Omkarnath Havaldar

Omkarnath Havaldar is a prominent musician and vocalist of Hindustani Classical Music in India. 

Learning and Lineage 

Omkarnath was initiated at a very young age into Hindustani Classical Music by his father Dr. Nagaraj Rao Havaldar. Very soon Omkarnath had the good fortune of learning from two great musicians of different Gharanas - Pandit Madhava Gudi, the foremost disciple of Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, a scion of the Kirana Gharana, and Pandit Panchakshari Swami Mattigatti, a senior disciple of Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur of the Atrauli-Jaipur Gharana. Omkarnath is thus fortunate to inherit the finer nuances of both the Gharanas. He is currently pursuing his training in the Dhrupad and Khayal forms under Pt. Indudhar Nirody of the Agra Gharana. 

Academics & Awards 

Omkarnath holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from National College, Bangalore, India. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Music from the Gangubai Hanagal University of Music and Performing Arts, Mysore, India. 

Omkarnath is the recipient of several awards and accolades, some of which are:

• The Kishora Pratibha Puraskar - 2003. Instituted by the Kannada & Culture department, Government of Karnataka - 2000  
• National Award for Hindustani Classical Khayal Singing - 2003. Chosen from a pan-India competition conducted by the All India Radio. 
• Pandit Mallikarjuna Mansur Youth Award - 2016 
• Pandit Lingaraja Buwa Yeraguppi Award - 2016 

Musical Journey 

India 

Omkarnath has performed at many prestigious platforms such as: 

• The Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh, Benaras
• Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, Pune
• The Mysore Darbar Hall Concert for the Dussera celebrations 
• The Hampi Utsav 
• VSK Bhaitak, New Delhi
• The Lalitharpan Festival 
• Dhwani BKF festival, India Habitat Centre, IGNCA Delhi. 

He is also on the elite panel of Artists at the Department of Kannada & Culture, Government of Karnataka, since 2000, and is an approved graded artist for the All India Radio & the Doordarshan, the National Television Channel of India. 

Omkar has conceptualized, created and composed presentations in Raag Yaman and Bhairav for group rendition which are posted on Youtube. These unique group renditions of the Khayal form have attracted the attention of many music lovers across globe. 

United States of America 

Omkarnath has traveled to the United States of America several times with his father Dr. Nagaraj Havaldar, and has performed at the World Kannada Conference (AKKA) in the years 2006 & 2008. 

He has also performed at many prestigious international venues and universities such as: 

• The Yale University
• The Notredame University
• The Madison University
• The Alverno College of Music
• The Milwaukee University
• Early Music Now - Milwaukee
• The Chicago center of Music Chinmaya Mission, Chicago
• New York Music Center - Queens
• Chandayan - New York 

Omkarnath has travelled extensively in the US. QPTV New York has recorded Omkarnath, and his music regularly telecast in the US. 

Afghanistan 

Musical Ambassador to Afghanistan 

It is said that music starts where speech ends. The melody crosses all the barriers of caste, creed, religion and nationality. Omkarnath proved it by visiting Afghanistan in July 2009. He was a part of a team of three musicians selected from all over the world, to propagate peace and communal harmony through music. Tabla maestro Pandit Samir Chatterjee led the team. Young Omkar, who had been between to Tanpuras from his early childhood, for the first time was between two gunmen as his security guards! It was a moving experience for Omkar to teach the underprivileged children in Afghanistan National Institute of music.  He also taught the faculty members of Kabul University. His performances for Radio television Afghan were well appreciated. Their public performances along with the local legendary musicians attracted the Government dignitaries & the common man alike. He still has an open invitation from the Afghan Government to be their guest and performer. It is important to note that his teaching and performances were purely voluntary and for the true love for music and humanity. 

China West Heavens – Saath Saath Project to China and Hong Kong 

Omkar was invited by the West Heavens Project, China in the year 2016, to propagate and promote Hindustani Classical Music. Omkar taught at the Music Conservatory, Shanghai, alongside Vidushi Smt. Lalith J Rao, a senior exponent of the Agra Gharana, and Kum. Rutuja Lad, a young upcoming vocalist of the Jaipur Gharana. Omkar performed at Shanghai Art Biennale and at the Humble Administrators Garden hosted by the President of West Heavens, Mr. Johnson Chang, at Suzhou. 

Omkar again visited Hong Kong and China as part of a musical collaboration Saath-Saath in the year 2017. He conducted workshops for the students of LINGNAN University and has performed at the Han Art Gallery in Hong Kong. Omkar also performed at MINGFU Library, Shanghai. He had an opportunity to collaborate with the Kunchu opera musicians and the performance was held at Jinze art gallery. Omkar has made pioneering efforts to compose and sing in the traditional khayal form, a poem in Cantonese language written by a famous poet Yiu Fie Chow. 

Family 

Born into a family of musicians, Omkarnath’s father Dr. Nagaraj Rao Havaldar is a well-known Hindustani Classical Vocalist & mother Smt. Sudhamayi is a graduate of Fine Arts. Omkarnath’s maternal grandfather Sri. K. RaghavendraRao, was a renowned music critic, and paternal grandfather Sri. Rama Rao Havaldar was an intuitive composer of traditional Kannada Devotional Music. Grandmother Smt. AmbujaBai is well versed with Kannada Vachana Sahithya, Dasa Sahithya & regional traditional songs. Omkarnath’s younger brother Kedarnath Havaldar is a promising Tabla player of Farukhbad Gharana, and is a disciple of Pandit Rajgopal Kallurkar, Pandit M. Nagesh and Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Cousin Sameer Havaldar is a fine Harmonium artist and has accompanied many renowned vocalists.

Interview with The Raaga Room - Episode 1

Kamalanayana - Voices of harmony

Raag Bhairav: One Khayal, many voices