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Binaya Rath is one of the most prolific guitarist, music composer and one of the most respected teacher of guitar and piano in the state of Odisha.

Early Life and introduction to music :

He was born in the state capital of Bhubaneswar to a civil servant Harihara Rath and Sailabala Rath. The elder brother of Harihara Rath, Pt.Lokanath Rath was one of the most acclaimed Oddisi vocalists and AIR artiste. Also the parents of Binaya Rath were trained in classical music, so one could say it came quite naturally to him.He is the youngest sibling of the lot among his four brothers and two sisters. He received his early education in Bhubaneswar and started singing and acting in plays from an early age. During his childhood he experimented with tabla, banjo, harmonium and perfected all of them. After listening to a tune only for once he could reproduce it with extreme accuracy on the harmonium. His parents were devotees of Sathya Sai Baba and thus he was exposed to bhajans. He used to sing them with utmost perfection and devotion while playing the tabla himself. This was the time when he learnt about the nuances of the Indian Classical music system. He became acquainted with the system of Ragas,Talas and due to his own interest he divulged into the depths of industani and Odissi system of Classical Music. Later he came across the Guitar in his late teens and was fascinated by the instrument. He developed a keenness to learn the instrument. But Guitar was not as popular aas it is today in the state of Odisha and even more scarce were Guitarists. Guitar teachers in the true sense were virtually unavailable in the state. However not withstanding any of the obstacles, his deep passion about music and the Guitar led him to study the Staff Notation and Western Classical Music on his own, because he realized that trying to implement the Indian system of music while learning is highly flawed. So to learn Guitar one must be familiar with the international music language i.e. the staff notation system .He holds the view that after a student has attained a certain level of dexterity, he/she can implement or try to infuse the Indian style in his/her playing. But beginning to learn Guitar according to Indian system has always been a big no-no for him. He has even tried to discourage this flawed style of teaching rampant in the state. While studying Western classical he came across the works of of the legends like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc and he studied them deeply which also compounded his likeness for the staff notation system. His guitar playing drew inspiration from The Ventures, music of Billy Vaughan, Carlos Santana, etc and reflects a simple and beautiful approach.

'As a Guiatrist:'

He started performing as a guitarist in 1973 and played all genres of music ranging from rock, jazz to ghazals and bhajans.Owing to the rising popularity of the guitar and very few skilled guitarists in the region he accompanied Veteran Odia artistes like Pt.Balakrushna Dash, Pt.Raghunath Panigrahi, Akshaya Mohanty, Sikandar Alam, Prafulla Kar, etc both on-stage and off-stage in the studios. He describes those moments as "dream come true" moments as these were the very artistes to whom he used to listen on the radio and idolize in his early years. He played for All India Radio for the first time in 1977 and subsequently for Doordarshan and the association with the either of them continues till date.

As time passed he recorded for film and non film tracks, by the early 80s had graduated to a complete studio artist as well as a on stage performer. He played for the first time under the banner of HMV in 1980. In the same year he ventured into composing and started his own music troupe. The music troupe has performed far and wide across Odisha and in many cities across the country where it has enjoyed wide spread success.

After achieving finesse in six string guitar he moved on to other stringed instruments like the Mandolin, Tenor Banjo,12 string, Hawaiian guitar and even Bass guitar. Hence he also became one of the most sought after artistes for all of these instruments, however he didn't give much of his time to bass guitar. Over the years he soaked up the elements of folk music and sharpened knowledge of Indian Classical Music by studying and by building upon the experience gained by working with veterans like PT.Balakrushna Dash(disciple of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan), Pt. Damodar Hota and Pt.Bhubaneswar Mishra, Pt Raghunath Panigrahi.

Music Direction :

As a music director and composer he his held in high respect across the music fraternity. He has directed and made music for numerous dramas in theatres including for those by NSD-ians like Bijay Mohanty, Dola Gobinda Rath , Ajit Dash , Surya Mohanty and among others like veteran Odia actor-director Debu Bose,etc. He has also made music for National telefilms like ‘Phata Kapala” (1988) by actor-director Sadhu Meher, “Sambari” by Nirod Mahapatra,etc. In commercial lines he had made the music for famous television soaps like”Jiban Jamuna”, “Komal Gandhar” (in house productions of Doorarshan) , local laugh riot “Chhaniya” , etc.

He has assisted eminent Odia music director Shantanu Mahapatra( the only Odia music composer for whom Mohd. Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar have sung) in many projects.He has composed songs and scored background music for productions of State Instiute Of Education and Technology (Odisha). Another feather to his cap was added when he conducted and arranged the huge orchestra on the occasion of celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Odia Film Industry. His songs have been sung by acclaimed Odia singers like Akshaya Mohanty, Sikandar Alam, Ghanshyama Panda, Tansen Singh, Chitta Jena, Geeta Dash to name a few. He has also been instrumental in introducing many new faces to the industry and giving them break.

 Present Life and Teacihng 

He has stayed away from films in the present time owing to the lack of quality in music of Odia Industry, an opinion voiced by many other prominent artistes. He has been a music faculty in many workshops organized by Ntional School of Drama and was a part of the program initiated by an NGO, CYSD to groom young tribal artistes for stage performances and mainstream music. He represented Odisha in the National Theatr Festival (East Zone) in 2004 and was a part of the jury for Guitar events in the National Youth Festival 2012 held at Mangalore.

As a music teacher he has been teaching music and thus opening up the joys of music to students since the last 30years. Realizing the absence of a good teaching format for budding guitarists and keyboardists he has developed a comprehensive and complete music lesson format for students which incorporate the elements of Western Classical, staff notation theory and Indian music.

Currently he has been devoting the majority of his time to teaching music, composing and working to make better musicians