Atul Desai
Atul Desai is one of the few eminent musicians of Gujarat.
He was trained in Hindustani vocal music by the late
Pt. Omkarnath Thakur. One cannot fail to recognise the
distinct stamp of his great guru in Atul Desai's singing.
Endowed with a melodious voice and a repertoire comprising
of Khayal, Thumri and Bhajans,his concerts are lively and
entertaining.
Atul Desai has given a number of performances in India and has
traveled widely in the U.S.A. and Europe. He is also an 'A' grade
artist of All India Radio from where his programs are broadcast
regularly. He has been honored with the Gujarat State Sangeet
Natak Academy Award for his contribution to classical music.
In addition to being a vocalist, Atul Desai is also a composer
of repute. His unique contribution of music for dance is a very
valuable extension to the field of contemporary dance choreography.
He has composed music for all of Kadamb's dance presentations,
numbering more than fifty, for the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New
Delhi, for some of the younger generation of dancers, for
prestigious and select programs in U.S.A., U.K., China and many
other countries and also for the Festivals of India in U.S.S.R.,
Sweden and Germany. He has composed music for children's
productions, TV films, Radio features and plays. His experiments
have been acclaimedas trend setters in this field.
Atul Desai studied electronic music with David Tudor, a well known
musician of U.S.A. He now has a large collection of electronic
music composed by himself. He received a scholarship grant from
the Govt. of India, Dept. of Culture, to do research in music
accompaniment for dance.
He is one of the directors for Kadamb, Center for dance and music,
Ahmadabad, an institution of national and international repute.
Hitherto music was only an accompaniment to dance, but at Kadamb,
Atul Desai has changed that concept by giving music an important
and enhancing role adding a new dimension to professional dance
productions.