Meenal
Deshpande
Early Life
Meenal Deshpande was introduced to music at a young age and she demonstrated a natural aptitude for the same. She began her initial training with (Late) Shri. Vithalrao Ghate and completed her Sangeet Visharad in his guidance. This marked her beginning in classical music.
Meenal started her musical career with light music. She secured several prizes in inter-collegiate, state and national level competitions in multiple categories of Natya Sangeet, Sugam Sangeet and Light Classical Music. She performed with prestigious cultural organizations like Swaranand and came to limelight as an emerging talent in the world of music. She even rendered special performances for All India Radio, Pune.
Musical Career
Meenal was pursuing M.A. in vocal music at S.N.D.T university, Pune when she decided to shift completely to classical music from a well established career in light music. During her M.A. days, she got introduced to the Gayaki style in greater depth under the guidance of Vidushi Veena Sahastrabuddhe who was then a faculty member at S.N.D.T.
After M.A., Meenal started giving solo classical performances and rose to fame as a Hindustani classical performer. Later she received guidance from Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar and that has made a permanent mark on her style of performance and her way of thinking. There she was introduced to the Jaipur style of Gayaki and also to Rasa, Bhava of swaras, all of which she holds close to her heart even today.
At this time, Meenal deliberated a lot on the training from all her Gurus and gradually developed her own distinct Gayaki style. Till recently, she was training under the tutelage of (Late) Shri Ratnakar Pai, a revered Guru of Jaipur Atrauli style, who has also trained other doyens of the Gharana like Shri. Milind Malshe, Vidushi Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, etc. Meenal got to learn new dimensions and nuances of the Gharana from Shri. Pai and also a treasure of traditional and authentic Bandish's of the Gharana.
Meenal has always been a creative composer as well and has composed several Bandish's in different Ragas. Recently she also composed the entire music score of an Odissi dance ballet by Smitalay, based on the theme of Ashtanayika.
Awards & Fellowships
- Recipient of the National Scholarship in Hindustani Classical Music, awarded by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India (1989-91)
.- Recipient of Fellowship in Music, from HRD Ministry, Govt. of India (1999-2001) for the Research Project:
A Comparative Analysis of the Gwalior and Jaipur Vocal Traditions.
Teaching & Mentoring:
Meenal has a tremendous passion for teaching of music and she has made her mark as a popular and dedicated Guru. She truly believes in propagating our rich tradition of music and imparts her training in the same spirit. She has nurtured young talent from their early age and some of those students have already established themselves in the world of music. Currently, she is a Faculty with the Department of Music, Mumbai University.
She has also conducted several Lec-Dems and workshops on many aspects of music such as Thumri-Dadra, Gharanas in Music, Applied Aesthetics in Music, etc. She has also presented research papers in academic conferences on music. She is frequently invited to judge many prestigious music competitions.