T V Sankaranarayanan (Carnatic Vocal) TV Sankarnarayanan is one of the most sought after and widely acclaimed vocalists of India today. Endowed with a rich and vibrant voice, he sings with great zest and verve and has endeared himself to one and all, the pundits as well as the lay listeners. Born in Mayiladuturai in Tanjavur District, Shri. T V Sankaranarayananan (TVS, as he is very popularly known) had the good fortune of learning at the feet of the legendary Gana Kaladhara Sangita Kalanidhi Isaipperarignar Shri Madurai Mani Iyer, his maternal uncle, from the tender age of 9. He had his initial lessons in music from his mother, Smt. Gomati Vembu Iyer, sister and disciple of Shri. Mani Iyer. Academically brilliant, TVS secured Commerce and Law degrees and was also called to the Bar. But the call of music won hands down, and TVS opted for a career in music. Taking giant strides, TVS has verily blossomed into a powerful musical force to reckon with, holding aloft the Madurai Mani Iyer Bani in all its glory. TVS has travelled and performed all over the world. He has been a Top Grade Artiste of the All India Radio and Doordarshan for almost three decades. A much respected senior musician in the country, he has been awarded with numerous laurels, accolades, titles and awards which include the Central Sangeet Natak Academy Award, the prestigious Padma Bhushan and Sangita Kalanidhi. TVS is especially happy and proud to be engaged in the onerous mission of keeping the glorious tradition of his family and lofty standards of excellence in music alive and going. K. J. Dileep (Violin) K.J.Dileep has had the good fortune of having born in a musical family. His initial training was from his father K.J.Shyamasharma and grandfather Shri K.J. Krishna Bhat, who is an accomplished vocalist and violinist. He further underwent advanced training in violin under the violin maestro Padmabhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi M.S. Goplakrishnan for a period of six years. Dileep gives duet performances with Mysore Sangeetha and accompanies various senior Vidwans like Dr T.V. Gopalakrishnan, Bombay Jayashri, T.V. Sankaranarayanan etc. He performs across India and has also made a mark abroad. V. S. Raghavan (Mridangam) Raghavan holds a bachelor s degree in Computer Applications and a Post Diploma in Music from Sri Sathya Sai institute of Higher Learning in Puttaparthi. Raghavan began his Mridangam education from eminent masters like Sri. Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer, Sri. K.R.Ganesh and Sri. Jayaraman. He took further guidance from Sri.Dhanvada Anantha Rao, disciple of Sri. Venkailaya Narasimha Murthy. He is, at present, learning from Sri.Patri Sathish Kumar. Raghavan has been sharing his knowledge and thoughts with his students in India and abroad. He is the recipient of M.S.Subbalakshmi fellowship award Shanmukhananda Sangeeta Sabha, Mumbai in the year 2015.
Mitali Bhawmik (Hindustani Vocal) Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik, an artiste of Hindustani Classical vocal music, was born in Nogaon, Assam where she started her initial lessons in music at an early age from Sri Ajit Dutta. Later she had the privilege of receiving extensive training in Hindustani Classical vocal music from Late Pandit Biren Phukan in Guahati of Assam, who was a disciple of Pt Ratanjankar and Pt Chinmay Lahiri. For further training, Mitali came to Calcutta in 1983 where she initially received lessons from Late Vidushi Meera Banerjee, the noted vocalist. Since 1985 Mitali was under the tutelage of Late Padmabhushan Pandit V. G. Jog, the famous violin maestro. Pandit Jog's vast and extensive experience in the different musical styles and traditions have helped Mitali to blend the best of different styles (Gharanas) in her music in contrast to sticking to a single traditional Gharana style. This has been the essence of Pandit Jog's philosophy in music and training methodology. Mitali is also receiving training in semi - classical music from Smt. Dahlia Rahut, a senior disciple of Vidushi Girija Devi. Mitali has performed in several concerts at prestigious venues in India, USA, and UK, Amsterdam, Germany. Her melodious voice and perfect rendition of the "ragas" have won her numerous acclaims and appreciation from the listeners. She also performed as a playback singer in Mira Nair's acclaimed film "The Namesake" under the direction of Nitin Shawney. She has four CD albums of pure classical and semi-classical music (Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Hori etc.) to her credit. In her debut album Vandana, she was accompanied on the violin by her Guru Padmabhushan Pandit V. G. Jog. Mitali, along with her students, has won the prestigious New Jersey Council of the Arts grant for five years. Rohan Prabhudesai (Harmonium) Rohan has been actively studying music for the past 18 years. He began his training in Indian Hindustani classical music on the harmonium on one of his trips to India at the Goa Kala Academy. Later, he continued this musical pursuit under the guidance of Dr. Kedar Naphade, a senior disciple of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar. At the same time he started learning harmonium, he studied classical piano with Mr. Edwin Lopez, the concert master and conductor of Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church music program. He has studied classical contemporary composition at NYU Steinhardt and Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Rohan is 26 years old and pretends to be a finance professional by day. Ojas Adhiya (Tabla): See performance of Pandit Satish Vyas. pm
