Vidushi Jyoti Hedge of Uttar Kannada district, Karnataka is an accomplished Rudraveena exponent of the Khāndarbāni school of Dhrupad who also performs Sitar in the Khayāl idiom. She holds an M.A. from Karnataka University, Dharwad where she learnt Sitar under Pt. Bindhumadhav Pathak. One day she heard him play the Rudraveena and was magnetically drawn to the instrument. Women were generally excluded from learning the Rudraveena, but she convinced her Guru to teach her.

Under Pt. Indudhar Nirode at Dharwad she went on to study many nuances of Dhrupad’s rendition. Under the tutelage of Ustad Asad Ali Khan, she rose to new heights and found a greater intensity of devotion to the Rudraveena as a means to Nāda Yoga.