Krishna Janmashtami celebrations
“By the time the artists stepped down to greet the audience, the storm may have ceased outdoors, but the audience was just getting started with requests for Ashwin Baliga to encore at larger and more varied venues.” Gazette Leader, September 2023
Ashwin Baliga is a US-based Indian Classical Vocalist and Educator, and has trained under acclaimed Classical vocalists Pt. Milind Chittal and Mahesh Kale. His wide-ranging classical repertoire includes Khayal, Tarana, Raagmala, Thumri, Bhajan - across multiple Indian languages.
Ashwin demystifies classical music through live translations and contextual explanations, and diversifies the art form by collaborating with traditional musicians, musicologists, sound healers, yoga practitioners, and DJs while preserving its core aesthetics. He is the lead singer of VIBRAHA, an electronic–classical band, and a member of the National Sufi Ensemble (Washington DC).
Some of his notable performance venues include - Shri Veereshwara Punayashram, Gadag (India), Washington DC South Asian Classical Music Festival (USA), Skills Development Academy in Doha (Qatar), Sedona Yoga Festival, Arizona (USA), Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center - India High Commission in Colombo (Sri Lanka), Salisbury Center in Edinburgh (Scotland), Flow Sound Festival in Montreal (Canada), Bangalore International Center in Bengaluru (India) and Shri Shaktidarshan Yogashram, KinnigoLi (India)
Together with sound healer Brian Eubanks, Ashwin Baliga performed, recorded and launched on Spotify, the world’s first Raga Bath - integrating Hindustani improvisations (aalaps) into a meditative experience immersed in frequency-specific bowl sounds.
Ashwin is an honored recipient of the Pt. R V Sheshadri Gawai award for propagating and performing Hindustani Music across several geographies. Ashwin has also published Gayana Ganga, a rare and invaluable compilation of Kannada-language bandishes composed by Pt. R. V. Sheshadri Gawai, bringing renewed attention to a rich musical legacy that had long remained out of print and largely forgotten.
Ashwin continues to teach eager students out of his music studio in McLean,VA