After studying with Lalmani Misra at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, he pursued education and teaching opportunities in America.

Born in 1938 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, Tewari studied at Banaras Hindu University with Lalmani Misra, Madhav Vaman Thakar, and B. R. Deodhar, earning a doctor of music degree in 1967.

[citation needed] He moved to the United States to study at Wesleyan University, where he earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology in 1974.

[citation needed] He has also made numerous recordings of his music; chief amongst them is his rendering of Sameshwari, a Raga created by Dr. Lalmani Misra to preserve the notes of Samagana of Sama Veda period.

[citation needed] He has conducted field research in India, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Thailand, Fiji, Ghana, and Zimbabwe.