Kishori Amonkar

Amonkar's initial training in music was by her mother, the classical vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar.{{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/the-loneliness-of-kishori-amonkar/|title=The loneliness of Kishori Amonkar|date=11 December 2016|work=The Indian Express|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en-US}} She has stated in an interview that her mother was an exacting teacher, initially teaching her by singing phrases and making Amonkar repeat them. In the early stages of her career, she travelled with her mother to performances, accompanying her on the tanpura while Kurdikar sang.

In the early 1940s, young Amonkar began to receive vocal lessons in Hindustani classical music from Anjanibai Malpekar of the Bhendibazaar gharana and later received training from tutors of several other gharanas.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|pp=125–26, 131}} Her tutors included Anwar Hussain Khan of Agra gharana, Sharadchandra Arolkar of Gwalior gharana, and Balkrishnabuwa Parwatkar. Amonkar has credited Anjanibai, in particular, with teaching her the technique of meend, or gliding, between notes.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|pp=125–26, 131}}

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| quote = "There is nothing called a gharana. There is only music. It has been bound in these gharanas and that is like dividing music into specific castes. One should not teach the students the limits of this art. There are none. But one has to understand the grammar. Which is why, one is taught the alankaar, the ragas."
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Amonkar's later work in light music reformed her classical singing and she modified her Jaipur gharana performance style by applying features from other gharanas.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|pp=127–29}} She has been both praised and criticised for pushing the boundaries of the Jaipur tradition. She was a romanticist and her approach prioritised emotional expression over tradition, so she often departed from the Jaipur gharana's rhythmic, melodic, and structural traditions. Amonkar has criticised the idea that schools, or gharanas, of music determine or constrain a singer's technique. Amonkar has stated that while the Jaipur gharana's technique and methods form the base of her style, she performs several variations on it, including an adoption of alapchaari, or a relaxing of the link between the rhythm and note.{{Cite book|title=Between Two Tanpuras|last=Deśapāṇḍe|first=Vāmana Harī|date=1 January 1989|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=9780861322268|pages=129|language=en}}

Amonkar has expressed her views on how musical education should be conducted, emphasising the importance of enabling students to move beyond repetitive techniques and learn the tools that allow them to improvise on their own. She credits her mother with using this approach to teach her, noting, "You have to walk and run on your own. The guru gives you strength to be able to do that. If you don't, then you remain ordinary. My mother made sure I wasn't ordinary." She noted that training is an ongoing process, and stated in an interview that she often listened to her own recorded performances to analyse and improve her technique.

Amonkar emphasised emotion and spirituality as essential parts of her singing, stating that "To me it (music) is a dialogue with the divine, this intense focused communication with the ultimate other." She has often spoken of music as an act of sublimation, noting that it is the sadhana (medium) to attain the sadhya (destination).{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/Destination-love/article15795501.ece|title=Destination love|last=DASGUPTA|first=AMRIT|work=The Hindu|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en}}

In 2010, she published a book in Marathi titled Swaraartha Ramani in which she elaborated her views on musical theory and practice.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/The-light-of-sound/article16044612.ece|title=The light of sound|work=The Hindu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113012647/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/The-light-of-sound/article16044612.ece|archive-date=13 November 2020|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en}}

Amonkar's career as a classical vocalist grew in the 1960s and 70s. Prior to this, she briefly stopped performing because of an illness that affected her ability to sing. Amonkar has said that she used this hiatus in her career to consider and develop her own style of singing, that transcended classical schools (gharanas) of music.

Amonkar has also spoken about the treatment of women performers as classical musicians, noting that the experience of watching her mother perform informed her own approach to professionalism and fair treatment, particularly when it comes to ensuring that musicians are paid well for their performances. On one notable occasion, she refused to perform because the audience was badly behaved, emphasising the importance of respecting the performers during a concert.

She created many compositions for a number of ragas.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|pp=134–35}}{{cite news|last=Suhasini|first=Lalitha|title=She has to learn very fast|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=13 May 2005|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=128956|access-date=28 March 2010}}{{dead link|date=February 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Amonkar was also a popular speaker and travelled throughout India; she was best known for lectures on the role of rasa (feelings or emotions) in music.

In addition to her career as a classical vocalist, Amonkar was known for her performances of lighter classical pieces, with a wide repertoire of thumris and bhajans, as well as some performances for film soundtracks.{{Cite news|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/entertainment/who-is-kishori-amonkar-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-great-clssical-vocalist/613742/|title=Who is Kishori Amonkar? All you need to know about the great classical vocalist|date=4 April 2017|work=The Financial Express|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en-US}} She sang for the soundtrack of the 1990 Hindi film Drishti. She became interested in film music and sang playback for the 1964 movie Geet Gaya Patharon Ne and Drishti . She decided to stay away from film music further because she found it compromising on the swaras over the lyrics, the essential element of any genre of music. Also her mother Mogubai Kurdikar disapproved of working in film music; Kurdikar is reported to have told Amonkar that she would be forbidden from touching her mother's tanpura if she would continue to work in the film industry.

Kishori Amonkar was born in Bombay on 10 April 1932. Her father died when she was 7 years old, leaving Amonkar and her two younger siblings to be raised primarily by their mother, the classical vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar.

