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ShareViolinist Milind Raikar is on a journey to spread his music through Europe, says Amarendra Dhaneshwar
MilindRaikar, theyoung Hindustani classical violinist, is afamiliar face thanks to his frequent appearances in the role of melodic accompanist to singers like Kishori Amonkar, Anup Jalota and Neela Bhagwat.
The young musician has imbibed the delicacy of tone for which his mentor DK Datar is famous. There is a distinctive resemblance to the vocal styles in vogue in his playing.
Raikar hails from Goa, the region that has produced some gems of classical music like Kesarbai Kerkar, Moghubai Kurdikar and Dinanath Mangeshkar. The Raikar touch is as soft as his sound production is sophisticated. For his versatility and innovative playing, he was roped in by Remo Fernades to be part of with his band. "I played for him for over three years. I went to places like South Africa, Muscat and Dubai. It was exciting to be a part of this energetic group. However, deep inside I had a craving for classical music, which compelled me to part company with the band andembark on my own musical journey." says Raikar.
He may have come up the hard way and taken a fewdetours on his journey, but Raikar has now established an academy to train students in the art of violin playing.
He trained with Datar for several years, gradually perfecting the technique of producing the long and well-shaped tonal curves that both he and his guru are so well known for.
Apart from being accompanist to some musical greats, Raikar has also been performing solo. For his work, he was recently awarded the prestigious Civitella Ranieri Foundations Fellowship for this year by the Italian institution based in Italy. He is the first Indian musician to be so honoured.
But during his two and a half month stay in Umbertide, Raikar has more than enough work to do. He will hold workshops on Hindustani classicalmusic and give performances by way of demonstration of tone andtechnique. And, he says with some enthusiasm, "The Tonus Music Company from Switzerland has invited me to record my violin and perform. I will also be conducting a music workshop on violin forstudents in Switzerland."
