Hindustani Vocal Recital – Khayal Sangeet
Omkar Dadarkar hails from a family of ‘Marathi Natyasangeet’ exponents. He received his initial guidance from his aunt, the late noted classical vocalist Manik Verma and thereafter from Ram Deshpande. After being awarded the CCRT scholarship (Delhi) for classical music, he was groomed by Pandit Yashwantbua Joshi under the scheme of Guru-Shishya-Parampara of the Dadar-Matunga Cultural Centre. A Sangeet Visharad and Bachelor of Arts in Marathi Literature and History, Omkar joined ITC-SRA as a scholar in July 1999, receiving rigorous talim under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. He completed his training in June 2005 with an A+ grade. He also trained in the light classical form under Vidushi Girija Devi and Srinivas Khale. His numerous awards include the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2010 conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi to talented artistes below the age of 35, the Aditya Vikram Birla Puraskar in 2009, the “Shanmukhananda Hall-Mumbai-Sangeet Shiromani” award and he is also the first recipient of “Chaturanga Sangeet Shishyavrutti Award” given by Chaturanga Pratishthan in collaboration with Mhaiskar Foundation, Mumbai. Omkar who was previously working with Mumbai Educational Trust, as Music In-charge returned to ITC SRA as a Musician Tutor in 2010 and has been promoted to the position of Guru of the Academy in 2017.
Milind Kulkarni’s natural flair for Harmonium reflects the eternal essence of Hindustani Classical Music as handed down in the true “Guru Shishya Parampara”. Milind took his initial training from Pandit Vsantrao Gurav and later on he has been taking the lessons from Pt. Pramod Marathe from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Milind earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music, specializing in Harmonium at Centre for Performing Arts, Pune University, Pune. He has accompanied many prominent vocalist, instrumentalist and Kathak Dance performers. Milind is a regular performer of All India Radio & Doordarshan (T.V.) network.
Sanjay Deshpande is a talented Tabla Player based in Pune, India. He was born in a music loving family and was introduced to the art of playing Tabla under Late Pt. Sabade at Pune Bharat Gayan Samaj. Later he took Taleem (lessons) from the renowned Tabla player Pt. Suresh Talwalkar of Delhi-Farookabad Gharana, in a Guru Shishya Parampara for 6 years. He also had the privilege of understanding the beauty of Punjab Gharana under the guidance of world renowned Tabla maestro Ustad. Alla Rakha Khan Saheb. At present he is taking guidance from Shri. Yogesh Samsi and Pt. Vivek Joshi. Sanjay is recipient of the coveted “Ahmedjaan Thirakwaa Scholarship” for Solo Performance. He has accompanied renowned artists like Smt. Vasundhara Komkali, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt. Smt. Malini Rajurkar, Pt. Jasraj, Dr. Prabha Atre, Pt. Dinkar Kaikini, Dr. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande , Smt. Veena Sahastrabudhe and many others. He has performed in major conferences such as Sawai Gandharwa Music Festival Pune, Paluskar Smarak Conference, Shankarlal Samaroha in New Delhi, I.T.C. Sangeet Sammelan . Dowerlane Conference, Kolkata. Sanjay has performed abroad in countries like USA, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Russia, Holland, Qatar, Sri Lanka, South Korea etc. He has also participated in the “World Vocal Festival” in Sweden. He is empanelled as guru at the Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune. He has number of recordings released. His fusion album “Wind From Ayuta” with Korean musicians won the Best album award of the year – 2002 in South Korea.