Vistaar - An exploration of Indian Classical Music and Rhythm Purbayan Chatterjee (Hindustani Sitar) Sitar player and composer, Purbayan is a multifaceted musician. Along with his concerts of North Indian raga music, he also performs with musicians from the South Indian raga tradition and participates in various fusion projects with jazz and world musicians all over the globe. Purbayan is also an astounding vocalist and has lent his soulful voice to many mellifluous compositions. He is from the Senia Maihar Gharana, the school established by Baba Allauddin Khan, the guru of sarod player Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and sitar players Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Purbayan has designed the DWO, which is a Doppelganger of the Indian Sitar. It celebrates the oneness of two. It creates a sound where the acoustic and the digital, the ancient and the modern, the ethnic and the urban, the esoteric and the virtuosic, all complement each other and become one. At the age of 15, Purbayan received the President of India Award for being the Best Instrumentalist of the country. He has been awarded the highest artist-grade by the All India Radio. Purbayan has performed in esteemed venues and many prestigious music festivals, in an international career spanning 26 years. Shashank Subramanyam (Carnatic Flute) Grammy nominated flautist Shashank began performing at the age of six. He remains the youngest musician to have been invited by The Music Academy, Chennai, at 12 years of age. He was trained by father Subramanyam and vocal maestros R.K. Srikantan and Palghat K.V. Narayanaswami and by Pandit Jasraj in Hindustani Music. Shashank has collaborated with musicians and bands from India and around the world including Guitarist John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborthy, The New Jungle Orchestra. Shashank has enthralled audiences at major concerts and festivals in India and around the world. With scintillating primal tones, he truly sings through the most organic and ancient of all instruments. His logic-defying virtuosity is the result of a magical innate talent coupled with the best possible training. Shashank has propelled the Bamboo flute into an enviable position by his playing techniques of which the multi-flute transposed fingering technique and the dual octave production have won him world acclaim. Recently, BBC World TV telecast a documentary on Shashank titled Destination Music. Continued Overleaf
Parupalli S Phalgun (Mridangam) Parupalli Phalgun received his training in Mridangam from Shri Mahadevu Radha Krishan Raju, Shri V Balaji, and Shri Mahadevu Lakshmi Narayana Raju. He hails from a family of great musicians such as Parupalli Ramakrishnaiah Pantulu, the guru of vocal maestro M. Balamurali Krishna. Shri Parupalli has been honoured with many awards including the Asthana Vidwan title conferred by the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham and the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of Sangeet Natak Akademi. He has accompanied many stalwarts in the field of South Indian music and is currently on the faculty of The Govt. Music College, Vijayawada. Phalgun is an A-grade artist of the All India Radio and Television. He is equally adept at playing the Kanjira. Anubrata Chatterjee (Tabla) Son of the world-renowned tabla maestro, Pt. Anindo Chatterjee, Anubrata had the rare fortune of being the youngest and the last "Ganda-Bandh" disciple of the great guru, Padmabhushan Deshkottam Jnan Prakash Ghosh in 1992. Subsequently, he continued his training under the tutelage of his father. He made his debut as an accompanying artist with the legendary Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia and since then, has gone on to successfully accompany many living legends of Indian classical music. Anubrata gives great importance to imparting quality-training to his students. He holds regular workshops in New York at the Anindo Chatterjee School of Tabla and has also started a comprehensive Tabla training program at LearnQuest with his father. While being deeply rooted in the traditional style of playing, Anubrata also understands the need for his art to be contemporary. Based on this thought, he formed a unique percussion group named Taal- India wherein every region of the country was represented by a percussion instrument. He has also been a part of various fusion bands such as String-Struck, and has had the opportunity to share a stage with prominent artists such as Shankar Mahadevan, Ranjit Barot, Rahim al Haj (a renowned Oud player from Iraq). Currently, Anubrata is associated with an innovative musical movement Classicool, in the capacity of Lead Percussionist. The movement also involves leading musicians of the next generation such as Purbayan Chatterjee, Rakesh Chaurasia, and Gino Banks.
