Kishori Amonkar

Kishori Amonkar was a distinguished Indian singer who performs in the classical genre khayal and the light classical genres – thumri and bhajan. Amonkar trained under her mother, classical singer Mogubai Kurdikar, and later under Anjanibai Malpekar. In recognition of her contribution to the arts, she received many awards, including the Padma Bhushan (1987) and Padma Vibhushan (2002), two of the country’s top civilian honours. In 2010 she became a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, a lifetime appointment held by just a few dozen individuals. Kishori Amonkar was also awarded the first Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Lifetime Achievement Award (2013), which is exclusively constituted by the Indian state government for classical musicians. She passed away in April 2017.