Vikas Kashalkar

Dr. Vikas Kashalkar
Background information
Born (1950-07-16) July 16, 1950
Origin Pune, Maharashtra, India
Genres Hindustani classical music,
Gwalior Gharana
Occupation(s) Classical Vocalist
Years active 1975 - present
Website www.vikaskashalkar.com

Vikas Kashalkar (born 16 July 1950) is a noted Hindustani classical vocalist, scholar, teacher and musicologist. He has received training in the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharanas. He hails from a family with music tradition.

Early life

Kashalkar was born in Pandharkawada, Maharashtra. He was initiated in music from his father N D Kashalkar, a lawyer by profession and a renowned musicologist and writer.

Tutelage

The tradition of Guru-shishya tradition plays an important role in Hindustani classical music. Vikas Kashalkar received his advanced training in music from Pandit Gajananrao Joshi, a stalwart of the Gwalior gharana and a violin virtuoso. Kashalkar's singing reflects all the facets of systematic training : 'Talim ka Gana', in the language of the music connoisseurs.

Career

Kashalkar worked as a Producer at Balbharati, Pune. He retired from Balbharati and now teaches music along with performances all over India and abroad. He regularly performs on Doordarshan and All India Radio. Kashalkar is a recognized guide for Hindustani Classical Vocal (Gwalior Gharana) at Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune. He also guides Phd students at S.N.D.T University and Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal, Mumbai.

As a musician

Kashalkar’s guru Pandit Gajananrao Joshi a stalwart of Gwalior gharana had a long tradition of this gharana from Pt. Balkrishnabua Ichalkaranjikar to Pt. Anant Manohar Joshi to himself. Along with Gwalior Gharana Gajananbuwa learnt from other gharanas viz. Agra & Jaipur. Kashalkar has melodious voice and intricacies of ‘Tanas’ give immense joy to the listeners. His style is deeply rooted in traditions but due to his imagination and thought process there is always a feeling of newness in his rendering.

He has a large repertoire of uncommon and mixed ragas and he presents many of them with great mastery and ease. Apart from Pandit Gajananrao Joshi, Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and Dr.Prabha Atre also influenced him. His Tana patterns incorporate the behlaos peculiar to Jaipur style. His tana patterns have different varieties like saral, vakra, bol tana, mukhbandi and so on. He is also a composer of new bandishes. His voice is distinctively known for quality, volume and vigor. He is gifted with a mellifluous and flexible voice and tremendous ability to make an immediate impact on the audience. Connoisseurs and common listeners alike enjoy his concerts. He also effectively presents Thumris, Bhajans at times. The effectiveness of his music is greatly enhanced by his joyous and amiable disposition. He is also continuously involved in exploring new possibilities of Tana pattern.

Kashalkar has been awarded a PhD (Sangeetacharya) by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya for his work in the field of “Creativity in Music”

He is certified “A” grade artist on All India Radio (AIR).

As a teacher

Kashalkar strongly believes in sharing his wealth of knowledge to interested students. He has teaching sessions almost every day in Pune. He is one of the first Hindustani Classical vocalists who started teaching online and due tho this his shishya pariwar is spread all around the world. He is closely associated with Shadjamadhyam, a web portal for teaching vocal music online. He teaches music to students from USA, Europe and other countries. Several of his students have already established themselves as concert vocalists. Manjusha Patil, Aparna Gurav, Hrishikesh Ghangurde, Mukul Kulkarni and Matt Rahaim are few of them. Apart from this he is a guest educator for under-graduate, post graduate and PhD students at Center for Performing Arts, Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune since 1987.

He is guide to PhD students of S.N.D.T University and Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal, Mumbai. He works as an examiner for PhD thesis in various centers like Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Amravati in Maharashtra India. He is guest Lecturer for NET guidance workshop at SNDT, Pune. Also works as a guide to Refresher Course for teachers, SNDT University, Pune.

A number of students are working for PhD under his guidance. Many of his students have been awarded the “Sangeetacharya” Degree.

Other work

He has published many articles in news papers as well as in magazines. In Sawai Gandharva Music Festival (Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Samaroh 2011) Kashalkar interviewed Swaryogini Dr. Prabha Atre in interactive session Antarang which was a rare opportunity to listen and interact with the living legend. There are two musical organisations which are named by his name one of which is 'sangeet vikas sabha, pune' and another is 'pandit vikas kashalkar foundation, pandharpur'. one is held by him and second one is held by his student Prasad Kulkarni from Pandharpur.

References

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