark, Sfinks in Belgium, SF Jazz , Tff Rudolstadt, 5 continents festival in Swiss, Helsinki Festival, Bangalore Habba, and many more and has to his credit about 300 studio session recordings. Ravi has also performed in major venues like the Carnegie Hall in New York, Kennedy Centre in DC, Sydney Opera house, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London, The Boston Symphony Hall, Chicago Symphony hall, Millennium Park in Chicago, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Baltimore Symphony Hall, Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Vienna Kozerthaus , Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool & many more.
Ravi has also collaborated with musicians in various genres of music from Fusion to Pop , Rock , Jazz, Funk, Flamenco, western classical, Celtic etc..
Ravi is an ‘A’ graded flutist from AIR & Doordarshan and his music has been broadcasted from National Public Radio in USA, FM stations in Belgium, Holland, Swiss and Germany.
