Ghatam Giridhar Udupa

Ghatam Giridhar Udupa is one of the leading musicians in the world of rhythm. Thumping into the musical world at an age as tender as 4, Udupa has been mesmerizing the audience with his immaculate style and innate creativity.

Born into a family of music and literature, rhythm flows in his blood. After initial tutelage under his father and well-known Mridangist Ullur Nagendra Udupa, he is currently a disciple of Vidushi Sukanya Ramgopal and Vidwan V.Suresh.

Udupa, a commerce graduate, has treaded the path of music with a heart of an artist and the will of an innovator. His persistence for perfection has taken him to the league of the nation’s most sought after percussionists.

Udupa performs on the Ghatam, the Indian claypot. He also performs on varied South Indian percussion instruments including Mridangam, Khanjira and Morsing. He renders Konnakol (syllables) with equal aplomb.

He has accompanied eminent musicians including Sarvashree Dr.L.Subramaniam, M.S.Gopalkrishna, R.K.Srikantan, Palghat Raghu, Ganesh and Kumaresh, Mysore Nagaraj & Manjunath, Mandolin Srinivas, Dr.N.Ramani, K.J.Yesudas, T.V.Gopalkrishna, T.V.Shankaranarayana, Madhurai T.N.Seshagopalan, Trichur V.Ramachandran, Hyderabad Brothers, O.S.Thyagarajan, T.M.Krishna, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Unnikrishnan, Sanjay Subramanyam, Vijay Siva, Shashank, Kadri Gopalnath, Veenai Jayanthi Kumaresh, R.K.Suryanarayana, Bombay Sisters, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Sudha Raghunathan, Sowmya, M.S.Sheela, Aruna Sayeeram, Ranjinii & Gayatri.

Apart from playing authentic Carnatic Music, he has performed in many Fusion, Jazz, Blues, Flamenco, Celtic Music, Symphony Orchestra, World music and Jugalbandhi concerts and has been part of numerous International Music Festivals with renowned Indian Musicians like Dr.L.Subramaniam, Pandit Jasraj, Ganesh Kumaresh, Anindo Chatterjee, Sivamani, Amit Heri, Keith Peters and Kavitha Krishnamurthy and Western Musicians like John Neptune, Lewis Pragasam, Virginia Mayhew, Alex Rostotsky, and others. He has also worked with many leading music directors.

Udupa is a founder Member of "Layatharanga", a team of Indian classical musicians who have embarked on creating new waves of music blending different forms of classical, folk and world music. To take his music to the global audience, he has teamed up with Fabrice de Graef and Alain Genty to become part of the global band - 'Nasha' that offers Celtic music fused rhythmically with Indian Percussions. Being the core percussionist for the band, Udupa adorns Celtic music with rich Indian rhythmic patterns. He is also a member of Poland based Flamenco Band "Indialucia" featuring Miguel Czachowski, Jan Kubek and Adam Glosnicki.He has performed live on the Berlin radio and recorded CDs for a leading German audio recording company Autogram.

Udupa is the first Indian percussionist to perform at the prestigious Krakow International Percussion Festival in 2005. On a special invitation by the organizers, he also conducted a workshop on South Indian percussions and introduced the concept and practice of Indian rhythm to a global audience.

Udupa has given concerts under the auspices of prestigious Sabhas all over India and abroad, including USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, France, Poland, Luxembourg, Re Union Island, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Dubai, Muscat and Kuwait.

Concert Tours:

Concert Tour of Spain: Feb 2004
With Violin Maestro Dr.L.Subramaniam at El Violin Global festival, La Coruna.

Concert Tour of USA and CANADA: April – June 2003
With renowned Violinists Ganesh & Kumaresh and with Veenai Jayanthi Kumaresh at Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Atlanta, Chicago, New Jersey, Portland, Seattle, Cleveland, Toronto, Columbus, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Detroit and other cities.

Concert Tour of FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SWITZERLAND:
June 2004
Teamed with the global band – Nasha, as core percussionist.
Adorned with rich Indian percussions, Nasha (Fabrice de graef on flute, Alain Genty on Bass) presented Celtic music around Europe.

Concert Tour of GERMANY: May - June 1998
Extensively toured Germany. Concerts at Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Berlin, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Lubeck, Munich and Ulm. Performed live on the Berlin radio. Recorded CDs for a leading German audio recording company Autogram.

Concert Tour of GULF: Dec 2003
With Dr.L.Subramaniam at prestigious international festivals in Dubai and Kuwait.

Concert Tour of FRANCE, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND and LUXEMBOURG: September-November 2004
With renowned Violinists Ganesh Kumaresh and Veenai Jayanthi Kumaresh for International Music Festivals at Theatre de la ville and Theatre guimet – Paris, among others. Performed for German and French radio.

Concert Tour of FRANCE: August 2004
At the de Bouche a oreille International Festival, Parthenay, as part of NASHA.

Concert Tour of OMAN: March 2005
On Indian Percussions for Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Svenn Skipper, in concert with Dr.L.Subramaniam, at Oman Auditorium, Muscat. The grand concert was occasioned by 50 years of Indo-Oman diplomatic ties.

Concert Tour of RE UNION ISLAND: April 2005
With Dr.L.Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam, and Pandit Anindo Chaterjee at Theatre St Gilles.

Concert Tour of POLAND: May 2005
Performed for International Percussion Festival - Krakow 2005.Teamed with global Flamenco Band – Indialucia as core Indian Percussionist.

Key Achievements:

• Conferred with title " YUVA KALA BHARATHI " by Bharath Kalachar, Chennai, 2004.
• First Prize at the National Level All India Radio Competition in the Year 2000.
• Recipient of the prestigious Central Government Scholarship for ghatam from 2002.
• Best Ghatam Artist Award from Gayana Samaja, Ganakala Parishat and Malleshwaram Sangeetha Sabha for the years 1992, 1996 and 1999 respectively.
• Founder Member of Layatharanga, An Ensemble of Percussions. Layatharanga released their first album, Punarnava, The Revival in 1999,Thandava in 2000 and Pranava in 2003.
• Aryabhata Award for the year 2000.
• Ananya Yuva Puraskara for the year 2003 as “Best percussionist of the year ”
• Vijaya Kalashree title - 1997

• Performances in India and Abroad:

Ø Lakshmi Narayana Global Festival
Ø Northfolk International Festival, Seattle
Ø El Violin Festival, Spain
Ø ICCR Hall, Berlin, Germany
Ø Theatre de la ville and Theatre Guimet, Paris
Ø Swarutsav, New Delhi
Ø Spicmacay National Convention
Ø Indishes Konzert, Heidelberg, Germany
Ø Colours of India, Bangalore and Chennai
Ø Swaralaya, Kuwait.

Press Reviews:

“ Udupa, who is making forays into big concert circuits, is a joy to watch and listen to.” The Times of India

“Giridhar Udupa is a wizard on the Ghatam” Deccan Herald

“Udupa has aptly demonstrated that talent has no age bars” Kannada Prabha

“The dexterity of ghatam playing by Udupa reminds one of Vikku Vinayakaram” The Hindu

“Udupa’s hands deftly fly across the ghatam bringing out the creative genius in him.” Vijay Times

“His fingers thump literally bursting crackers.” Deccan Herald

“Giridhar Udupa, on the Ghatam, leaves the audience spell bound with his scorching speeds and nuances which are not very easy on an instrument like Ghatam.” Percussive Arts Centre

“Watching him play the instrument itself is a treat to watch”
The Hindu