Samarth Nagarkar (Hindustani Vocal) Samarth Nagarkar has trained in the strict guru-shishya parampara under two renowned gurus and top ranking musicians-pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and Pandit Dinkar Kaikini. He is a former scholar of the prestigious ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata. He is currently the Guru and Director of Academic Affairs at Chhandayan, a prominent Indian music and dance school in New York City, and also teaches adjunct lectures and master-classes at Manhattan School of Music and New York University. Samarth was formerly the head of the K. K. Kapoor Sangeet Research Academy in Lucknow. As a voice coach, he has trained celebrities such as Priyanka Chopra, Grammy nominee Chandrika Tandon and others. He has two albums titled Pranali and Pravah and a book titled Raga Sangeet to his credit. He has composed music for major international films and conventions. Samarth is a recipient of a fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and a President s Award for winning the All India Radio s National Music Competition. Samarth features in prominent music festivals and venues in India and abroad including The ITC Sangeet Sammelans, The United Nations, World Music Institute, Chhandayan All Night Concert, Ragas Live Festival at the Rubin Museum of Art, Kashinath Bodas Festival, and several Global music festivals like The Winter Garden Festival and The International Fringe Festival. He has performed in some of the most iconic and historic venues such as Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, the Rockwood Music Hall, Jazz gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Pursuing a full-fledged career as a performer, composer, teacher and author, Samarth is described by critics as one of today s most prolific performers and a torchbearer of the traditions he represents. Amit Kavthekar (Tabla) Amit Kavthekar, a ganda-bandha shagird Late Ustad Allarakha, has rhythm running in his veins. At the early age of six, when most children of his age were playing about, Amit Kavthekar was being groomed in the art of tabla-playing by the maestro Ustad Allarakha. Since 1991, he has been fortunate to be taught the intricacies of tabla by Ustad Zakir Hussain. Amit has played with many Legends including Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Jasraj, Ustad Shahid Parvez and Pt. Buddhadev Dasgupta. He teaches Tabla at the American School of Bombay and at the New England School of Music in Boston. He is also a professor in Salem State University for the World Music Ensemble. Rohan Prabhu Desai (Harmonium) See performance of Kaushiki Chakraborty 9:20 3:40 5:30 8:50 12:20 2:10 6:20 8:10
Shadow & Light Fusion Words suspended in melody-that is how it started. Shadow and Light was born in New Delhi, from the efforts of Pavithra Chari and Anindo Bose to unlock the potential within a few notes of music. Together, the duo performs compositions in the Hindustani classical, pop, jazz, and electronic styles. Shadow and Light released their debut album in June 2014 which includes songs in both Hindi and English, shifting effortlessly between styles and genres. The songs it comprises of are written about personal milestones and obstacles, about the eternal mystery that we call life and the little, everyday things that matter to us most. The band was chosen as the 1st runner-up of the Sennheiser top 50 competition in 2015 and won the Radio City Freedom Awards for best Pop Artist 2016. In 2016 they released their second album Elements along with a music video for Dua on Pepsi MTV Indies. Earlier this month, the duo