Bio

Ashish Sankrityayan is of Indian origin and lives in Bhopal, where he has been directing the Dhrupad Kendra since 2011, which is the state academy for dhrupad, all the while pursuing an international career.

He began learning sitar and singing in his childhood. During his tertiary studies, he discovered dhrupad and studied under the tutelage of several masters of the Dagar tradition, in particular Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar. After twenty years of training and personal research into the pure and subtle style of the Dagar school he became a master of this profound meditative vocal practice himself.

His great interest in, and his studies of, dhrupad’s theory and musicology, as well as his work on the archives of the elder Dagar brothers have lead him to teach in several universities as well as write articles. He has just finished editing a reference work on dhrupad that will be published in 2019, which opens up a deep understand of dhrupad’s tonal system and its foundational concepts.

In parallel to his life as a performer, Ashish Sankrityayan leads workshops where he shares his experience and deep knowledge of dhrupad. He has also just created a university course for dhrupad at his school.