Dr. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (born on October 7, 1960) is a Hindustani classical music vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana.
Early life and training:
Born in Mumbai into a family with strong musical traditions, Dr. Bhide-Deshpande started her early classical training under the guidance of Narayanrao Datar. She then completed her Sangeet Visharad from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Since then, Dr. Bhide-Deshpande has been under the tutelage of her mother Smt. Manik Bhide, who has been instilling in her the intricacies and traditions of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Dr. Bhide-Deshpande also received guidance from one of the stalwarts of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, Pt. Ratnakar Pai until his death in 2009.
Education:
Dr. Bhide-Deshpande holds a Masters degree in Microbiology and earned a doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Bombay.
Performing career:
It was not until she completed her doctorate, when Dr. Bhide-Deshpande even considered a professional career in music. Despite, Dr. Bhide-Deshpande was well received by musical connoisseurs since her late teens. Since the late 1980s, Dr. Bhide-Deshpande has been on concert tours to every continent and frequently performs at prestigious music conferences around the world, including the Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav in Pune, Maharashtra.
Musical style:
Because of her strong influences from the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharanas, Dr. Bhide-Deshpande, has created her own musical style that respects the vocal culture and presentation aesthetics of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. She holds a strong command over the three primary saptaks.
Composer:
Dr. Bhide-Deshpande has an intimate understanding of Bandish and bandish-composition and has created many of her own bandishes, which she has published in her book, Raag Rachananjali (2004). A sequel titled "Ragarachananjali 2", containing 98 more bandishes (compositions) was published in 2010.
Ashwini Bhide is not only a music scholar but is also blessed with a beautiful voice. I have personally known Ashwini since her early teens and it makes me so happy to see her blossom into such a wonderful Khayal singer. She has earned the reputation of being one of the top young artists of India... Having learnt many old compositions, she has been able to retain the spirit of the tradition through the dialects she has used as well as pay attention to the subject matter!
— Pt. Ravi Shankar
Students:
Ashwini Bhide is also a powerful teacher, as well as performer and has taught a handful of distinguished disciples like Saniya Kulkarni-Patankar, Revati Kamat, Shruti Ambekar, Saili Oak Kalyanpur, Shivani Haldipur, Dhanashree Ghaisas, and Poorvi Tonpay.
