His talent and artistic freedom come from his childhood which he spent with his family in Kerala (South India).

He moved to France in 1985, crowned a solid reputation in singing Carnatic (sacred) chants and turned quickly to jazz, to electro-acoustic and contemporary music; bulimic interest that resulted in collaborations with the team of Bernard Lubat to Uzeste, or flamenco guitarist Pedro Soler (several tours in Germany, Spain).

Loving their sound, he collaborated with artists such as DJ Goze (compilation Buddha Bar III) and Talvin Singh (Festival de Saint Denis, Opera of London, Theatre des Champs Elysees).

The distance he keeps between himself and his own culture allows him to stand out from an ancient tradition in the very first "Indian Polyphonies" ever written, and in the Indian Symphony "Mythia", created in 1996 at the Palace of Unesco and then at the Olympia for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

Ravi Prasad is first and foremost a showman. He worked in partnership with choreographer Régine Chopinot on three productions along with the Atlantic Ballet (Festival of Hue in Vietnam, the Avignon Festival, toured India)based on a legendary musical tradition from his country "Malbar Experience" (in collaboration with musicians from the Réunion) and in "Ponguël" musical theatre in which he is also actor.

In 2008, as part of an Indo-Spanish co-production, he participated with the contemporary dancer Mónica de la Fuente, a creation that combines both dance and theatre, based on the text of the Ramayana, a masterly epic of India. Their collaboration continued with a creation for the festival Metis of St.-Denis, "Laya Chithra", "the image of the melody" and then in 2010, in "Bhumi Devi" Hymn to the Mother Earth, with the Casa de India.

Since 2012, their collaboration continued through various projects: "The Voice of the Body" contemporary reinterpretation of the music and dance of India through research on the connections between voice and body, presented at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, at the Cervantes Institute in Delhi, and teatro LAVA in Valladolid "Mudras" mosaic of polyphonic and gesture paintings (choir of 20 people) structured around their duet.

Other meetings for other creations with ... "Flamencarnatic" in relation to flamenco musicians, singers and dancers and contemporary indian dance (Valladolid -2005);
with "Drum Quartet", Carlo Rizzo, Adel Shams El Din and Paul Mindy; with Kiko Ruiz, flamenco guitarist, with whom he created "Tandem", his ninth album.
Guest of honour at the Métis Festival of Saint-Denis in 2008, he opened with the Z Quartet (musicians of the French National Orchestra) and from this created his tenth album, Radio France collection(released in April 2010) .

As someone who enjoys doing duets, he shares the stage happily with Philippe Gal (bass, steel drums), with Dominique Regef, with singer Aymonino Jakes among others ...

His current creations take him down the path of sacred songs with Scandicus, a male chorus (2011).

His solo "Indian Song", directed by Serge Fournet, based on footage shot during his travels in India, shows contrasts between tradition and creation (2010).

Ravi Prasad loves getting amateurs and professionals involved in internships that lead to the presentation of shows ("Mythia", Festival "Les Impulsives"). He has been transmitting to others in the last twenty years, his teaching of the voice is the result of his experiences and his training as a traditional Indian singer.

The importance he gives to his teaching activity and the practice of the voice led him to open in fall 2008, Espace Ravi Prasad, a place dedicated to the voice.

In 2012, Ravi Prasad mixes sound and imagein all its formsinan original creation, "Resonances... music under poetic influence" (music, text, photos, videos)with Philippe GAL (Contrebasse, steeldrum), Marie DILLIES (actress, vjing) and Jean-Luc ARIBAUD (Photos, videos ).

In 2012, at Thrissur (Kerala, South India), creation for the first festival sponsored by Foundation Coupleux-Lassalle and Cumulus Association (Paris), the concert "Somewhere else", an unprecedented meeting between indian virtuoso musicians and Z Quartet composed and directed by Ravi Prasad.

"Tradition is a base. Every artist has to find his own tradition. What we did five minutes before is over, it is already part of tradition. The artist must look to create and extend tradition. What is important is what he brings to every moment lived."

Ravi Prasad is always where you least expect it, his taste for experimentation and sound mixing are limitless ...

For more information, see the detailed biography of Ravi Prasad (in french).

• detailed biography (in french)