Success Mantra of Prasanna – World Renowned Jazz Guitarist

“Prasanna is a living hope for quality music”- A.R. Rahman. That is enough said about a world renowned musician who has performed and recorded with some of the world’s most acclaimed musicians including Joe Lovano, A.R. Rahman, Victor Wooten, Vijay Iyer, Aka Moon, Larry Coryell, Anthony Jackson, Illayaraja, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Steve Smith & several others.

He has arranged and conducted the string orchestra for the title song of the Bollywood movie, "Lagaan". He has also composed & arranged the original score of the documentary “Smile Pinki”, the winner of 2009 Academy Award (Oscar) for 'Best Documentary short subject'

Find out what his success mantra is:

Childhood days

I had a happy childhood. My parents took care of all my needs & completely supported me when I started dabbling in music. My parents are not musicians and they didn’t come from a lineage of musicians either. This helped in a way as it helped me advance in what I wanted to do musically with no baggage.

I am from a generation where children grew up playing in the open! I consider myself lucky be from an era in Tamil Nadu where television was in its infancy and video games were yet to surface.

Musician with an Engineering degree from IIT, Chennai

The simple reason I went to IIT, Chennai was because I was able to crack the JEE exams! I have been a musician since I was 12, so music and college were never in conflict with each other. I wouldn’t be where I am in music today if it were not for my education in IIT.

Berklee School of Music unlocked my music potential

I am glad I went to Berklee School of Music, Boston. It opened doors & more doors & helped me unlock my musical potential. Berklee is a huge place and it’s easy to get lost & distracted there but thankfully, I was focused and smart enough of take advantage of all that Berklee had to offer.

High points

The first time I saw a bunch of people enjoying my music was my first moment of professional success. And that is still my barometer for success as a guitarist, as a musician – to be able to truly communicate with my audience. My first personal high point was of course, falling in love with the guitar.

Work-Life Balance

I am at a point in my life where my work and life are interwoven together. To me all the things that I do today as a performer, music composer, educator, entrepreneur and President of a music college (Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM)) are all part of the fabric of my life. Juggling all of them is such fun that I can’t term them as work.

Of course, I have to spend a lot of time away from my wife Shalini and 3 year old daughter Katyayini because of my concerts abroad, recording projects worldwide and also because of the responsibilities I have as the President of the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music. But Shalini has been an incredible pillar of support in my career. Being an extraordinarily talented singer herself, she understands how it all works.

I am able to find a great balance in life because I have learnt the art of saying ‘no’ to projects I don’t want to do. So I actually manage to take out time to spend with my family & friends, workout in the gym, play chess, take vacations etc.

Success Mantra

Say “no” to mediocrity. Go after excellence in whatever you choose to do. It’s not easy but it is definitely worth it.
There is no such thing as failure. Everything is a step forward in life. The key is to try to do your best all the time – every single time!

As told to Nishatha Abraham

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Jump into Music! SAM will Do the Rest: Prasanna, President of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM)