06-Apr-2017 08:18 PM
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Uday Bhawalkar was selected at the age of fifteen to study at the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal. He lived there and studied dhrupad for twelve years in the residences of his Gurus, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and the Rudra-Veena Maestro Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar in Bhopal and Mumbai. In 1985 he gave his first performance at Bhopal, and has since performed at many prominent music festivals in India and abroad, including at the Tansen Samaroh (Gwalior), Sajan Milap Gharana Sammelan N.C.P.A. (Mumbai), Saptak Music Festival (Ahmadabad), Shriram Shankarlal Festival (New Delhi), Sawai Gandhrava Sangeet Mahotsava (Pune), Samrat Sangeet Mahotsav (Goa), Bhakti Utsav (New Delhi), and the Prithvi Music Festival (Mumbai), amongst others. In addition to having performed for Spicmacay for the last eighteen years, Mr. Bhawalkar has presented many solo concerts in Europe, USA, Canada and Mexico, and has performed in world music festivals in England (WOMAD) and Belgium (SFINKS). He has collaborated with artists from other disciplines including the contemporary dancer Astad Deboo, the group Ensemble Modern (Germany) and professional musicians from Spain and USA. In addition, he has contributed to the soundtracks of international art films including Mani Kaul’s Cloud Door, Aparna Sen’s Mr & Mrs Iyer and Amol Palekar’s Anahat. Mr. Bhawalkar is a recipient of many awards such as a Gold-Medal presented by Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, the National Scholarship, the Junior Fellowship from the Government of India, and the Rashtriya Kumar Gandharva Samman, given by the Madhya Pradesh Government in 2001. Uday Bhawalkar lives and works in Pune, Maharashtra.