Ishaan Leonard Rao
Award winning Indo-Dutch pianist and composer Ishaan Leonard Rao seeks to bring his unique voice to the world of music, bridging music from all over the world. Ishaan is a SONY MUSIC GROUP GLOBAL SCHOLAR. This prestigious scholarship is awarded to young artists that make a difference in the musical landscape.
Ishaans self-titled debut album pays homage to his Indian classical roots while taking the music to uncharted territory with his variety of musical influences. Varying between composed, rhythmically intricate parts and abstract improvised textures, ‘Ishaan’ is a bold statement of a style that he has created and continues to develop. It consists of six ‘raga sketches’, musicalisations of the abstract extramusical philosophical and spiritual ideas that give traditional ragas their depth and character.
An in depth interview with Ishaan in the latest Global Indian online magazine by Darshana Ramdev
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An interview with Ishaan about his journey into music and what it takes to become an artist in the latest Luxury Chronicle online magazine by Neelima Agrawal
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Ishaan was awarded the 'Outstanding Achievement' certificate by the Berklee Piano Department to honour the best pianists at the college. What an honour indeed to be recognized by mentors and peers!
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Ishaan performed at the Berklee Piano Department recital and at the South Asian Student Association of Berklee.
In the Indian Express Special 'Yearender 2021', Ishaan was featured as one of 4 artists who caught attention with his music without boundaries of genre and form. This article featured artists of the stature of stalwarts like Flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. His performances at the National Gallery for Modern Arts in New Delhi, Mozart in India or his new 'Ishaan's Piano project' caught the attention of the discerning connoisseurs and critics.
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