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Jerry AmaldevA prolific music composer, Jerry Amaldev started his explorations in music –teaching himself to play organ, organizing music performances for local audience and learning music notation– at an early age during his school days in his hometown of Kochi in India. He then pursued lessons in vocal music, piano and tabla (an Indian percussion instrument) under various maestros in Indore, Pune and Mumbai. During this period (late 50s to mid 60s), he was in the forefront of introducing vernacular liturgical music in the post-Vatican II Catholic church of India. While in Mumbai, he started his forays into the popular music scene of Indian films, when he became an assistant to legendary Bollywood music director Naushad at the age of 25. After spending four years in Bollywood film world, he moved to the United States to continue his music studies and subsequently he obtained Bachelor of Music from Xavier University, New Orleans, LA and Master of Fine Arts in Music Composition from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He then returned to India in 1980 and dived into a career of composing music for south Indian films. Over the next 20 years, he composed music for 75 movies and was the recipient of regional award for excellence in music direction for the years 1980, 1990 and 1995.
The hallmark of his large repertoire of pop music for films, folk songs and devotional/liturgical music has been an unmistakably melodious fusion of Indian tradition with classical European music. From the early teenage years of organizing orchestras at local level and later establishing learning centers and recording studios, teaching music in various schools and colleges in the US and India, organizing and conducting large choral performances including one during Papal visit of 1996, Amaldev has been a vital force in the community. Education 1958 - 1961 Bachelor of Philosophy Papal Athenaeum, Pune, India 1969 – 1971 Bachelor of Music Xavier University, New Orleans, LA 1971 – 1975 MFA in Music Composition Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Guru Deeksha (Initiation under Maestro) 1956 -1957 Tabla Shri Mohammed Khan, Indore 1957 – 1961 Vocal Music (Hindustani) Shri Madhusoodan Patwardhan, Pune 1961 – 1963 Vocal Music (Hindustani) Shri S.C.R. Bhat and Shri K. G. Ginde, Mumbai 1965 – 1969 Music Composition Shri Naushad, Mumbai
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