Pt. Milind Raikar is a renowned musician from Goa. He is an acknowledged Hindustani classical violinist of the present generation. He is known for his melodious & soulful style of playing the violin.
He is mainly the disciple of Violin Virtuoso Padmashri Pt. D. K. Datar (Gwalior Gharana) and Gaan Saraswati Kishori Amonkar (an erudite scholar & doyen of Jaipur Atrauli style of vocal music).
He performed for the first time as a singer at the tender age of five years. He began as a guitarist & a bongo player & later on completed the Grade IV in violin from the Trinity College of Music, London under the tutelage of Prof. A. P. Da Costa.
He has toured East African countries & Muscat along with the troupe of Indian Pop Star Remo Fernandes as the lead instrumentalist. He remained dedicated to Hindustani Classical Music, although he has learned & performed Western Classical Music.
His father Shri Atchut Raikar, a votary of the ancient Indian heritage of Classical Music, nurtured & encouraged him to dedicate himself to contribute in preserving & promoting the Indian heritage of Classical Music which is a treasure trove of Indian Culture since time immemorial.
He started learning initially from his father Shri Atchut Raikar & later from Pt. B. S. Math (Violinist from Dharwad). He also learnt from Pt. Vasantrao Kadnekar of Goa & in order to acquire the advanced skill of playing the violin, he came to Mumbai & started learning from from Padmashri Pt. D. K. Datar, the legendary violinist in the year 1986 , who accepted him as his disciple & imparted the techniques of playing the violin in the gayaki ang (vocal style) & soon he began to accompany his Guru on the violin.
Once in 1996 Gaan Saraswati Kishori Amonkar the leading exponent of Jaipur Atrauli Gharana happened to see him playing Raga Hamsadhwani on the TV show & was impressed with his talent & style of playing the violin. She offered to teach him the nuances of the Jaipur Atrauli style & he thereby became her dedicated disciple. He considers himself as privileged to have remained her accompanying violinist until her last breath & was fortunate that even during his absence, he was never replaced by any other violinist for her vocal recital.
He has cultivated his musical style as an ideal blend of the tutelage he has received from Gurus of high acclaim. His listeners appreciate his soothing & soul touching performance on the violin evolved into a unique individual style.
He has performed Classical Music concerts in India as well as USA, Germany, Switzerland, France, UAE, & East African countries.
He has established “Raikar Academy of Violin Pt, D. K. Datar Parampara” in the year 2006 to preserve & promote Hindustani Music on violin especially to propagate 'gayaki' style of playing the violin.
The students of varying ages from different parts of India and abroad come to learn from him. Some of the established instrumentalists also come to take advance training of “Gayaki ang” from him.
He has formed his own orchestra named as "Colors of Violin" Where in all students perform in group.