Kumud Jha Diwan, a semi - classical vocalist, is an established and acclaimed exponent of Thumri. She has given solo concerts at prestigious venues countrywide and abroad, and is regarded as the most prominent and consummate performer of the Thumri genre as a younger generation Thumri artist of India. Kumud has received the prestigious 'Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award' 2010 for outstanding excellence in Hindustani Classical Music. Her voice has the rare timbre reminiscent of the late Siddheshwari Devi and Rasoolan Bai of Banaras and her charming persona makes her a delightful performer. She also has a PhD in Business Studies.
Kumud's passion for Hindustani Classical music has committed her to studying its techniques and nuances. She has a 'Sangeet Prabhakar' from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad in vocal music. She is a graded artist of All India Radio and an empanelled artist of ICCR. She has been trained by Smt. Anima DasGupta, and also had the opportunity to learn from Smt Shanti Hiranand, a disciple of Begum Akhtar. She has trained in the Banaras Gharana Thumri gayaki with Pandit Bhola Nath Mishra and excels in the Poorab-Ang semi-classical genre of music, namely Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti, Kajri etc.
As a result of her tutelage under the above Gurus, she has a singular appeal to the audience with her repertoire of Banaras Thumris as well as of the Lucknow Thumris of the Begam Akhtar tradition. Kumud has a gifted voice quality that lends itself to all forms of classical music. Given the advantage of her Darbhanga (Bihar) origins, Kumud sings with equal ease in Bhojpuri, Braj Bhasha and Awadhi, dialects spoken in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in which most lyrics of Thumri have been written.
Kumud combines excellence from the world of academia and the realm of music, and is an artist to watch out for. Her communication skills are evident when she does a lecture cum demonstration of the Poorab-Ang Gayaki. She has conducted several Lecture/Demo sessions at some prestigious colleges of the Delhi University and Universities in Punjab. She is a Judge with the Association of Indian Universities (A.I.U) and has been visiting Universities countrywide to facilitate the activities of the A.I.U. She received the 'Sangeet Natak Akademy' research grant for the year 2008 and is working on a project of reviving rare thumris. She has recently been selected for a senior fellowship by the Ministry of Culture for researching the comparative styles and regional influences in 'Semi-Classical' music. These distinctions reinforce her commitment as a performer and a scholar of music, and are an endorsement of her immense talent. Her concerts have been received rave reviews from the media and she is among the most sought after young thumri performers today.Kumud is the only researcher and performer of the Gaya style of Thumri of Bihar now a lost tradition. She has worked on a research project for revival of this style of music with Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi. This was for the preservation of rare Thumris and Tappas of Gaya and Chapra in Bihar.
These distinctions reinforce her commitment as a performer and a scholar of music, and are an endorsement of her immense talent. Her concerts have received rave reviews from the media and she is among the most sought after Thumri performers today.
She was a senior fellowship holder of the Ministry of Culture and has worked on a comparative analysis of Thumri types in each region and influences on its presentation.
Kumud has performed in USA, Caribbean, Latin America sponsored by the ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations). She has performed at the Nehru Centre London and the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan London to pay a tribute to Ustad Allah Rakha and performed for the inauguration of the India gallery in the National Museum of Houston, USA. She has performed in March 2012 in Sri Lanka in a series of concerts in the SARC Concerts.