Ashwin would be nowhere without the patient, loving and expert guidance of his teachers, and considers himself to be blessed and forever fortunate to have them in his life. In addition to his gurus listed below, Ashwin has been mentored and advised by acclaimed Tabla player Debapriya “Debu” Nayak, Indian Classical Music promoter Uday Kamath, Renowned vocalists Subhashish Mukherjee, Pt. Dattatreya Velankar, Dhananjay Hegde and Nachiketa Yakkundi, prominent percussionist and educator Pt. Dr. Satish HampihoLi, guitar master Hamid Hasan and writer extraordinaire Jayant Kaikini.
Indebted till Infinity. And beyond.
Mahesh Kale
Disciple of Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki
Ashwin began his Hindustani Classical vocal music journey in California under Mahesh Kale, a highly acclaimed Indian Classical Vocalist , and trained with him for several years. Under Mahesh Kale, Ashwin learnt innumerable compositions of his Guru, the late great Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, and the basics of voice culture and raag development.
Pt. Milind Chittal
Disciple of Pt. Firoz Dastur
A key phase in Ashwin’s life was his association with Pt. Milind Chittal of Kirana Gharana.
A versatile musician, Pt. Milind Chittal received rigorous training under Pt. Firoz Dastur of Kirana Gharana for 12 years. He has also learnt under the guidance of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan of Rampur Sahaswan Gharana, Pt. Yeshwanthbua Joshi of Gwalior Gharana, Pt. Dinkar Kaikini of Agra Gharana and Pta. Dhondutai Kulkarni of Jaipur Gharana. He has been awarded 'Surmani' title by Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai, and he has also won numerous competitions including All India Radio music competition, India Culture League and Kalidas Sangit Spardha. Milind has performed at many prestigious music festivals, such as Sawai Gandharva festival (Pune), Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan (Jalandhar), Ustad Amir Khan festival (Indore and Kolkata), Rahimat Khan festival (Dharwad), Saptak festival (Ahmedabad) to name a few.
Dhilanthi Fernando
Acclaimed Classical Pianist/Teacher
Inspired by an online performance of Rachmaninoff's Polichinelle, Op. 3, No. 4 during a pandemic fundraiser, Ashwin contacted Dhilanthi Fernando to teach him piano and expand his knowledge of music theory and performance in a completely different domain.
Dhilanthi Fernando, a native of Sri Lanka, has taught piano and music theory to innumerable students over the last forty years. She is the founder/former director of the Hyde Park-based women’s choir Le Cantanti di Chicago, and the former music director of Morgan Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Ms. Fernando holds piano performance diplomas from the Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College of Music, a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the American Conservatory of Music, and a master’s degree in musicology from the University of Chicago.
Ritwik Kaikini
Guitar Virtuoso/Composer/Educator
Ashwin learnt acoustic guitar fundamentals, chord progressions and music theory under Ritwik.
Ritwik Kaikini is an educator, guitarist, music composer and researcher-writer. Trained as a mechanical engineer, he graduated in 2018 with an MA in Arts and Technology from The University of Texas at Dallas specializing in Science Communication, Philosophy of Sound, and Sonification. In 2024, he debuted as a music director for the indie Kannada film – ‘Kenda’ (2024), producing and composing three songs and the background score for the film.