25 Facts About Kishori Amonkar

Kishori Amonkar was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur gharana, or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style.

Kishori Amonkar was a performer of the classical genre khyal and the light classical genres thumri and bhajan.

Kishori Amonkar has stated in an interview that her mother was an exacting teacher, initially teaching her by singing phrases and making Amonkar repeat them.

Kishori Amonkar's tutors included Anwar Hussain Khan of Agra gharana, Sharadchandra Arolkar of Gwalior gharana, and Balkrishnabuwa Parwatkar.

Kishori Amonkar has credited Anjanibai, in particular, with teaching her the technique of meend, or gliding, between notes.

Kishori Amonkar has been both praised and criticised for pushing the boundaries of the Jaipur tradition.

Kishori Amonkar was a romanticist and her approach prioritised emotional expression over tradition, so she often departed from the Jaipur gharana's rhythmic, melodic, and structural traditions.

Kishori Amonkar has criticised the idea that schools, or gharanas, of music determine or constrain a singer's technique.

Kishori Amonkar has stated that while the Jaipur gharana's technique and methods form the base of her style, she performs several variations on it, including an adoption of alapchaari, or a relaxing of the link between the rhythm and note.

Kishori Amonkar has expressed her views on how musical education should be conducted, emphasising the importance of enabling students to move beyond repetitive techniques and learn the tools that allow them to improvise on their own.

Kishori Amonkar has said that she used this hiatus in her career to consider and develop her own style of singing, that transcended classical schools of music.

Kishori Amonkar has spoken about the treatment of women performers as classical musicians, noting that the experience of watching her mother perform informed her own approach to professionalism and fair treatment, particularly when it comes to ensuring that musicians are paid well for their performances.

Kishori Amonkar created many compositions for a number of ragas.

Kishori Amonkar was a popular speaker and travelled throughout India; she was best known for lectures on the role of rasa in music.

Kishori Amonkar sang for the soundtrack of the 1990 Hindi film Drishti.

Kishori Amonkar became interested in film music and sang playback for the 1964 movie Geet Gaya Patharon Ne and Drishti.

Kishori Amonkar decided to stay away from film music further because she found it compromising on the swaras over the lyrics, the essential element of any genre of music.

Kishori Amonkar was born in Bombay on 10 April 1932.

Kishori Amonkar's father died when she was 7 years old, leaving Amonkar and her two younger siblings to be raised primarily by their mother, the classical vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar.

Kishori Amonkar died on 3 April 2017 in her sleep, a week before her 85th birthday, at her residence in Mumbai.

Kishori Amonkar received several of India's national awards and civilian honours, including the Padma Bhushan, in 1987, and Padma Vibhushan in 2002.

Kishori Amonkar was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1985 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2009.

Kishori Amonkar was awarded the prestigious Dr T M A Pai Outstanding Konkani Award in 1991.

Kishori Amonkar was recognised by several of her contemporaries and fellow musicians for her skill and technique in classical music.

Kishori Amonkar is the subject of a documentary titled Bhinna Shadja, which was directed by Amol Palekar and Sandhya Gokhale.