Kishori was married to Ravindra Amonkar, a school teacher. The couple had two sons, Bibhas and Nihar.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|p=141}} She was sometimes also described as "temperamental". Responding to these comments, Amonkar has stated that this reputation perhaps derives from her insistence that performers be treated respectfully, and to the fact that she chooses to spend time before her concerts in solitude and preparation instead of socialising with fellow musicians. Amonkar has stated, "I never play to the gallery. The audience cannot disturb the loneliness of an artiste." Amonkar did not enjoy giving press interviews.

Amonkar lived in the neighbourhood of Prabhadevi, in Mumbai.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|p=138}} She died on 3 April 2017 in her sleep, at age 84, at her residence in Mumbai.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thegenxtimes.com/showbiz/classical-music-maestro-kishori-amonkar-dies-at-84/|title=Classical music maestro Kishori Amonkar dies at 84|date=4 April 2017|work=The GenX Times|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616123312/http://www.thegenxtimes.com/showbiz/classical-music-maestro-kishori-amonkar-dies-at-84/|url-status=dead}} That day, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, issued a statement on Twitter mourning her loss, writing: "Demise of Kishori Amonkar is an irreparable loss to Indian classical music. Deeply pained by her demise. May her soul rest in peace."{{Cite news |date=4 April 2017 |title=Kishori Amonkar cremated with full state honours; PM mourns loss |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/kishori-amonkar-cremated-with-full-state-honours-pm-mourns-loss/articleshow/58012932.cms |access-date=15 July 2023 |issn=0971-8257}}

Amonkar received several of India's national awards and civilian honours, including the Padma Bhushan, in 1987, and Padma Vibhushan in 2002.{{cite web|title=Padma Awards|publisher=Ministry of Communications and Information Technology|url=http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php?start=0&award_year=&state=&field=3&p_name=Amonkar&award=All|access-date=28 March 2010}} She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1985 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2009.{{cite web|title=SNA: List of Akademi Awardees: Music [Vocal] |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi |url=http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm |access-date=28 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331060603/http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm |archive-date=31 March 2016 }}{{cite web|title=SNA: List of Akademi Fellows |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi |url=http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm#2009 |access-date=28 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206222925/http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm |archive-date= 6 December 2014 }} She was awarded the prestigious Dr. T. M. A. Pai Outstanding Konkani Award in 1991. In 2016, she was one of seven recipients of the M.S. Subbulakshmi Award for classical music.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/7-women-get-M.S.-Subbulakshmi-Awards/article14636767.ece|title=7 women get M.S. Subbulakshmi Awards|work=The Hindu|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en|date=14 September 2016}}

Amonkar was recognised by several of her contemporaries and fellow musicians for her skill and technique in classical music. The tabla musician, Zakir Hussain, has said that Amonkar's performances of several ragas, such as Raga Bhoop, are "... landmark performances that take place over hundreds of years and you will talk about them for the rest of your life and rest of the many centuries to come." The Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna praised her approach to classical music, saying, "When Kishoriji sings she is not trying to be new but just by being with her music and continuing to submit to it, she has given classical music an everlasting newness and freshness. This is true creativity."{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/A-melody-called-Kishori/article14936977.ece|title=A melody called Kishori|last=Gokhale|first=Sandhya|work=The Hindu|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en|date=5 March 2011}}

Amonkar is the subject of a documentary titled Bhinna Shadja, which was directed by Amol Palekar and Sandhya Gokhale. Several of Amonkar's students have become classical musicians of their own repute, including Manik Bhide, Maya Upadhye, Raghunandan Panshikar, Nandini Panshikar-Bedekar,{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/of-pedigree-and-a-disciple/article3839795.ece|title=Of pedigree and a disciple|last=Kumar|first=Kuldeep|work=The Hindu|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en|date=30 August 2012}} Suhasini Mulgaonkar, Malati Kamat, Arun Dravid, Mira Panshikar, Sulabhatai Pishawikar, Meena Joshi, Vidya Bhagwat, Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, Devaki Pandit, Sangeeta Katti, Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar, Papri Chakrabarti and violinist Milind Raikar.{{sfn|Deshpande|1989|pp=125–26}}{{cite news |last1=Kusnur |first1=Narendra |title=Remembering Kishoritai |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/remembering-kishoritai/article23434643.ece |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=The Hindu |date=4 April 2018 |language=en-IN}} Amonkar's granddaughter, Tejashree Bibhas Amonkar, is also a budding classical musician and was trained by Amonkar.{{Cite news|url=http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/others/leisure/Finding-her-voice/articleshow/31058118.cms|title=Finding her voice|date=2 February 2014|work=Pune Mirror|access-date=4 April 2017}}

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• {{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EkDt0Gboe8C |title= Between Two Tanpuras |last=Deshpande |first=Vamana Hari |author-link =Vamanrao Deshpande |publisher = Popular Prakashan |year= 1989 |isbn= 0861322266}}

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{{Padma Bhushan Award Recipients 1980–1989}}

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Category:1932 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:20th-century Indian women classical singers

Category:Hindustani singers

Category:Indian women playback singers

Category:Singers from Mumbai

Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts

Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts

Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

Category:Swarmandal players

Category:Elphinstone College alumni

Category:Women musicians from Maharashtra

Category:Jaipur gharana

Category:20th-century Khyal singers