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.