Mysore/Mysuru: Bengaluru’s Pt. Vinayak Torvi has been selected for this year’s ‘Rajya Sangeetha Vidwan’ Award which will be conferred on him by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa at the inaugural ceremony of Dasara cultural programmes at Mysore Palace premises today (Oct. 17) at 6 pm.

Profile: Pandit Vinayak Malharrao Torvi is an Indian Classical vocalist. He belongs to the Gwalior and Kirana Gharanas. 

Pt. Torvi was born on 4th September 1948 in Ranebennur, in Karnataka. His father Malharrao Torvi was a Harikatha exponent. He developed a passion for music, while listening to and accompanying his father during discourses. 

He started formal musical education at the age of 9 under Tammanna Gurav and then under Narayanacharya Dandapur. He received training in Hindustani classical vocal music for 15 years in Gurukul, first from Gururao Deshpande, and later from Bhimsen Joshi of the Kirana Gharana.

He received further reinforcement from musical greats such as Gangubai Hangal, Mallikarjun Mansur and Basavraj Rajguru during his PG studies in music at Karnatak University, Dharwad.

Pandit Torvi’s career started in 1960, as he started performing in music concerts and winning various State and National level music competitions.

In the early 1970s, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Karnatak University, Dharwad.

In 1976, Pandit Torvi became a graded artiste of All India Radio. At around the same time, in the late 70s, he earned his Master’s in classical music from Karnatak University.

In 1980, he performed in his first major national level concert, a music conference organised by ITC at Hubballi. He later served on the board of Karnataka State Sangeet Nritya Academy for two consecutive terms.

In 1983, he established Gururao Deshpande Sangeet Sabha in Bengaluru, which was inaugurated by legendary musician Dr. Gangubai Hangal.

In 1991-92, he toured England, Scotland and France for concert and lecture-cum-demonstrations. This tour was sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Since 1985, Pandit Vinayak Torvi has performed at several music conferences and has several awards to his credit.