Hom Nath Upadhyaya

He was born on 4 July 1943 (20 Ashar 2000 BS) in Gyaneshwor, Kathmandu to father Tulsi Prasad Upadhyaya and mother Bhagirathi Upadhyaya.[1] He received training in tabla from Pandit Ramji Mishra, Pandit Shambhu Mishra, and Ahmed Jan Thirakwa.[2] In addition, Upadhyaya obtained a B.A. in English, History, and Sanskrit from Gorakhpur University and an M.A. in Music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad, India.[3]

Upadhyaya served as royal court musician in Nepal.[4] He played globally as a soloist and accompanist in both Hindustani and Western musical traditions, including for artists such as Manilal Nag,[5] Tarun Bhattacharya,[6] Mahesh Kale,[4] Steve Gorn,[7] Jim Pepper,[8] and Paul Livingstone.[9] He also played in the film orchestra of Bollywood music director S. D. Burman.[10]

Upadhyaya taught extensively, both privately and at institutions such as the Royal Nepal Academy, Tribhuvan University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.[2][11][12] He has authored two books on tabla, one each in Nepali (Rhythmic Garland) and English (From Kashi To Kantipur: Theory, Practice and History of the Banaras Gharana of Tabla).[2][13] His students include his son Pramod Upadhyaya,[14] Sarita Mishra,[15][16] Dheeraj Shreshtha,[17] Atul Gautam, Rob Wallace,[18] Rabin Lal Shreshtha,[19] and Achyut Ram Bhandari.[20]

Upadhyaya was conferred the Kirateshwar Sangeetshram Award and Nararaj Dhakal Award, and was a recipient of the Narayan Sangeet Pratishtan Fellowship of the Royal Nepal Academy and collaborative project grant from the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, University of California, Santa Barbara.[21][12][22]

Upadhyaya died on 7 September 2016 in Om Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.[1]