From Trance to Glory

Kedar Bhagwat is one of those rare souls who chose to pursue passion over pelf and emerged successful.

For Kedar, a familiar name in the Marathi fraternity, 2011 was the best year of his career, which marked the official release of his first album, Sonsade.

Played for a band
While pursuing his engineering, Kedar used to perform for a band called Trance. They participated in quite a few inter-collegiate festivals as well. After college, the band broke up, but Kedar continued pursuing his musical beckoning. Unlike his peers, Kedar gave up the opportunity of working in the IT sector and took up music as his full-time career.
While he was playing for another local band, he got to audition to be the keyboard player for Ushaji Mangeshkar in the year 2004. In the same year, he composed the first title track of his career, for a Marathi soap called ‘Ya Boluya.’

The turning point
 “While I was performing at a show in 2005, I got the news of my father’s demise. Although I was aware of his illness, I could not be with him due to prior commitment.” It was this incident that led him to give up performing for others and to do something of his own. Kedar moved to Mumbai in 2005. He stayed with a friend for quite some time and even slept in a car for a week, when he had nowhere to go to. His struggles, however, came to an end when he got the opportunity to compose background scores for serials like Soniacha Umbra, Saavitri and for movies like Mhaaji Maansa. This was followed by music arrangements assignments for eminent record labels like Times Music and EMI, which were splashed across the international market as well.
 While he was still getting settled in his career, Kedar found his father’s diary that had a collection of his poems. Kedar decided to do something with the poems, signaling the conception of Sonsade, (Morning Glory) his debut musical album, which features Shankar Mahadevan and Hariharan’s first duet together. The album comprises seven songs, five of them written by his father and two penned by him. The album, an effort spanning over three years, managed to garner one lakh downloads in just about six months.

City’s first academy
Kedar’s academy, the city first ever to be dedicated to synthesizer/ keyboard training, began in a small room in Sadashiv Peth in 2004, has blossomed gradually. He conducted classes personally till 2009, but cannot do so due to other commitments. He does still conduct keyboard playing crash courses.
Kedar has just finished arranging music for an album sung by Shaan. “I am looking forward to doing some more good work in the coming year. With God’s grace and the blessings of friends, family and fans, I hope to gain access to more avenues to connect with the audiences this New Year’s,” he concludes.

--SWETA MANTRI