Rajesh Cherthala

Rajesh Cherthala is one of the top ranking Indian flutists of the South Indian music tradition and an outstanding Western music instrumentalist. He is a well known figure in the professional music industry.

He was born in Cherthala, in the district of Alappuzha, Kerala. His parents Dasappan and Nirmala encouraged him to learn music in his childhood days. His cousin Shaji spotted and nurtured his inherent musical talent and initiated him to the basic lessons in the flute. Mr. Balram, the organizer of Cochin Class Orchestra, helped and guided him to play with live orchestra.

Afterwards, he was fortunate enough to acquire more advanced knowledge in playing the instrument from the late Sri.Sunbright Master and the Hindusthani maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chowrasya. His association with the latter helped him get himself acquainted with playing the flute in the North Indian style.

In his early days, he played for various musical troupes in Kerala and performed all over the state. Gradually, he got engaged in the recording field. After his initial recording in Ernakulam, conducted by the renowned classical violinist Sri. Thiruvizha Ullas, he has not looked back. There has been an increasing demand for his service in numerous recordings of devotional albums and film songs.

Simultaneously, he took part in live concerts with legendary singers and music composers . He also accepted invitations to perform in live programmes with various musical bands and made his mark as a versatile artist playing a number of wind instruments like Indian Flute, Western Flute, Saxophone, Wind Midi controller, Duduk,Recorder, Melodica, Clarinet ,Penny Whistle etc.

He is now a well known flute player in the South Indian musical arena and has completed playing for more than 300 films, with more than a 1000 songs to his credit.His talent has been recognized by many institutions and he has been endowed with prestigious awards

He is now all set to launch a new band of his own and plans to entertain music lovers with his compostions combining both the western and the Indian styles.