Ajivasan

Suresh Wadkar's Ajivasan Music Academy is affiliaged to Allahabad's Prayag Sangeet Samiti. The term Ajivasan was coined from ACHARYA JIALAL VASANT SANGEET NIKAETAN. Established way back in 1932 in Srinagar by his Guru Acharya Jialal Vasant, Ajivasan has groomed several budding musicians, the most recent famous faces being Rahul Vaidya and Ameya Date.

In 1986, a few years after the academy moved to Mumbai, Suresh Wadkar took charge, running classes from a 500 sq ft apartment in Bandra before he moved to his present location in Juhu. The students are a mix of toddlers, budding musicians, professional singers, housewives and people wanting to acquire a skill.

The academy offers a six-year degree course in music. In the last three years, the number of students has doubled. Today, the four-storeyed academy in Mumbai has over 400 pupils learning classical music, dance and instruments like the sitar, harmonium, tabla and dilruba.

Prem Vasantji

Daughter of Sureshji's Guru Acharya Jialal Vasant, Prem didi has been teaching Indian Classical music, Sitar and other instruments for more than 50 years. She has also had opportunity to perform Sitar all over India, Germany, UK & USA. Presently she is functioning as Principal /Trustee /Teacher in Acharya Jialal Vasant Sangeet Niketan Mumbai,India. She is Postgraduate (Music), Postgraduate (English Literature) From S.N.D.T.Univ.Mumbai Oberstufe & KDS (German Lang.) & Teacher's Training course from Goethe Institute, Munich (Germany) Along with teaching music she has also taught German in Max Mueller Bhavan (Goethe Institute) for 25 years.

She has contributed music texts to a book of music & painting titled "The Cosmic Rag Mandal" with paintings of Sadhak Shivanand Saraswati & compositions of Acharya Jialal Vasant. Presently working on the subject "The Healing Power of the Raag"

Shri Sureshiji

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Sureshji's talent was tapped by Shri Parshwanath Digrajkar. Shri Digrajkar offered to undertake Sureshji's training. For four years he coached Sureshji in vocal music.

In 1976 he joined his Guruji's daughter, Prem Vasant, who was at that time in Germany, to accompany her for performances on the Sitar and also perform as a vocalist. Sureshji was invited by Sur Singer Samsad to perform as a classical singer in the Haridas Sangeet Sammelan. He won the coveted Madan Mohan Best Male Singer Award and was promised a break in one of his forthcoming films by Shri Ravindra Jain on the stage itself. Shri Jain fulfilled his promise and Sureshji sang for the male lead for Rajshri Production's Film "PAHELI".

He is a judge in Zee TV SaReGaMaPa, jury member of Screen Awards, Sahara Awards and Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar. He has also received Lata Mangeshkar award from MP and 1st Vikramaditya Award from Ujjain, MP.