Rudresh Mahanthappa is a New York based jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was a frequent collaborator of pianist Vijay Iyer. Mahanthappa was named "Alto Saxophonist of the Year" in the 2011 Down Beat Critics Poll as well as by the Jazz Journalist Association in 2009, 2010, and 2011. He has been awarded numerous grants for his compositions, including being given the NY Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Music (2006), three Rockefeller MAP grants, and two New York State Council on the Arts grants.