Kishori Amonkar

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Kishori Amonkar (Marathi: किशोरी आमोणकर) (born April 10, 1931) is a noted Indian classical vocalist. She sings khyal in the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana style.

Early life and background

Kishori Amonkar was born in Mumbai to Mogubai Kurdikar, a renowned classical vocalist. She has a sister and a brother. An article on her mother by noted music critic Ramkrishna Bakre mentions that Kishori's father died when she was very young but does not mention the father's name. According to a book on Kishori Amonkar, written by Datta Marulkar, her father's name was Madhavdas Bhatia.

Singing career

Kishori Amonkar quickly imbibed the nuances of the difficult Jaipur-Atrauli gharana of music. She has developed her own style which emphasizes the emotional content of musical notes while maintaining the rigor of the Jaipur "gaayaki" (singing style). Music critic Vamanrao Deshpande, who was also her guru-bandhu, had hailed her as one of the greatest artists of 20th century. She has dabbled more in lighter forms of music than the earlier generations of Jaipur Gharana musicians.

She could not sing for almost 8 years during her career due to unknown health problems.

Disciples

Manik Bhide, Padma Talwalkar, Arun Dravid, Raghunandan Panshikar, Meera Panshikar, Nandini Bedekar, Vidya Bhagwat, Maya Upadhyaya, granddaughter Tejashree Amonkar, and violinist Milind Raikar are some of Kishori Amonkar's disciples.

Personal life

Amonkar was married to Ravi Amonkar, a school teacher. He died around 1992. She has two sons, neither of whom took to music.

She is an ardent devotee of Raghavendra Swami^[1].

Discography

• Divya (Divine) CD (2008)
• Prabhat CDs (2000)
• Sampradaya: Carrying Forward A Tradition CDs (2003)
• Malhar Malika
• Sangeet Sartaj
• Maestro's Choice
• Kishori Amonkar - Born to Sing
• Classical Encounters
• LP with Bageshri and Bhoop (approx. 1972)
• LP with Jaunpuri, Pat Bihag, Bhairavi Thumri (1967)
• Kishori Amonkar, Live in London (Navras, 1998)
• Mharo Pranam - Meera Bhajans (RPG, 1999)

Awards

Popularly known as “Gana Saraswati” (translation: the Saraswati of Singing), Kishori Amonkar has received the following awards:

• Padma Vibhushan (2002)
• Rashtrapati Award
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1985)
• Sangeet Samragni Award (Translation: Queen of Singing) (1997)
• Padma Bhushan (1987)
• filmfare award for the film "geet gaya patthrone"
• Sriram Pujari Pratishtan, Solapur (2009)
• Pu. La. Smriti Sanman (2009)

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kishori Amonkar

External links

• Allaboutjazz.com - Kishori Amonkar: A Beauty Personified
• ITRANS Song Book - Kishori Amonkar
• Kishori Amonkar at the Internet Movie Database

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