Profile

Anand Bhate is one of the most promising artistes of the great Kirana gharana tradition. He started his musical journey in the childhood and since then he has continued to present different exponents of Hindustani Classical Music. He has a privilege of being the disciple of the great classical vocalist, Bharat-Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.

Anand has given classical music performances all over India and abroad, which includes many prestigious music conferences like Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav, Tansen Samaroha, Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki Sangeet Samaroha, Saptak Music Festival, NCPA concerts, LearnQuest Music Conference (Boston) etc. He has given the playback in the film Balagandharva and has won The National Award for Best Playback Singer for the year 2011. He shows a remarkable versatility in being able to present a wide variety of music, right from the classical Khayal gayaki to the semi-classical exponents like Thumri, Natyageet and Bhajans/Abhagas. He has also contributed to the Marathi stage by performing the role of Shri Krishna in the musical play Sangeet Saubhadra. He has been felicitated by awards like Dr. Prabha Atre puraskar, Pt. Sangameshwar Gurav puraskar, Vidushee Manik Verma puraskar, etc.

Anand was a gifted child prodigy from a family that had a musical legacy originating from his great-grandfather, famously known as Bhatebua. Anand’s natural talent for music was apparent at a very young age, when he could play the harmonium without any tuition. With the guidance from his father and his guru Chandrashekhar Deshpande, Anand was soon able to sing natyasangeet in a style similar to Balgandharva himself and also started to give public performances.

He gave his first television performance in 1981, at the age of 10, and became a young star almost overnight. Connoisseurs were spellbound by Anand’s luminous rendering of Balgandharva’s gayaki and affectionately conferred on him the ‘title’ Anand Gandharva. In the ensuing few years Anand gave performances on All India Radio, T.V. and in public concerts in various cities. He was also invited to perform at the first Brihan Maharashtra Mandal convention in Chicago in 1984.

Meanwhile, Anand had also begun his systematic training in classical music with Pandit Yashwantrao Marathe, who initiated Anand into the intricacies of Khayal gayaki. He got many opportunities to perform, particularly at the residence of Hirabai Badodekar, another stalwart of the Kirana gharana. He invariably impressed his audience—which, on occasion, included stalwarts like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain, among others.

Anand became a disciple of the great Pandit Bhimsen Joshi in 1988, which was, indeed, a long-cherished dream coming true for Anand. Under Bhimsenji’s guidance, Anand has emerged as a notable Khayal-singer of the younger generation that has to carry forward the glorious tradition of Indian classical music in general and the Kirana gayaki in particular.

Alongside his career in music, Anand has also had a brilliant academic career. He figured in the merit list at both the SSC and HSC examinations and went on to do B.E. (Electronics) and M.Tech. (Computer Science) from the University of Pune. After working in the IT field with Zensar Technologies for 17 years, now he focuses full time on pursuing his passion, music.

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