Mohan Nadkarni Foundation is pleased to announce that ace vocalist Usha Kallianpurkar, a senior disciple of Kirana doyen the late Pandit Firoz Dastur will sing at the fifth Mohan Nadkarni Memorial Concert in Auckland on Saturday 31 August.
Auckland musicians Samir Bhalodkar on the Samvadini and Manjit Singh on the Tabla will accompany Usha.
The New Jersey, USA based singer and teacher is endowed with both, musical aptitude and a mellifluous voice.
Usha began learning music at an early age - initially from Shri Kamalakar Bhagwat and later from Shri Durgesh Chandavarkar - both of whom are well-known as able teachers in the Light Classical genres.
At a critical juncture in her early musical training, well-known music critic and musicologist the late Mohan Nadkarni, encouraged and guided her transition to the pure classical form -
particularly the style of the Kirana Gharana. She began training under Shrimati Sudha Divekar, an exponent of the Kirana Gharana and Pandit Firoz Dastur’s disciple. Before long, Pandit Firoz Dastur, the doyen of the Kirana Gharana, took her under his wing and began what was a soul stirring period of learning in the true tradition of the Guru Shishya Parampara.
Soon Usha began performing at established music circles in Mumbai like the Indian Music Group (IMG) at Xaviers College, Dadar Matunga Cultural Circle, Karnataka Sangh and Swar Mauli, to name a few.
After moving to the United States, she continued to learn from Pandit Dastur during his visits to the US and her visits to India. In India, Shri Mohan Nadkarni continued to inspire and guide her in the intricacies of the grammar of Ragas. She was fortunate to have been able to spend an extended period in Mumbai and seek his guidance. Later, in the US she sought critique and guidance from Shri Madhav Bhatki, a learned exponent of the Gwalior Gharana and a gifted composer.
Usha has performed at prestigious venues in the US, including the LearnQuest Classical Music Conference at Boston, Indian Academy for the Performing Arts in New Jersey, Ravenia Music Festival in Chicago (one of the oldest music festivals in the US), The Lincoln Center, The United Nations, Kaye Playhouse, Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Moravian College of Music and William Patterson University to name a few. She was the featured artiste at the North American Konkani Convention at Toronto. Usha was invited to perform at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich and in Sydney, Australia.
Accomplished jazz singers like Katchie Cartwright and Rosanne Vitro have sought and learnt
vocal techniques from her. On occasion she has collaborated and performed with them at
notable venues that include the prestigious Birdland Jazz Club in New York City.
A true ‘Khayali’ at heart, Usha teaches music to dedicated youngsters in the true Guru-Shishya
tradition. The word ‘Khayali is of Arabic origin and means Fantastic, Imaginative and Romantic).
Music has been and continues to be the core of her spirituality.
Mohan Nadkarni Foundation is hosting the Auckland concert in association with Might-I.
When: 6pm, Saturday, 31 August 2019
Where: Grey Lynn Library Hall, 474 Great North Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland
The concert is free to attend.
However, please register on the Facebook events page for purposes of catering and seating arrangements.
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