Uday Bhawalkar

GHARANA

Dagar (Dhrupad)

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Uday Bhawalkar is a Dhrupad vocalist who has contributed to the form's growing recognition worldwide, with a style deeply embedded in raga, ras and bhaav. He relates his music to the principle of 'darshan' in Indian philosophy, in which the self disappears in the note and raga. He spent over 12 years in the guru-shishya parampara with Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar (vocal) and Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (rudra veena). In 1987, on first hearing him perform, Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, the eldest of the Dagar family, blessed him with a gold medal. Since his first performance at Bhopal in 1985, he has performed in India, Europe, the USA, Canada, Mexico and Singapore. He has worked with dancer Astad Deboo and the Ensemble Modern Orchestra, Germany, and been accompanied on the pakhawaj by Ustad Zakir Hussain at the Prithvi Festival in Mumbai, and by Taalyogi Pt. Suresh Talwakar and Ustad Sukhwinder Singh Naamdhari. He has contributed to film soundtracks including Mani Kaul's "Cloud Door", Aparna Sen's "Mr & Mrs Iyer", Amol Palekar's "Anahat" and Renuka Shahane's "RITA". Uday has taught at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory, the University of Washington, Seattle, and the Asian Music Circuit, London. In 2012 he became a Guru at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, and he is also a Guru at the Bengal Foundation's "Parampara Sangeetalay", Dhaka. His honours include the Kumar Gandharva Samman from the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (2001) and the Raza Foundation Award (2007), presented by the painter S.H. Raza.