Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande

Vidushi Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (born 7 October 1960) is a Hindustani classical music vocalist from Mumbai. She belongs to the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana tradition.
Early life and training.
Born in Mumbai into a family with strong musical traditions, Ashwini started her early classical training under the guidance of Narayanrao Datar. She then completed her Sangeet Visharad from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Since then, she has been learning music in the Jaipur-Atrauli style from her mother Manik Bhide. Ashwini also received guidance from Ratnakar Pai until his death in 2009.
Education.
Bhide-Deshpande holds a Masters degree in Microbiology and earned a doctorate in Biochemistry from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, a Sangeet Visharad from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal and a Masters degree in music.
Performing career.
It was not until she completed her doctorate that Ashwini even considered a professional career in music. Her 'Jasrangi Jugalbandi concerts' with Sanjeev Abhyankar received a mixed response from the audience. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande has performed at prestigious venues all over the world including the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada in 2019 for the Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto.
Musical style.
Because of her influences from the Jaipur-Atrauli, Mewati and Patiala gharanas, Ashwini has created her own musical style. She holds a strong command over the three primary saptaks.
Composer.
Bhide-Deshpande has an intimate understanding of Bandish and bandish-composition and has created many of her own bandishes, which she has published in her book, "Raag Rachananjali" (2004). A sequel titled "Ragarachananjali 2", containing 98 more bandishes (compositions) was published in 2010. She is also known for her setting of bhajans, especially those of Kabir.