Meeta Pandit

A leading Hindustani classical vocalist, Meeta Pandit belongs to the Gwalior Gharana; is the sixth in an unbroken lineage, and the first woman in the family to take up music professionally. She is the granddaughter and disciple of Padma Bhushan Pt Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, the 20th century doyen of North Indian classical music, and daughter of Pt Laxman Krishnarao Pandit. A top grade artist of All India Radio FM, her rendering of various forms, sufi, thumri, devotional, and light genres, is equally soulful. Pandit has performed all over the world, in over 25 countries, most notably at the SAARC Music Festival in Islamabad, Mugham Festival in Azerbaijan, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, World Music Institute in New York, Tasmanian International Arts Festival, and Vienna International Centre (UN Centre) in Austria. Some of her memorable performances in India include those at Sawai Gandharva Festival, Pt Deenananth Mangeshkar Festival, NCPA, Thane Festival, Tansen Festival, Bhakti Sangeet, Jaipur Literature Festival, and Jahan- e-Khusro, to name a few. Pandit has been part of several international collaborations including Strauss Reflected at Cadogan Hall, London, and part of a 3-month artist residency in Paris in 2003, on invitation by the Government of France, to work with a number of French artists. She has given her voice for two internationally acclaimed films – Silent Waters and No Man’s Land. A Consultant at IGNCA, New Delhi (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts), she has also been actively coaching and teaching budding classical singers from India and abroad. She had authored the book ‘India’s Heritage of Gharana Music: Pandits of Gwalior’, and presented a popular music appreciation series called Swar Shringar on World Space Satellite Radio. In 2005, the Public Service Broadcasting Trust and Prasar Bharati made a film about Pandit, titled ‘Meeta – Linking a Tradition with Today’. Pandit has a PHD in Music, and is the winner of several awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award, FICCI Award for the field of Music, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Award for Art & Culture, Birju Maharaj Parampara Award, and SaMaPa Yuva Ratna, to name a few.