Ajay Pohankar

Ajay Pohankar was born on 24 February 1947 into a Deshastha Brahmin Marathi family in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, where his father practiced law. His mother, Sushilabai Pohankar, was a classical vocalist and musicologist from the Kirana Gharana and served as his first Guru. At 10, none other than USTAD AMIR KHAN SAHEB presented him as a brilliant child prodigy to the North Indian classical world. He continued to perform at some of the most prestigious classical festivals at that young age, including the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival, the Calcutta Conference, and many more prestigious festivals in India. Veteran musicians like Ustad Amir Khan Ustad Amir Khan was a well-known Indian classical >> Read More... Sahib, Ustad Salamat-Nazakat Ali Khan Ali Khan was a renowned actor of Hindi Cinema. He >> Read More... , Hirabai Badodekar, Begum Akhtar Begum Akhtar’s birth name was ‘Akhtari Bai Faizaba >> Read More... , Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, and other legends of the time claimed he was one of the most impressive vocalists. Pohankar was once invited to perform at the annual Sawai Gandharva Music Festival which was held in Pune when he was just 11 years old. Swati Natekar, his sister, is a London-based singer as well.

Anjali Pohankar, a performer and musicologist who has also written a book on Thumri, is married to Ajay Pohankar. Abhijit Pohankar, their son, is a keyboardist for Indian classical music and a producer and composer of fusion music. Pohankar received the Tansen Samman from the Madhya Pradesh government in 2009. He received the highest honor for performing artists in 2012 when the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance, and Drama, presented him with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Popular musician Pt. Ajay Pohankar has appeared numerous times, including Barkha Ritu - A Musical Celebration with the Maestros, SoulScrape, and The Works of Hazrat Amir Khusrau.