Dr. Ram Deshpande

Born in 1968, Dr. Ram Deshpande had his initial training in vocal music from Chepe, Panake and Prabhakar Deshkar. He then took advanced training from noted vocalists Yeshwantbuwa Joshi and Ulhas Kashalkar. He has also undergone training under senior vocalist Babanrao Haldankar. Thus, Dr. Deshpande’s renditions are marked by influences of the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharana.

A gold medalist for his post graduation from the Nagpur University, Dr. Deshpande completed his doctoral thesis on Mishra Raags under the guidance of V.R. Athavle. He was a recipient of a scholarship instituted by the Government of India and the Kesarbai Kerkar scholarship awarded by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai. He was awarded the Best Vocalist Award in 1991 by the Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata. He has also received the Vidyasagar Award and the Aditya Birla Kalakiran Award in 2005.

An ‘A’ grade artiste of the Indian radio and television network, Dr. Deshpande has commercial recordings to his credit and has presented his recitals at several venues in India and abroad.