Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna

Padmabhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna is a Carnatic vocalist. Born on July 6, 1930 at Sankaraguptam village in Rajolu Taluk in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, he inherited the musical traits of his parents .His father Mangalampalli Pattabhiramayya was a famous flutist and a music teacher and mother Suryakanthama was a veena artiste. His father put him under the guidance of Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantul under whom he reached the heights of fame in the field of Carnatic music.

Balamurali Krishna gave his first performance at the age of eight at the Sadguru Arandhana Utsava at Vijayawada. Besides being a versatile singer, he is a master in playing the Mridangam and the violin.

Dr.Balamurali Krishna has enriched Carnatic music with his compositions and created new ragas like Mahati, Sumukham, Trisakthi, Sarvashri, Omkari, Janasamodini, Manorama, Rohini, Vallabhi, Lavangi, Pratimadhyamavathi, Sushama, etc. Dr.Balamurali Krishna has also proved his talent as a playback singer, music director and actor in several languages. He has more than 91 albums released till date. He has bagged many titles and awards like 'Gana Sudhakara', 'Gayaka Sikhamani', 'Sur Singar', 'Geeta Kala Bharati', Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 'Sangeetha Kalanidhi', Padmashri and Padma Vibushan. He was given the title of Sangeetha Kalanidhi in the year 1978. He was chosen as the 'Wisdom Man of the Year in 1992'. He was awarded honorary PhD and D. Litt degrees by various universities.

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh honored him with the 'Atma Gauravam' award in 1997. He is a Honarary citizen of Vijayawada and has a road named after him .He is a state musician in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and is the 'Asthana Vidwan' of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Sringeri Peetam and Anjenaya Swami Temple, Nanganallur. He founded the "Academy of Performing Arts and Research" in Switzerland and is also working on music therapy. He established the 'MBK Trust' with the objective of developing art and culture and for carrying out extensive research into in music therapy.
Mallika Sarabhai Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Bismillah Khan Zakir Hussain Amrita Shergill Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Bhimsen Joshi Sunil Dutt Shyam Benegal M.F. Hussain Dadasaheb Phalke