Biography
Pandit Avaneendra Sheolikar, conferred A-Top Status by All India Radio, was born in a family of musicians. Three generations of his family prior to his generation had dedicatedly practiced Indian classical music. His family and friends in Raipur, Chhattisgarh hosted several great maestros of Indian classical music and he remained surrounded by the enchanting melodies and intricate rhythms as he was a youngest audience to many baithaks and recitals during his musically rich upbringing in childhood. His father, Shri Sudhakar Rambhau Sheolikar, being a respected sitar player and author of a book on Indian Classical music, grandfather being a tabla and violin player Pt. Avaneendra developed an innate affinity for music from childhood. Pt. Avaneendra, an enchanting sitar virtuoso, is known for a disciplined development of ragas based on melodious and rhythmical style, evoking deep emotions by touching the soul as he holds a belief that there shall be no compromise on the raga being played. In his sitar recitals, Pt. Avaneendra makes elegant exposition of subtle nuances of ragas in the gayaki style, creative execution of layakari, and dexterous improvisation of intricate taans.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Throughout his illustrious career, Pt. Avaneendra has performed at prestigious music festivals and venues in India winning notable awards and accolades. He was awarded the prestigious talent search scholarship from the Ministry HRD Government of India, 1 st prize in most prestigious All India Radio Music Competition at the age of seventeen and half, was conferred with the title of Sur-mani by Sur Singar Samsad Mumbai in 1992, and Bhatkhande Lalit Kala Shikshan Sansthan Raipur gave him the title Sur-Ratna in 1994. Some of his notable recitals in India have been at Tansen Samaroh (Gwalior), Arambh Festival (Ustad Allauddin Khan Kala Academy, Bhopal), Yuva Sangeeta Sammelan (Solapur and Nagpur), Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan (Mumbai), Sankat Mochan Samaroh (Varanasi), National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai), Pt. Vasant Rao Deshpande Samaroh (Nagpur), Audha Festival, (Pune), Sangeet Research Academy (Kolkata) Kalidas Sangeet Samaroh (Nagpur), Prayag Sangeet Sammelan (Allahabad), and G-20 Summit (Nagpur) besides hundreds of other concerts throughout the country.
MAJOR RECITALS
Pandit Avaneendra Sheolikar has contributed immensely in spreading Indian classical music throughout India and the globe. He is a special invitee annual event of the Culture of the Spirit Festival at Italy where the budding artists from different European countries, Australia, and United States take invaluable tutelage from him in Indian Classical Music in general and Sitar in particular, apart from the audience from the entire world immersing in his performances. Pt. Avaneendra has also spread the vibes of Indian classical music on the strings of Sitar felt in Poland in Nueno Mundo Festival, International Bohema Jazz Festival, and International Cross Country Festival in 2009. The 18 th European Film Festival of Documentaries, Germany, the 65th and 66th Olinkan Festival, Mexico, and the International Jazz Festival, Spain have been other cultural events of international repute where Pt. Avaneendra took the Indian classical music. Apart from this, he has presented over a hundred Sitar Concerts in Europe, United States, and other countries.
International Festivals
Avaneendra also performed in Italy, Germany, Japan, Portugal, Russia, France, USA, Romania, Poland, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Mexico, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey.
Some of the notables are:
Culture of the Spirit Festival, Italy: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Nueno Mundo Festival, Poland, 2009.
International Bohema Jazz Festival, Poland, 2009.
18th European Film Festival of Documentaries, Germany, 2009.
International Cross Country Festival with Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt, Poland, 2009.
65th and 66th Olinkan Festival, Mexico, 2009, 2010.
International Jazz Festival, Spain, 2009.
Albums
His albums Arpan and Bhor introduced Pt. Avaneendra Sheolikar to the fraternity of Indian classical music. But his international album Indialucia (fusion with flamenco music), distinguished with a 1 st prize in Wirtualne Gesle’s as Best Album of the Year 2005 took his legacy to Europe and United States. Indialucia was awarded 2nd music critics’ prize at the New Tradition competition for the “Folk Phonogram of 2005 and received a nomination for Fryderyk 2006 as the best album of World Music in Poland. The music from the album was used as the soundtrack for the Hollywood movie “Boondock Saints II.” 4) Acatao (second album of the fusion project, Indialucia. Indialucia remains to be the popular series of live events in Europe.