Room 314, Patrick French Black Box
School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
The lyrics of traditional compositions in North Indian Raga Music revolve around themes which are often unrelatable for today’s listeners. Representing a new generation of Hindustani Classical vocalists, Radhika strongly believes that art must reflect contemporary conversations and has been working on incorporating contemporary ideas into the realm of raga music without compromising the aesthetics of the genre. Through a combination of traditional and self-composed bandish-s, this presentation encourages the listener to think about how current themes can be expressed through classical music. The ideas explored in this presentation range from environmental issues like deforestation and conservation to social equality and gender identity.
Radhika Joshi is an accomplished artist in the field of Hindustani classical music, hailing from the prestigious Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. Under the guidance of Pt. Raghunandan Panshikar--a disciple of the legendary Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar--she has diligently honed her vocal prowess. In recent years, she has graced numerous prestigious music festivals both in India and abroad. Radhika is not only a performer but also a passionate educator and advocate for preserving the rich tradition of Hindustani music. She is the visionary founder of Jaipur Gunijankhana, an archive in Pune dedicated to the documentation and preservation of Hindustani music, with a particular focus on the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. She has conducted lecture demonstrations on Indian classical music in universities and museums in the US and also shared her expertise as a vocal music instructor at MIT and Harvard University, Boston. Her commitment to introducing the basics of Indian classical music to children resulted in her authorship of the book “Phulwari Geeton Ki,” now adopted as a music curriculum in several Pune schools.
