The Performers
The two principal figures in this section, Vidyadhar Vyas and Sandip Bhattacharya, are highly distinguished artists who trace their musical lineage to famous gharānās. This musical heritage illustrates the strength of the oral tradition that is transmitted from teacher to disciple over many generations.
Vidyadhar Vyas
The singer Vidyadhar Vyas-a disciple of the Gwalior gharānā of khyāl-is the head of the Department of Music at the University of Mumbai. He has been a guest lecturer at several US universities, including Wesleyan, Northern Illinois, San Diego State, and Colgate.
Narayanrao Vyas
In Europe, he has participated in the Hindustani vocal music program at the Rotterdam Conservatory and was one of the guiding lights behind their Raga Guide project (from which the recording of the Vidyadhar Vyas listening example is taken). His father and teacher, Narayanrao Vyas (pictured on the right), was one of the most popular singers of this gharānā in the early 20th century, with many 78 rpm recordings to his credit. Narayanrao's father, the grandfather of Vidyadhar Vyas, was a temple singer from Maharashtra.
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
Narayanrao's principal teacher was Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, one of the leading performers and music educators of the early 20th century. (The Gwalior gharānā is so called because its founding members, the brothers Haddu and Hassu Khan, were court musicians to the Maharaja of Gwalior in the 19th century.)
Sandip Bhattacharya (tablā) (pictured on the right) was born in Benaras and studied tablā with a representative of the famous Benaras gharānā of tablā, Paṇḍit Ishwarlal Misra.
Sandip Bhattacharya
In turn, Ishwarlal Misra was the disciple of another famous tablā player of Benaras, Paṇḍit Anokhelal Misra-and so on, for five generations back to the founder of the gharānā, Ram Sahai. Sandip has accompanied many famous musicians, including flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia and sarodist Buddhadev Dasgupta.
