Hindustani classical musician Sawani Mudgal hopes to share her experiences with the youth

Born into a family of musicians, Mudgal was initiated into music at an early age at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi, started by her grandfather Padma Shri

Pt Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya, and currently headed by her father and guru, Padma Shri Madhup Mudgal. Sawani says, “I started rigorous training in music under my father, Madhup Mudgal, at the age of 12. I now regularly accompany him to concerts in India and abroad. I was part of a cross-cultural project, Samwaad, an undertaking spanning 18 months, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during which I cultivated an understanding of the Indian classical arts in local youth through numerous workshops and demonstrations.” She adds, “Parents should make efforts to initiate children into classical music. Schools should also make them experience our traditional art forms.”

Her taleem teaches dedication and devotion to music and that is what Sawani would like to share with her children. “If I ever have children or if I had children, I would have tried bringing them up exactly the way my parents have brought me up — to be a honest human being, to work hard and be disciplined in our work,” says she.

A gold medallist in music from Khairagarh University, Sawani adds, “Under the tutelage of Padma Shri Leela Samson, I began learning bharatanatyam at a young age. Later, I became a core member of my guru’s troupe, Spanda, and performed across East Asia, including Japan, China and India.”

As an artiste trained in numerous performing disciplines, Sawani has travelled with her story across the globe. Some of her notable international performances have been in Brazil, Russia, Pakistan, Morocco, Greece and the United States. In 2008, she travelled across Germany, Spain, Belgium and France with the presentation ‘Famille Mudgal’.

Sawani teaches classical vocal music at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and is the conductor of Gandharva Baal Vrinda (children’s choir). She also voluntarily practised music therapy at Sanjivani, an NGO for schizophrenics, for two years.

“My foremost goal is to creatively engage the youth by sharing my musical experience with them. I have travelled across both rural and urban areas in Rajasthan, conducting workshops for hundreds of students, through SPIC MACAY. I spent two years in training students at Step By Step School in Noida. I also led an immersion programme in classical, devotional and experimental music at Zakir Hussain College of Delhi,” says she.