Sawani Shende

Sawani was born on 18th August 1979 in a musically rich family. Sawani has been very fortunate to have her father and grandmother as her Gurus too. Sawani’s grandmother, Smt.Kusum Shende , herself a noted singer of the Kirana Gharana and an honoured artist of the Sangeet Natak Era acquired Hindustani Classical music lessons from the two great sister maestros of the Kirana Gharana, Smt.Hirabai Badodekarji and Smt.Saraswatibai Raneji. She also got to learn many Ragas and compositions from Pandit Chota Gandharvaji. She was also a disciple of Smt.Shobha Gurtuji who introduced her to a whole new world of semi classical music and taught her innumerable Thumris and Dadras.Sawani’s father, Pandit Sanjeev Shende, who learnt classical music from his mother, also had the privilege later to receive semi classical guidance from Smt. Shobha Gurtuji and Pandit Ajay Pohankar. Thus Sawani was amidst rich musical notes, right from her childhood.Sawani used to happily sit for hours together listening to her grandmother teaching many disciples.She grasped the musical combinations with ease, even though they were not directly taught to her.Sawani’s parents and her grandmother noticed Sawani’s interest in music and decided to start teaching her. Thus at the tender age of six, Sawani’s musical journey began with long hours of daily ‘Riyaz’ under the expertise of her grandmother and father.Sawani was God gifted with an intense‘Sur’ and ‘Taal’sense. She grasped the detailed nuances of Raga grammar with ease.Sawani’s music is a beautiful soul searching journey where she mesmerizes audiences with pure yet aesthetical rendering of the Raga. Sawani’s confidence and mastery in Khayals, her crystal clear diction and overall sensitivity in presentation takes every performance to a very high aesthetic level.She unfolds the Raga in a highly intellectual manner with spontaneous combinations which give the listeners a different happiness each time they hear her sing.Her rendition of semi-classical genres highlights the emotive and expressive quality of Indian classical music and adds a very important dimension to her performance leaving audiences spellbound. That’s the reason why Sawani’s mehfils are highly acclaimed by both the experts and the general audiences of music.