BIOGRAPHY

"THE KING OF POT MUSIC"
RAVE MAGAZINE

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. He had his initial tutelage under his father and well-known Mridangam artist Vidwan Ullur Nagendra Udupa and later became a disciple of Vidushi Ghatam Sukanya Ramgopal and Vidwan Ghatam 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.

He 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 South Indian Classical Musicians including Sarvashree L.Subramaniam, R.K.Srikantan, M.Balamuralikrishna, M.S.Gopalkrishnan, T.N.Krishnan, T.K.Murthy, Palghat Raghu, Umayalpuram K.Sivaraman, A.K.Palanivel, Mysore Nagaraj & Manjunath, Ganesh & Kumaresh, Mandolin Srinivas, N.Ramani, K.J.Yesudas, T.V.Gopalkrishnan, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, T.N.Seshagopalan, Jayanthi Kumaresh, R.K.Suryanarayana, Kadri Gopalnath, Sudha Raghunathan, Aruna Sayeeram and others.

Apart from playing authentic Carnatic Music, he has performed in many Fusion, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Flamenco, Symphony Orchestra, Celtic Music, Latin Music, DJ Music, World Music, Arabic Music, Japanese Music, Talavadya (Percussion Ensemble), European Folk Music and Jugalbandhi concerts and has been part of numerous International Music Festivals with renowned Indian Musicians like Dr.L.Subramaniam, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Ustad Fazal Qureshi, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Sivamani, Ganesh Kumaresh, Mysore Brothers, Louis Banks, Niladri Kumar, Ustad Taufiq Qureshi, Amit Heri, Lucky Ali, Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam, Ranjit Barot, Bikram Ghosh, Rahul Sharma, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, and Western Musicians like Larry Coryell, George Brooks, Ernie Watts, John Kaizan Neptune, Chico Freeman, Kai Eckhardt, Hubert Laws, Corky Siegel, Ivry gitlis, Airto Moreira, Fritz Renold, Lewis Pragasam and others. He has also worked with many leading music directors in India.

He has been part of several Global Symphony and Chamber Orchestras including Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (USA), Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa), State Philharmonic Orchestra of Sibiu (Romania), Sinfonia Baltica (Poland), Leipzig Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra (Germany) and Royal Symphony Orchestra of Oman.

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 Poland based Flamenco Band “Indialucia” featuring Miguel Czachowski, Jan Kubek and Adam Glosnicki. He has also teamed up with Fabrice de Graef and Mishko M’Ba 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. Radio France, Polskie Radio (Polish Radio), Radio Luxembourg and several radio networks have broadcast his solo concerts and interviews. He has recorded albums for Autogram, a leading German audio recording company and CM records of Poland.

He has conducted many workshops & lecture demonstrations for many prestigious institutions all over the world. He has also composed and conducted for many world music projects.

Udupa is the first Indian percussionist to perform at the prestigious Krakow International Percussion Festival (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, UK, Canada, South Africa, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania, Indonesia, Mauritius, Re Union Island, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok, Dubai, Muscat, Doha, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Widening his horizons with extensive global touring, Udupa has enriched his music with nuances sought from all schools of music. Accolades have come from around the world. Music lovers celebrate the finesse of his fingering, the dexterity of his playing, the incomprehensible speed of his intricate rhythmic designs. His fingers simply fly around Ghatam, perennially holding surprises for the audience.