Tabla artist Vivek Bivalkar

Vivek Bivalkar – A life of rhythm.

Vivek Bivalkar showed his prodigious talent at the age of four, when he started playing rhythm on table tops and doors. Recognizing this young talent, his father Vidyadhar, an accomplished actor himself, bought him a small Dholak and trained him under the expert guidance of Shri Sohani. Later, young Vivek had the honor of training under illustrious gurus like Shri Rajbihari Chakravatri and Shri Pandit Arvind Gajendragadkar. He has been sharpening his skills of Rhythm instruments for the past 35 years.

Shri Vivek has played Tabla in a number of concerts with artists such as Uttara Kelkar, Ravindra Sathe, Padmaja Phenani Joglekar, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Bhupendra Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer and many more. He has showcased his art at various venues in India as part of orchestra groups in a number of languages including Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali. His prominent contribution to music includes providing Tabla saath for “Sangeet Purnaavatar”, a musical directed by Shri Vijay Kenkre and music composed by Shri Rahul Ranade. Shri Vivek also serves the world of music by organizing music groups. In the past, he has founded and promoted groups like Natesh Vadya Vrinda, Bollywood Melodies, Sur Saurabha, Geet Sugandha and Anunadam. Currently, he runs a popular music program “Swara Omkar”. Swara Omkar has already done a number of shows in and around Mumbai. Shri Vivek belongs to a long tradition of art in his family. His family includes well known vocalists, musicians and actors. His son Swapnil is already showing the musical talent that comes as his family heirloom and plays rhythm instruments. Shri Vivek is finely supported in his musical career by his wife Smita, who being music lover herself can share the joy of achievements of his endeavors.

“Mine has been a life full of rhythm”, says Shri Bivalkar. “By God’s Grace, I am looking forward many long years of devotion to music”, he adds.