Early Stage
Born on the 29th of July, 1983, Koushik was initiated into classical music early in his childhood by his parents. But it was only as a young boy that he underwent training in Hindustani classical music under Shri Humayun Harlapur for several years. Tutelage Koushik’s talent and dedication brought him, from his native town Thirthahalli to Bangalore, where he undertook a graduate course in business management. He was accepted as a disciple by Pt. Parameshwar Hegde, who is the foremost disciple of the Late Padmabhushan Pt. Basavaraj Rajguru. Pt. Parameshwar Hegde, who is a leading exponent of Kirana, Gwalior & Patiala Gharanas, nurtured and honed Koushik’s abilities in Khayal gayaki and set him on his way to becoming a promising artist. Besides imbibing Pt. Hegde’s impressive traits in his music, Koushik has also created a distinct style of his own in his renditions of Khayal, Bhajan, Marathi Abhang and Natyageet.
Awards and Achievement
Koushik Aithal is a prominent artist of the younger generation. He has been honoured by several institutions, including a scholarship by the Govt. of India and Promising Artist Award by the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2006. Koushik proved his prowess to peers and masters in All India Radio national level Hindustani music competition, by winning the prestigious first prize. He is a graded artist of Doordarshan and All India Radio, both premier national broadcasting organizations. Recently Koushik was awarded jadubhatta puraskar from saltlake cultural academy Kolkata , The pt.Basavaraja rajguru yuva puraskar from govt of Karnataka and the prestigious bismilla khan yuva puraskar (2016) central sangeet natak academy, govt of india, new delhi
Concerts and Performances
Even as a young artist, Koushik has performed across the country extensively. Besides regular concerts in Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Dharwad other cities in his home state, Karnataka, he has performed in cities like Mumbai, jaipur, Delhi,Bhopal, Kolkata, agra, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolhapur, latur and Banaras. Some of the prestigious stages where Koushik has performed include NCPA in Mumbai, the Malhaar Utsav at the Bharatiya Sangeet Vidyalaya, Devnandan Ubhayakar Yuva Sangeet Utsav in Bangalore , Mallikarjun Mansur Pratisthan in Dharwad, saltlake festival Kolkata, pracheen kala Kendra Chandigarh, ninad agra, dhwani festival by kidney foundation, Bangalore, sawai gandharva festival kundagol etc. . In 2010, his debut classical Album ‘Aarohi’ was released. The recent classical album has been released in 2014. Koushik has conducted several musical workshops in Bangalore in prestigious institutions like Ranga Shankara and MES Kishora Kendra. Koushik has also lent his vocal support to dance recitals. He has accompanied artists in Indian classical dance forms like Kathak and also contemporary styles. He has performed for the illustrious Akram khan company,London in their India tour and Edinburgh international festival, SCOTLAND the year 2014. Koushik has worked with the well-known contemporary musician Arun shenoy in his track bliss which was recently featured in GRAMMY FIRST LOOK by the prestigious RECORDING ACADEMY Performace li performed in harivallabh sangeet sammelan on January 2024, jalandhar, punjab.About harivallabh - "Shree Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Mahasabha”, Jalandhar is totally dedicated to the preservation, propagation and promotion of Indian Classical Music.