Shri Manoj Govindraj is the recipient of a scholarship for Hindustani classical vocal music from the Center for Cultural Resources and Talent government of India (CCRT) from the year 1988 to 1995. A rank-holder from Mumbai University, he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music in 1999. He was the recipient of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi scholarship for Hindustani music at the post-graduate level from 1998-99. He has won several awards, the most prestigious one being the Sur Singar Samsad Award in 1995 for light vocal.
Shri Manoj Govindraj started performing music in 1989 and has given several performances in India at places like Mumbai, Pune, Kerala, and Hyderabad. Since the time he moved to the US in 2004, he has performed extensively in several states including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, Georgea, Florida, and Colorado. He has conducted several lecture demonstrations on topics including “The Thaat Series” [conducted in 5 sessions, introducing Thaat System in Hindustani Music], “Music appreciation”, “Introduction to “Hindustani Music” at Keane University, NJ, and introduction of Hindustani music at the University of South Florida.
The event will present a mixture of different genres of Hindustani music including classical, semi-classical, Bhajans, Ghazals, and some classical-based Bollywood songs. The program may also include songs in other regional languages like Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Bengali.