Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar (born 14 January 1955) is a

Hindustani classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

vocalist. He has received training in the

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

and

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

s, and is considered one of the finest representative of all three schools.

Early life

Ulhas was born in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

. He received his first lessons in music from his father N D Kashalkar, a lawyer by profession and an amateur vocalist and musicologist. He went on to study music at

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as th ...

, topping his post-graduate class. Around that time, he trained under Rajabhau Kogje and P N Khardenavis. Indian music is heavily influenced by the Guru-shishya tradition. Kashalkar studied principally under

Ram Marathe Ramchandra Purushottam Marathe (23 October 1924 – 4 October 1989), also known as Pandit Ram Marathe, was a Marathi music director, singer, and actor on stage and in films. As a child actor, he performed the title role of Krishna in Prabhat Film ...

and

Gajananrao Joshi Gajanan Anant Joshi, better known as "Gajananbuwa Joshi", (January 30, 1911 – June 28, 1987) was a vocalist and violinist in the field of Hindustani music. Early life and background Gajananrao Joshi came from a family of musicians. His gran ...

Career

Ulhas Kashalkar initially worked as a programme executive at the

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

station of

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

. In 1993 he became a teacher at the

ITC Sangeet Research Academy ITC Sangeet Research Academy is a Hindustani classical music academy run by the corporate house, ITC Ltd. It is located in Kolkata, India. Noted musicians associated with the academy include Ulhas Kashalkar, Falguni Mitra, Ajoy Chakrabarty, Ust ...

, where he remains today. Both Rambhau and Gajananrao were traditionalists which finds reflection in Kashalkar's vocalism. He possesses the ability to switch between three styles (namely Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra), at times even in the course of a single performance. He adheres to the aesthetic contours of each individual style, and also to the formal demands of the

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

being presented. He is noted for his authentic presentations of obscure traditional ragas. In an uncharacteristically expansive passage, the veteran music critic Prakash Wadhera once noted: ''Ulhas is a fabulous vocalist, still in his middle years and young, who has an old musical head stuffed with innumerable current and rare ragas and compositions. Like a computer he never errs in any raga or composition howsoever intertwined or tricky it may be. He, just seems to press one key and out comes a raga in the true Jaipur colours, another to obtain a melody attired in the Agra style and still another to get a raga in the Gwalior habiliments. One can only imagine Kashalkar's questionless loyalty to his various gurus, and his own prodigious capacity to assimilate and consolidate the incoming knowledge.''

Awards

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

, 2008 awarded in 2009 *

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 2010 *

Tansen Samman Tansen Samaroh or Tansen Sangeet Samaroh () is celebrated every year in the month of December in Behat village of Gwalior district, Madhya Pradesh. It is a 4-day musical extravaganza. Artists and music lovers from all over the world gather here to ...

in 2017 * Pt. Omkarnath Thakur Award in 2019https://sangeetnatak.gujarat.gov.in/index.htm

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashalkar, Ulhas 1955 births Living people Hindustani singers Musicians from Nagpur Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University alumni Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Agra gharana Gwalior gharana Singers from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian male classical singers 21st-century Indian male classical singers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Early life

Career

Awards

See also

Footnotes