Hrishikesh Gangurde is one of the most promising vocalists
of the younger generation in India today and he is steadily carving a niche for
himself as a “Gharaanedaar” vocalist and a knowledgeable mentor to students of
Indian classical music.
Born into a music-loving family in Pune, Hrishikesh was initiated into vocal music at the tender age of five by his father Shri Purushottam Gangurde. He later received training for an extensive period of eight years from Dr. Vikas Kashalkar and Pandit Yashwantbua Joshi and learned the intricacies of Gwalior Gharana and gayaki from both these senior gurus. Thereafter, Hrishikesh received the prestigious ITC Sangeet Research Academy scholarship and was placed under the tutelage of the stalwart of Gwalior-Jaipur-Agra Gharana, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar at the ITC SRA gurukul at Kolkata. He received intense training for a period of 6 years where he learned the powerful and pure gharana gayaki of Pt. Kashalkar. Hrishikesh continues to be under Pt. Kashalkar’s guidance even now. While at ITC SRA, he was also fortunate to learn the semi-classical forms like Thumri, Dadra, Hori, Kajri etc from the legend of Banaras Gharana, Vidushi Girija Devi.
At
present, he is working as an administrator and a senior Guru at the K.K. Kapoor
Sangeet Research Academy, Lucknow and is successfully mentoring music students.