<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1976--present </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.ilaiyaraajalive.com </Td> </Tr> <P> Ilaiyaraaja (born 2 June 1943 as Gnanathesikan) is an Indian film composer who works in the South Indian cinema, predominantly in Tamil since the mid 1970s . Widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian music composers of all time, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor singer, and songwriter . He has composed more than 6500 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 films, also being acclaimed for his exceptional background scores . </P> <P> Singers S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, K.S. Chithra and S. Janaki have sung more of his songs than any other singers . He integrated folk--in Tamil--and introduced western musical sensibilities into the South Indian musical mainstream . Ilaiyaraja is also known for creating music by fusing symphonic orchestration with traditional Indian instrumentation, often performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra . In 1993, he organised a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and thus became the First Indian to compose a full symphony, with Ravi Shankar being the only other Indian to do so . He is also the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra . He has won five Indian National Film Awards (the highest film honor in India); three for Best Music Direction and two for Best Background Score . In 2010 he has received the Padma Bhushan, awarded by the Government of India . </P>

First asian to compose a symphony for royal philharmonic orchestra of london