Dr. Kedar Awati, an FTII professor who has recently been conferred with his doctorate for higher education in Western classical music, is one of the few who has raised the benchmark for music mavens a bit further by widening the peripheries not just in terms of music learning but in its capacity for cultural assimilation too.

“When music from different cultures comes together, it has the message of peace. People get more tolerant and there are fewer wars”, he says.

Beginning in 2003, on a scholarship provided by University of Buffalo (UB), Dr Awati successfully attained his PhD. in music, composition and theory, but the doctor hadn’t planned for it all along. He wanted to get a doctorate degree in mathematics earlier and, started teaching the subject. But the piano, which has been a passion since childhood, beckoned passionately.

With the cliché of music transcending all boundaries ringing true yet again, he theorizes that youth and music enthusiasts today have greater and ready accessibility to the various forms and techniques of music, be it Maori or Mozart, “Also, with the strong presence of the numerous music institutes and formal training schools, it is just a matter of time for the tastes and talent for crossover music to evolve. Music is a big thing,” add Awati

Upon the aspect of his professorial life in FTII, he says, “FTII is not run on commercial lines and students here are free to explore a lot of avenues. They are learning to outgrow the hoary traditions and that is only for the good”.

Stressing on the point of composition when it comes to music, he reveals that many people who are fantastic at playing the instrument might not have a grasp on composition. “As a teacher, I am on the lookout for young people who have a bend for composition”. But now he has cut down on his intake of students largely because he doesn’t get the time.