Rutuja Lad

Rutuja Lad is a Hindustani Classical Music vocalist. She was introduced to music at the age of five by her parents Tanuja Lad and Umesh Lad. She took her primary guidance in music from Guruvarya Bhalchandra Paatre. When she was about 8 years old, she started learning from Gaanyogini Dhondutai Kulkarni of the Jaipur-Atrauli tradition. Rutuja continued to learn under Dhondutai until the latter’s demise in 2014. She pursued her graduation in psychology. She won numerous prizes in the semi-classical and intercollege state level classical music competitions. She pursued her Masters in music and secured first position in the music department of S.N.D.T University. She had the good fortune of performing in the presence of Gaansaraswati Kishoritai Amonkar. The Jaipur-Atrauli tradition of which Lad is a torchbearer, is known for its range of jod-raags such as Yamani Bihag, Basanti Kedar, and Khem Kalyan.

She is also getting herself acquainted with the Carnatic Music as well. She assisted Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana on her project named Classical Music in Mumbai. Rutuja has learnt harmonium from Shri Sudhir Nayak. She has also performed duets with Ankita Joshi Bio coming soon... >> Read More... of the Mewati gharana. Lad has also received taleem from Ashwini Bhide Deshpande. She has also received guidance from her uncle Sanjay Nadkarni on light music. She also participated in the Marathi reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Season 7 where she reached the top 6. Rutuja has performed at youth festivals organized by Hridayesh Arts, INT Aditya Birla Centre of Performing Arts, Suburban Music Circle, Gaanyogini Mahotsav, Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre and Bhavans Cultural Centre. Currently, she is a visiting faculty at the Post-Graduate Music department of S.N.D.T University. She has also performed at the Ustad Azizuddin Khansaheb Pratham Punyasmaran. Rutuja had also learnt tabla for a few years from Uday Raika.