Prasad Bhandarkar started learning Hindustani music when he was 8 years old. Prasad got his initial training on Harmonium and Hindustani vocal music.
During his engineering college years, Prasad wanted to learn a solo performing instrument and happened to attend a concert by the renowned maestro Padma Vibhushan Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia in Gunidaas Sammelan in Mumbai. The simplicity of the Bansuri flute and Hariji's playing style really appealed to him. In 1990, he was fortunate to become student of Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia. Prasad also gratefully acknowledges the contribution to his musical development by Pandit Partha Chatterjee, Shri Deepak Ram and Shri Anant Patwardhan.
Engineer by profession with post graduation in Management, Prasad is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area where he has been performing both in solo Bansuri classical concerts and in light music concerts as accompanist.