launched their third album, Sabar, which Pavitra says has a strong RnB influence. Noting the touch of perfection to their contemplative and celebratory tunes, The Hindu labelled it A sonic treat. Pavithra Chari (Vocal) Pavithra has trained in Hindustani classical under Shri Satya Narayan Maharana for over ten years and is currently honing her musical skills under the tutelage of Smt. Shubha Mudgal. A recipient of the Shri Netar Kapur Scholarship for 2015, she represented India as a vocalist at Ethno, an international music camp in Belgium and Germany. Pavithra has sung for a Himachali film Saanjh and has also collaborated with critically acclaimed playback singer Mohit Chauhan. Anindo Bose (Keyboard) Anindo has been a member of the band Advaita since its inception. He has been featured on Coke studio and MTV unplugged. He, along with Advaita, have won various awards including GIMA (Global Indian Music Awards) and have also lent their music to prominent films like Wazir featuring Amitabh Bachchan. Amit Kavthekar (Tabla) See performance of Samarth Nagarkar
Bombay Jayashri Ramnath (Carnatic Vocal) Bombay Jayashri, the award winning vocalist, composer and teacher of music was born to a family of five generations of musicians. Under her gurus, TR Balamani and Lalgudi Jayaraman, she trained in Carnatic music and imbibed the nuances of melody. Jayashri also trained in Hindustani music under Mahavir Jaipurvale and Ajay Pohankar. Bombay Jayashri has performed at festivals and concerts in more than 35 countries. Her compositions amalgamate classical Carnatic music with our rich legacy in literature and other art forms. She believes in experimenting and collaborating between different genres and various forms, diving into both World Music, and the music of film soundtracks of India. Jayashri s experiences with the power of music have motivated her to start Hitham, a foundation which works to share music with autistic children; exploring the therapeutic value of music in the lives of special children. Through Hitham, Jayashri facilitates and conducts music classes for children in rural areas of Tamil Nadu. H. N. Bhaskar (Violin) Parents HK Narasimhamurthy and HN Rajalakshmi initially trained H N Bhaskar. He then came under the tutelage of violin maestro MS Gopalakrishnan. He is an A- graded violinist of All India Radio. A talented composer, he has directed numerous fusion, light music and classical albums. A recipient of the prestigious Sangeeth Natak Academy Award and the Best Violinist Award (from The Music Academy Madras), Bhaskar s playing has gained popularity in recent Tamil movies too. Patri Satish Kumar (Mridangam) Born into a family of musicians, Patri Satish Kumar was initiated into the art of percussion by his mother Padmavathy, a renowned violinist and had his debut at the age of seven. Trained by Gurus Sree Ramachandramurthy, V.A.Swami and V. Narasimhan, Satish Kumar is an A-Top ranking artiste of the All India Radio. A performer and composer with a deep interest to innovate and explore the art form, Satish has been a regular feature in prestigious venues and festivals across India and around the world. His name features in scores of CD and DVD productions as a soloist, and as part of other Ensembles from Classical to various genres all over the world. B S Purushothaman (Kanjira) A disciple of mridanga vidwan late Bengalooru M. L. Veerabhadraiah, his son Bengalooru V. Praveen and Sangitha Kalanidhi T. K Murthy, B S Purushothaman is the recipient of numerous awards. He collaborated with pianist Anil Srinivasan and vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan.
Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (Hindustani Sarod) Mr. Majumdar's playing sometimes suggested the way Beethoven reconstructed a theme of his variations in his late works. -- New York Times, November 10, 1994. note any of their lessons. So I had to grasp all I could at that very instant while they were teaching. During this period, he stood first in the All India Radio Music Competition (1981), and was awarded the President's gold medal and the Pandit D. V. Paluskar award. After the untimely demise of Ustad Bahadur Khan, Tejendra studied under Ajay Sinha Roy, and was later accepted as a disciple by the great sarod player, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Tejendra s repertoire combines elements from the Dhrupad, Tantrakari and Gayaki styles of music. He is an able representative of the legendary Senia Maihar school of music, the most notable exponents of which style are Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Tejendra started learning music at an early age, first with his grandfather Bibhuti Ranjan Majumdar and later with his father, Ranjan Majumdar. He received vocal training from Amaresh Chowdhury and rhythm training from Anil Palit. After showing considerable talent in his early teens, Tejendra was taken under the guidance of Ustad Bahadur Khan, with whom he studied for 18 years. He recalls: My Gurus never allowed me to record or Tejendra has performed at major concerts in India and globally, and has been accompanied by great tabla players of India, including Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Swapan Chaudhury, Anindo Chatterjee and Ustad Zakir Hussain. He still feels: The stage remains to be a stage, no matter how many years I have spent on it. Every stage seems new to me. Every dais tests my ability. Every concert is a challenge for me. I try to enjoy my music every time I sit for any concert. Subhankar Banerjee (Tabla) Pandit Subhankar Banerjee, has accompanied stalwarts such as Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. Balamuralikrishna and Ustad Rashid Khan. His solo performances are emblematic of his catholicity as an artist exposed to and enriched by various genres. In his own words: I neither hail from a family of musicians nor were my gurus big names the joy of creating music, however, is unexplainable. I have performed some experiments without breaking away from the system. I have often interpreted the phrases differently and received appreciation for doing that which further strengthened my creative pursuit. Since childhood, I was exposed to all kinds of music from Bengali folk, film music to the most complex of bandishes. The music I play is an amalgam of my experiences and collective influences.
Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunathan (Carnatic Vocal) This child is like camphor! She grasps music like the camphor does fire!. (Late) Srimati Seethalakshmi Venkatesan, about her discple, Aishwarya Born into a family of connoisseurs of classical music, Aishwarya was initiated into the world of music at the age of three. She has the honor of being the disciple of musical stalwarts - Sangita Kalacharya (Late) Smt Seethalakshmi Venkatesan, Padma Bhushan Sri P S Narayanaswamy and Sangeetha Kala Sagaram Smt Vegavahini Vijayaraghavan, thus being moulded into the Semmangudi bani and the Veena Dhanammal bani. Aishwarya spent her childhood soaking in the music of the masters. She would wake up to Smt. MS Subbulakshmi s music, which was one of her greatest influences as a child. Starting from her first performance at age 13, Aishwarya has presented Carnatic Music to a variety of audiences at many national and international academic forums. Recordings of her concerts have been released by Rajalakshmi Audio and Charsur. Aishwarya has also had the distinction of accompanying her guru, Smt Seethalakshmi Venkatesan for the AIR National Programme in 2012. A biotech engineer, Aishwarya worked at Biocon, and is now a full-time music professional. She is also a talented painter: she is proficient in oil painting, acrylic painting, water colours and charcoal drawings. In 2017, her art was recognized by Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath through the exhibition, Akanksha. She was among 50 working women chosen from different walks of life with considerable interest in art and painting. Aishwarya is an ardent traveller. Her natural talent for art has since blossomed into a passion for photography. Aishwarya was awarded the Government of India scholarship (Ministry of Culture) between the years 2008-2010. She is an A- graded artiste of the All India Radio and Doordarshan. Trivandrum Sampath (violin) Trivandrum N. Sampath has accompanied senior musicians including T.V. Sankaranarayanan, O.S. Thyagarajan, and T.K. Gopalakrishnan. He believes in kelvinjanam knowledge through listening and believes that the key to excelling as a violinist lies in constantly updating and expanding one's repertoire of ragas and compositions. Furthermore, he says: As an accompanying instrument, the violin has to blend in with the style of the vocalist, and never overpower the vocals. That is the dharma of a violinist. He is an A-grade artiste of All India Radio. As part of his doctorate at Sree Swati Tirunal Government College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram, he is researching on Tygaraja kritis in raga Thodi. Delhi Sairam (Mridangam) See performance of Guitar Prasanna
