Pt. Raghunandan Panshikar began his formal study of music in Mumbai under the tutelage of the late Pandit Vasantrao Kulkarni at the age of 11. Six years later, he commenced training with the doyen of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, Gaan Saraswati Smt. Kishori Amonkar. Over the next 20 years, under Kishori-ji's keen guidance, he worked painstakingly to imbibe her complex and unique musical style through rigorous daily riyaaz. During this time, Raghunandan was also fortunate to learn from Kishori-ji's mother and guru, the late Gaan Tapaswini Smt. Mogubai Kurdikar, who had learned directly from the the late Sangeet Samrat Ustad Alladiya Khan, founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. By training with both Mogubai-ji and Kishori-ji, Raghunandan achieved an authenticity in many aspects of the Jaipur-Atrauli style - a full throated akaar, dazzling taans, a sophisticated use of techniques such as meend and gamak, and a clever grasp of the intricacies of layakari.
Today, Raghunandan's ‘Gayaki’ has evolved into a unique and original style enriched immensely by influences of several contemporary maestros.
Raghunandan was the headlining artiste on Day 1 of the FEA-curated Khayal Rang festival. He began his recital with a beautiful rendition of one of his guru's favourite Raags - Bhoop. He was accompanied by Bharat Kamat on tabla and Niranjan Lele on harmonium. Tanpura support was provided by Akshay Vardhave.