CONCERT: Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande

Tuesday, 19th Feb
6 PM

Venue: SM Joshi Hall, Ganjawe Chowk, Navi Peth, Pune.

Accompaniment: Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar

About the artist:
Ashwini Bhide began her training at the age of five under the supervision of Pandit Narayanrao Datar. After graduating with a Sangeet Visharad from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, she continued her musical education under the watchful eye of her mother, Manik Bhide, another great Khyal singer. She later received instruction from Pandit Ratnakar Pai. She worked on her first major project with Ravi Shankar, recording the music for the film Gandhi.

Her style is considered extraordinarily versatile: the systematic exhibition of the structure of the Raga and Bahjans, the brilliant phrasing, the variety of the patterns she uses, and the ease with which she moves between three octaves. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande has taken the classical musical styles of India further than any other artist. She has traveled the world, performing music and giving conferences. She is also skilled in the sciences, holding an important position as a microbiologist and biochemist in Bhopal. This combination of art and science, tradition and modernity, has made her a fascinating figure in modern-day India: an intellectual with sensibilities unmatched in recent decades.