Shweta Jhaveri

With her "soft, silky, mellow" voice, Shweta Jhaveri has become of Northern India's best known singers of classical music. The first female vocalist from Gujarot to achieve international attention, Jhaveri continues to awe audiences with her mastery of the highly elegant, technically-difficult, vocal style of khayal. Jhaveri has increasingly branched out to musical cultures from around the globe. Her 1998 album, Anahita, was recorded in San Francisco with musical accompaniment provided by session players including Will Bernard (guitar), Jenny Scheinman (violin), Bill Douglass (bass) and Jim Kassis (drums, percussion). Training, from the age of six, under the late Pandit Vilasrao Khandekar, Jhaveri spent eight years studying and performing with influential North Indian vocalist Pandit Jasrai. She continues to study with Ali Akbar Khan. Beginning in 1985, Jhaveri has performed annually in the United States. In 1991, she received the prestigious Netragaonkar award.