Hindustani Jugalbandi Debapriya Adhikary (Vocal) Initially nurtured and groomed by his mother Smt. Anita Adhikary, Debapriya learnt for 13 years from Pt. Samaresh Chawdhury of Senia Gharana. He also received guidance from Pt. Kumar Prasad Mukherjee of the Agra Atrauli Gharana and from Pt. Vijay Kichluji. Both enriched his gayaki with khayalang and dhrupadang. Finally, he received taleem for 9 years from Padmavibhushan Girija Devi of Benaras Gharana as a Gandabandh disciple. This has helped him acquire mastery on thumri, tappa, dadra, kajri, jhula etc. along with the subtleties of khayal. Debapriya has earned a name around the world with his expert rendition of all these genres. He is a topper with Masters in Music from University of Calcutta, empanelled artiste with ICCR, and an A graded artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan Samanwaya Sarkar (Sitar) Samanwaya started his primary lessons from childhood at the hands of Pt. Sasanka Bandopdhyaya. His subsequent taleem was from Pt. Manilal Nag for 12 years. Pt. Shyamal Chatterjee (Bishnupur, Senia Maihar) and Pt. Kumar Prasad Mukherjee (Agra Atrauli gharana) greatly contributed to his unique style of blending Tantrakaari ang (i.e. style of instrumental music) with gayaki ang (i.e. style of vocal music) of Dhrupad and Khayal. Since his childhood, he got the support of his father Sri Swapan Kumar Sarkar in every step of his musical pursuit. Finally, he was under the tutelage of the Padmavibhushan Girija Devi as a Gandabandh disciple, from whom he has imbibed the intricacies of khayal, thumri, tappa, dadra, jhula etc in his Sitar. According to his gurumaa Smt. Girija Devi ji He is the only Sitarist of the country who is playing tappa after learning the proper intricacies of the form. Samanway is an A-Graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Almost all Jugalbandis in Indian Classical music are with same genre of expression: of two vocalists or of two instrumentalists. But Debapriya and Samanwaya present their Duet in a different way: Debapriya is a vocalist and Samanwaya plays Sitar. Together, they have also directed the documentary film on Dr. Girija Devi named Girija: A Lifetime in Music", and composed music for an Australian film ''The Sleeping Warrior''. Subrata Bhattacharya (Tabla) Subrata Bhattacharya of the Farukhabad Gharana received taleem under Shri Tamal Krishna Chatterjee, Shri Nripen Karmakar and Shri Tapan Kr. Banerjee before he became a pupil of Pt. Shankar Ghosh. He has been the recipient of awards such as the Sangeet Prabhakar, and Sangeet Praveen from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahadad, and Sangeet Bhushan from the Bhatkhande College, Lucknow. He has accompanied renowned artists including Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, and Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar. He is a visiting professor at the Universty of Urbana Champaign, Illinois. The next milestone of his creativity and innovation is "Naad- The Everlasting Sound", a group he has formed to experiment with fusion music. He is part of the Chicagobased Indo-Jazz band Flat-Earth Ensemble.
Guitar Prasanna (Carnatic Instrumental) Prasanna is the quintessential Indian Renaissance man. A pioneer in performing Carnatic music on the guitar, an engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, a composer for award winning films, an internationally acclaimed guitarist in contemporary Jazz, Rock and Blues, a Magna-Cum-Laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, and an entrepreneurial visionary who established a world class music college that blends the Indian Gurukula system of learning with contemporary western college education pedagogy. Voted among the top 50 creative Indians by Open Magazine in 2010 alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Amir Khan, Viswanathan Anand, Arundati Roy and others. Prasanna (Smile Pinki) also belongs to a select group of Indian composers along with Pandit Ravi Shankar (Gandhi) and A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) who have composed music for Oscar Winning films. Prasanna is a fearless innovator in contemporary music and yet steeped in the authentic Carnatic tradition with 6 years of study with guru Vocalist Tiruvarur Balasubramaniam and 26 years of study with masterful violinist guru A. Kanyakumari. He was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award for Carnatic music by H.H. Sri Jayendra Saraswathi. Prasanna s prolific body of work include 16 albums as leader, a concert DVD and an Instructional DVD and numerous concerts at major festivals with some of the world s most acclaimed artists across every genre of contemporary music. He is a member of three bands Raga Metal Conversations with Alex Skolnick and Anton Fig, Ragabop trio with Steve Smith and George Brooks and Tirtha with Vijay Iyer and Nitin Mitta. Prasanna s composition Falsehood is featured in the Book Essentials of Jazz the first 100 years alongside the works of some of the most influential composers in Jazz History. He is deeply devoted to spreading the gospel of Carnatic music on the guitar and is passionately educating young children from all over the world in this beautiful art form. Delhi Sairam (Mridangam) In 1997, Delhi Sairam's family moved from New Delhi to Chennai with the sole objective of enabling him to pursue Mridangam as a full time profession. In New Delhi, he learnt the basics of the art form from Sri T.R. Dhandapani. Since 1997, he has been under the strict and expert tutelage of Mridangam Maestro, Sri Tiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam. He has accompanied eminent musicians such as Dr. N. Ramani, Sri T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Sri O.S.Tyagarajan, and Smt Bombay Jayashri Ramnath. He has also recorded a Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi along with Sikkil Gurucharan and Abhisekh Raghuram, and performed live on All India Radio and Doordarshan. Nitin Mitta (Tabla) See Performance of Rachna Bodas
Rachna Bodas (Hindustani Vocal) Rachna displayed keen interest in music since childhood, encouraged by her father Shri Ravi Shankar Shukla, an accomplished tabla player in Kanpur. Her training was formalized under the guidance of Pundit Kashinath Shankar Bodas and later from eminent vocalist Dr. Veena Sahasrabuddhe. She holds an MA in music from Pune University and Sangeet Visharad from the Gandharva Mahavidyala Mandal. She was awarded with the national scholarship from the Government of India. She is also a B-High artist of All India Radio, Lucknow in classical and light music category. She has accompanied her guru in various concerts in India and abroad. She has given performances at major music conferences and festivals in India and USA. When it comes to khayal gayaki I would say, as it describes from its name Khyal meaning Imagination, developing a raag depends on the mood of that raag. I feel it is like a flower bud opening up slowly and reaching to its full blossoming stage. In the same way a raag is unfolded and developed with the imagination of an artist. -- In Conversation With Smt. Rachna Bodas, Lokvani, 2016 Ramchandra Joshi (Harmonium) Shri Ramchandra Joshi is an accomplished vocalist and harmonium player, residing in Edison, New Jersey. He received guidance from the leading Gwalior Gharana vocalist Dr.Veena Sahasrabuddhe. He was initiated into music at the age of 8 years, under the tutelage of Mrs. Krishna Mukherjee, a disciple of Begum Parveen Sultana. He also took lessons from Mrs. Sraboni Mukherjee, a disciple of Mrs Shobha Gurtu, in Light Classical Music like Thumri and Hori. He is a grade B Artist at All India Radio and also topped the music competition held by AIR in Light Classical Vocal music category. Nitin Mitta (Tabla) Born in Hyderabad in 1975, Nitin received his early training in Hyderabad from Pandit G. Satyanarayana. Thereafter, he sought the guidance of Pandit Arvind Mulgaonkar of Mumbai. Both of Nitin s gurus are disciples of the late Ustad Amir Hussain Khan Saheb, legendary doyen of the Farukhabad Gharana. A dynamic soloist, he has also accompanied celebrated musicians, including Pandit Jasraj, Dr. Prabha Atre, and Ustad Shahid Parvez, as well Lalgudi G.J.R Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi. Nitin joined forces with Grammy Nominee Pianist Vijay Iyer and electric guitarist R. Prasanna to produce a studio album titled Tirtha that blends elements of contemporary jazz with the North and South Indian traditional ragas and compositions. Another collaboration with R. Prasanna can be heard on the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning documentary Smile Pinky. Nitin received a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on Arts. He was also a member of the faculty at the Learn Quest. 9:20 1:00 3:40 5:30 8:50 12:20 2:10 6:20 8:10
