Balamurali Krishna

M. Balamuralikrishna
Pandit Ji at Rajarani Music Festival, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Background information
Native name	మంగళంపల్లి బాలమురళీకృష్ణ
Birth name	Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna
Born	(1930-07-06)6 July 1930 Sankaraguptam, East Godavari District, Madras Presidency, British India (now part of Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	22 November 2016(2016-11-22) (aged 86) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Carnatic music
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Viola Mridangam Kanjira
Years active	1938–2016

Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He has garnered two National Film Awards (1976, 1987), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor in 1991, for his contribution towards arts, the Mahatma Gandhi Silver Medal from UNESCO in 1995, the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 2005, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy in 1978, and the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani in 1991, by the Fine Arts Society, Chennai to name a few.

Balamuralikrishna started his career at the age of six. Up to the present time, he has given over 25,000 concerts worldwide. He accompanied Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, and gave jugalbandi concerts with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Kishori Amonkar, among others. He is also known for popularizing the compositions of Sri Bhadrachala Ramadasu and Sri Annamacharya. Balamuralikrishna's concerts combine sophisticated vocal skills and rhythmic patterns of classical music with the popular demand for entertainment value. Balamuralikrishna has been invited to give concerts in many countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Italy, France, Russia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Middle East and many more. Apart from his native tongue, Telugu, his works also include ones in other languages like Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi.