Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande: Raga Bageshri and Jog

Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, in a career spanning over two decades, has established herself as one of the finest of the vocalists who sing in the style of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Ashwini (b. 1960) was born into a family where music was a part of formal education. Her training stepped into serious mode during her teens, when her mother, Manik Bhide, amongst the senior-most disciples of Kishori Amonkar, took charge of her grooming. Under her tutelage, Ashwini topped the All India Radio competition, the most comprehensive talent search of its kind, when she was 17. More recently, she has started training with Ratnakar Pai, a stalwart of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Over these years, even as she was evolving as a musician, and shaping an enviable career as a vocalist, she took her Sangeet Visharad (basic diploma) in Hindustani music, a graduate degree in Microbiology, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry.

Ashwini enjoys an abundant presence on the concert platform in India and has performed at many of the major music festivals and conferences, such as the Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan, the Dover Lane Music Conference, the Tansen Festival, and the ITCISRA Sangeet Sammelan. She has made numerous concert tours of the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan. Ashwini is a "Top Grade Artist of All India Radio and has made many recordings in India and abroad.