Chintan Upadhyay

GHARANA

Dagar (Dhrupad)

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Chintan Upadhyay is a Dhrupad vocalist and a disciple of Pt. Uday Bhawalkar. He was born in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, an erstwhile princely state whose musical heritage nurtured Padma Shri Pt. Balwantrai Bhatt, Pt. Yashwantrai Purohit and Pt. Rasiklal Andharia. He received his initial training from his parents, both teachers of music and musicology, and from their guru Shri Laxmipati Shukla, a disciple of Pt. Omkarnath Thakur, as well as from Shri Ashvin Andharia, nephew of the late Pt. Rasiklal Andharia. After standing first (Bhavnagar Centre) in the Sangeet Alankar examination conducted by Bruhad Gujarat Sangeet Samiti, he joined Lalit Kala Kendra, Pune University, for a Masters degree in classical music with a National Scholarship from the Government of India, completing it under Dr. Vikas Kashalkar and Shri Vijay Koparkar, noted khayal vocalists. In 2005 he began training with Pt. Uday Bhawalkar in the guru-shishya parampara. Pt. Bhawalkar trained under Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar of the Dagar Vaani, represented by the Dagar family. Chintan became a scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2013 and received the Junior Research Fellowship from the Government of India for Dhrupad studies in 2014. He is a 'B High' grade Dhrupad vocalist of All India Radio (AIR). He performs at major festivals in India, tours abroad regularly for concerts and workshops, including in Canada, the UK, the USA, Germany and Austria, and also teaches online classes on Skype.