Abhishek Borkar & Yashwant Vaishnav

Soulful Strings, Rhythmic Beats is a melodic concert featuring the silky tones of the string instrument, the sarod, and the mindful beats of the tabla.

Abhishek Borkar, a young and versatile musician, was drawn to the sound of the sarod from a very early age. Born into a musically rich environment, in Pune, he initially underwent training in vocal and tabla, at age 4, before anchoring himself on the sarod, under the tutelage of his father and Guru Pt. Shekhar Borkar, under the Maihar Senia Gharana.

Rigorous and intensive training followed. At the age of ten, he presented his first concert for which young Abhishek was lauded for his erudite performance by many connoisseurs of music. Many accolades and awards followed. He was awarded a National Talent scholarship instituted by the C.C.R.T (Government of India) at the age of 11. He released his first solo CD titled ‘Pratibha’ in 2008, at the age of 16. In 2015, he was a prize winner at the National Youth Festival held in Indore, as well as at Mysore, in 2016. He also went on to receive the Senior scholarship instituted by the Ministry of Culture, in 2016. He was conferred with the Ajay Bakshi Smruti Puraskar in 2018. He was awarded the Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar Yuva Puraskar in 2019. Recently he was awarded the Sangeet Pratibha National Award, Delhi in 2020.

Following the footsteps of his father, today, Abhishek’s renditions are characterized by a unique blend of the sarod, sitar, sarangi and vocal styles of Hindustani Music and has resulted in him creating a niche for himself at a very young age. His natural instinct for aesthetic music coupled with his incredible control over sur and laya have enthralled audiences in various parts of the world. Abhishek has featured in a number of music festivals such as The Pune Festival, Dharwad Music Festival Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre Festival , Bajaa Gaaja Pune, Ustad Abdul Karim Khansaheb Sangeet Mahotsav, Miraj, Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai, Peshkar Foundation, Simhastha Mahakumbh Kala Utsav, Ujjain, Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav, Kundgol , Gaansaraswati Mahotsav and has toured extensively in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Australia and the UK. Recently performed at the Darbar Festival in London in 2019. At the onset of the Lockdown in 2020, Abhishek founded Artists United, an initiative aimed at uniting artists and audiences and spread positivity in times of emotions, physical and financial crisis. Artists United featured more than 400 artists performing from the comfort of their homes to large audiences on Facebook.

The melody in Abhishek’s music exhibits the influence of his idols, Ustad Allauddin Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee and of course his father, Pt. Shekhar Borkar and the intricate layakari, the guidance of Pt. Shashi Bellare. Equally adept at playing the guitar coupled with his knowledge of western music and instrumentation has led Abhishek to teach and mentor a number of students in the field of music. Abhishek has completed his masters in Indian Music. In the coming decades, Abhishek aims to carry the beacon of Indian music and take the magnum opus of his father Pt. Shekhar Borkar – the creation of ‘Tarankaar Baaz’ and the ‘Sur-tarang’ to the world. In his words,‘the limitations of the sarod can be surpassed because music comes from the heart, and the heart never ceases to sing’.

Widely hailed as A tabla prodigy, Yashwant Vaishnav was born to Shri Rajendra Vaishnav and Smt Bhagawati Vaishnav in 1993. His initial training began with his father from where he went on to learn Shri Hemant Sachdev. To further his learning, he came under the tutelage of internationally acclaimed tabla artist Pandit Mukund Bhale.

He had the fortune to study under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar at the I.T.C. Sangeet Research academy, Kolkata. Atvpresent he is a disciple of legendary tabla maestro Pandit Yogesh Samsi. Yashwant’s tabla playing is marked with clarity and a crisp tonality which stays uncompromised at high octane speeds as well. his is creative approach to rhythmic distribution and progression is a treat to listen in his riveting solos. his approach to accompaniment on the other hand is subtle,supportive and supplementary.

Yashwant has performed with many stalwarts like Pt.Yogesh Samsi,Pt.Ajay Chakrawarty,Pt.Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt.Niladri Kumar, Pt.Shounak Abhisheki etc. Yashwant takes a keen interest in collaborating with different forms of music and is influenced by different genres and assimilates all of this in his playing. Yashwant has performed in many prestigious Music Conferences like Tansen Mahotsav, Gwalior,I.T.C.Sangeet Samaroh,Kolkata, Pracheen Kala Kendra,Chandigarh, Kalidas Mahotsav,Ujjain, Pt.Motiram Sangeet Mahotsav,Hyderabad, Pancham Nishad,Mumbai Shadja, USA, Young Maestro Festival,USA and UK.