Prabha Atre

Early life and background

Prabha was born to Abasaheb and Indirabai Atre in Pune. As children, Prabha and her sister, Usha, were interested in music, but neither of them planned to pursue music as a career. When Prabha was eight, Indirabai was not keeping good health, and at a friend's suggestion that classical music lessons would help her feel better, she took a few lessons. Listening to those lessons inspired Prabha to learn classical music.

Her music training was in the Guru-shishya tradition. She learnt classical music initially from Vijay Karandikar. She then learnt from Sureshbabu Mane and Hirabai Badodekar from the Kirana school for advanced training. She acknowledges the influence of two other greats, Amir Khan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, on her gayaki.

While studying music, Prabha finished college courses in science and law to receive degrees in both of those disciplines. She later also earned a Ph.D. in music. Her doctoral thesis was titled sargam, and pertained to the use of sol-fa notes in Indian classical music.

Academic and musical qualifications

Career

Prabha Atre had a short stint as a singing stage-actress in the early days of her career. She played her roles in a line-up of Marathi theatre classics, which included socials and mythologicals like Sanshay-Kallol, Maanaapamaan, Saubhadra and Vidyaharan.

Prabha Atre is currently one of the senior vocalists in the country representing the Kirana Gharana. Her first LP, with Maru Bihag and Kalavati, clearly demonstrates the influence of Amir Khan. She has contributed to popularizing Indian classical vocal music at global level. She is competent in various musical genres such as Khayal, thumri, Dadra, Ghazal, geet, Natyasangeet, and bhajans. She has been giving private lessons to students since 1969.

Discography

1. Maru Bihag, Kalavati, Khamaj Thumri
2. Niranjani - Puriya Kalyan, Shankara, Basant
3. Anant Prabha - Lalit, Bhinna Shadja, Bhairavi thumri
4. Bageshree, Khamaj thumri
5. Jogkauns, Todi, thumri
6. Malkauns, dadra
7. Chandrakauns
8. Madhukauns
9. Madhuvanti, Desi
10. Yaman, Bhairav
11. Shyam Kalyan, Bihag, Rageshree thumri
12. ghazal and bhajan recordings from live concerts from the 1970s

Composer

Music-related activities

Awards

From the year 2011 "Swarayoginee Dr. Prabha Atre Rashtriya Shaastreeya Sangeet Puraskar" instituted by Tatyasaheb Natu Trust and Gaanvardhan Pune.