The Tradition & Heritage of the Instructors
Gharana
Pt. P. Madhukar (Pt. Madhukar Pednekar) (February 27, 1916 - July 20, 1967)
Harmonium
The harmonium is one of the most commonly used instruments in Indian music today. It is used to accompany classical vocal music, semi-classical forms, ghazals, bhajans. It is also used by many musicians and composers as the instrument of choice for musical support while composing new tunes. Solo performances of Harmonium in Hindustani classical music, though less frequent a few decades ago are now becoming more prevalent and increasingly popular.
While many people like to play the harmonium, there is a dearth of good harmonium teachers and as such, most people who commonly play the harmonium tend to be either self-taught or have little exposure to correct and comprehensive playing technique on the harmonium.
The harmonium was invented in 1840s in Paris by Alexandre DeBain and was brought into India in the late 19th century. Some of the prominent and well known harmonium players of the 20th century include Pt. Govindrao Tembe, Pt. Bhaiyya Ganpatrao, Pt. Gyanprakash Ghosh, Pt. P. Madhukar, Pt. Bhishmadev Vedi etc. While there have been many harmonium players with different styles of playing the harmonium, the techniques and proficiency that was developed by Pt. P. Madhukar or Madhukar Pednekar has been truly unique. His command and prowess on the instrument was truly amazing. He was a true genius and there has been no other artist who has been able to play the harmonium with the same level of brilliance. (More at http://www.kedarnaphade.com/pmadhukar.html)
As such, the scientific system of harmonium playing invented by Pt. P. Madhukar and subsequently further refined and propogated by his student, the venerable maestro Pt. Tulsidas Borkar is probably the single most versatile system of harmonium performance in India today. Some of the best young performers of the instrument today - Sudhir Nayak, Kedar Naphade, Seema Shirodkar, Shriram Hasabnis etc. have learnt from this tradition.
The objective of the Pt. Tulsidas Borkar school of Harmonium is to make this system of correct harmonium performance easily accessible to anybody across the whole world through the ACE Open online university.
The Curriculum for this school is based on the work "Samvadini Sadhana" written by Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and will be taught primarily by Kedar Naphade, one of Pt. Borkar's senior students.
This school has adopted a unique model which combines the advantages of the Internet with the advantages of one-on-one learning. Basic instruction on harmonium playing technique, fingers to be used for different notes, basic exercises and the playing of different raags and songs will be delivered through high quality recorded video. However the assessment of every student will be one-on-one, enabling personal guidance.
Pt. Tulsidas Borkar
Pt. Tulsidas Borkar
(born: Nov 18, 1934)
Acclaimed as a performer par excellence, brilliant composer and revered Guru, Pandit Tulsidas Borkar is one of the most outstanding musicians of India. A leading name in the field of Harmonium playing. Tulsidasji had his initial lessons in Music from his mother Jaishreebai Borkar. Later, he started learning the Harmonium from Vishnupant Vashta and at the same time had the opportunity of being guided by Chhota Gandharva, the eminent vocalist, on the art of Harmonium accompaniment. However a major part of his training in Harmonium was between 1957 and 1967 under the guidance of the Harmonium maestro Pandit Madhukar Pendnekar, better known as P. Madhukar.
In his endeavor to acquire knowledge, he had the opportunity of receiving valuable guidance from some veteran vocalists like Pandit S.C.R.Bhatt, Pandit K.G.Ginde, Pandit Rajaram Shukla, Pandit Murli Manohar Shukla, Pandit Ram Marathe, and instrumentalists like Pandit Devendra Murdeshwar (Flute) and Pandit A.P.Pathak(Violin) from whom he got to learn the intricacies of the Khayal tradition of North Indian (Hindustani) Classical Music.
Pt. Tulsidas Borkar gained initial fame as an Organ player in Marathi theatrical music. He accompanied several leading actor-singers of Marathi theatre between the years 1950 and 1980. He also had the privilege of accompanying many stalwarts in the field of Hindustani Classical Music like Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Pandit Firoj Dastur, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Basavraj Rajguru, Pandit Y.B.Joshi, Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, Pandit Ram Marathe, Pandita Gangubai Hangal, Pandita Kishori Amonkar, Pandita Shobha Gurtu and Dr. Prabha Aatre to name a few.
Apart from being a reputed Harmonium accompanist, Tulsidas Borkar has also been acclaimed as a great soloist and has been commercially recoreded by many Record Labels all over the world. Tulsidasji has participated in most of the prestigious music festivals in the country and toured extensively for concerts in U.K., Europe, Indonesia, U.S.A, and Arabian Gulf countries.
As a music composer, he has composed music for theatrical productions like Sangeet Pandharpur, Bakul Phula and various other musical productions. The many disciples whom he has groomed as renowned performers and composers of today, proves his invaluable contribution as a Guru. Among his disciples are Sudhir Nayak, Seema Mestri-Shirodkar, Kedar Naphade, Shriram Hasabnis and Niranajan Lele - all gaining acclaim as excellent Harmonium players of the younger generation. Borkarji's noble mission of imparting his knowledge has led him to authoring a book on the art of playing the Harmonium titled "Samvadini Sadhana" which has been published in Hindi and Marathi. He has also been instrumental in designing a syllabus for Harmonium students which has been accepted and recognized by the Pune University (Lalit Kala Kendra) and University of Kolhapur (Shivaji Vidyapeeth).
He has also designed a new model modifying the physical structure of the Harmonium by raising the level of the Keyboard which was crafted and manufactured by Dashrath Bengude. He has extensively researched in learns of improving the tonal quality, tuning and other technical aspects of the Harmonium thereby giving different visual and sound dimensions to the instrument.
For his dedicated contribution in the field of Indian Music, he has been honoured with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academi Award, New Delhi (for the year 2005) at the hands of President of India Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. Other honours bestowed on him include:
Kedar Naphade
Kedar received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar. For over 15 years, he has been a leading disciple of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, arguably the most acclaimed harmonium player in India today.
Kedar has also had the privilege of training from Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him, the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form.
As such, like his guru, Kedar's music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional hindustani vocal art form.
In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.
Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center in Mumbai, The Lincoln Center in New York, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C etc. He has also been featured on NPR. He has shared the stage with luminaries such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Prabha Atre, Smt. Laxmi Shankar, Pt. Phiroz Dastur etc.
Kedar has been critically acclaimed as a rising star for both his solo performances as well as sensitive and complementary accompaniment of some of India's greatest vocalists.
Kedar continues to train from Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and maintains an active concert schedule in the U.S.