Sikkil Gurucharan (Carnatic Vocal) Sikkil Gurucharan is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, the older of the internationally acclaimed flautists Padmashri Sikkil Sisters. Gurucharan has been under the tutelage of Vaigal Shri. Gnanaskandan and is currently being mentored by Shri B Krishnamurthy. One might think his musical lineage precedes him, but his voice, training and dedication stand their own ground. In a span of close to 13 years, Gurucharan has performed extensively in India and abroad, in prestigious venues and popular festivals. Apart from the concerts in India, he frequently tours abroad for giving concerts in various festivals and is also an A grade All India Radio artiste. Sikkil Gurucharan is among the young musicians who stand as youth ambassadors for the future of Carnatic Music. This is evident in his active participation in youth festivals and lecturedemonstrations. He has opened the gates to a larger audience by having a welcoming attitude towards innovation while retaining the spirit of the original art form. V Sanjeev (Violin) At the tender age of three. V Sanjeev was found to have a unique ability to translate songs into swaras. He inherited the essence of Carnatic music from his versatile mother, Smt. Brinda Venkataramanan, a disciple of Tanjore Sri S. Kalyanaraman. His early tutelage of violin was under Alandur Sri Nataraja Iyer and he continued learning violin from Kalaimamani Kum. A. Kanyakumari since 1992. Having given his debut solo concert in 1994, in 1998, Sanjeev started his musical career as accompanying violinist. He gained considerable reputation as an accompanist to many eminent vocalists in carnatic music. He is an A-Grade artiste of AIR, a Software engineer with a B.E. (Computer Science) and an M.S. (Information Systems). R. Sankaranaryanan (Mridangam) R. Sankaranaryanan s father, Sri R. Ramani Bhagavathar is one of the direct disciples of Sri Sivan and an eminent Nama Sankeerthanam exponent. He started learning Mridangam from Sri Kumar and now he is under the able guidance of Shri V.Rajarao. He has performed with senior Carnatic artistes like Dr. M. BalamuraliKrishna, and Shri. T. V. Sankaranarayanan and others such as George Brooks, Ustad Shujaat Khan, and Pt Tejendra Majumdar. Sankaranarayanan has done M.A. and M.Phil., with his dissertation topic being Depiction of Mridangam in Sanskrit literature.
Pandit Satish Vyas (Hindustani Santoor) Sitting cross-legged, cradling his Santoor, quiet, contemplative, introspective, his eyes seem focused on an inner vision. And as his nimble fingers coax fragile, mellifluous sounds out of those delicate strings one cannot help but get transported to another dimension. One admired the way he showered (notes) like rose petals, teasing permutations with a thoroughness that revealed his technical as well as his aesthetic competency. -- The Statesman, August 10, 1989 His first fortune was to be born the son of Padma Bhushan Late Pandit C. R. Vyas, one of the most respected khayal vocalists of India. He started learning vocal music from his father at the age of 14. But it was the Santoor that young Satish's heart was set on. His second fortune was to be accepted as a disciple by the great Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma - a man so identified with his instrument that classical Indian santoor playing is unthinkable without Shiv Kumar Sharma's contribution to the art. The combination of training under both his father and Shivji has given Satish an ability to display gayaki ang as well as layakari / tantrakari ang in his Santoor playing. Before taking the decision to make music his profession, Satish Vyas completed his education in Mathematics (BA), Statistics (MA) and Business Administration (MBA) and worked with ICICI, NCPA, Philips and HMV. Over the past ten years he has been a Director of Navras Records in India, whose large repertoire is distributed in India through Sony Nâd label of Sony Music. Pandit Satish Vyas was honoured with a Padma Shri by The Government of India and most recently the Lifetime Achievement Award by Spandan from Goa. Ojas Adhiya (Tabla) Ojas father spotted his keen interest in percussion at a tender age of two years and put him under the care of well-known music composers Shri Kalyanji-Anandji. At five years of age, he became the Gandaa Bandh Shaagird- Disciple of Shri Mridangraj ji. Ojas performed in almost 500 stage shows globally in the Little-Wonders programs of Shri Kalyanji-Anandji s Kalavir Academy. His many distinctions include The Limca Book of Records (1993) as the youngest tabla player of India, Pandit V.D Paluskar Award (1998), Promising artiste award by ITC SRA, and the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar by Sangeet Natak Academy (2015). He has accompanied legends in Classical and Ghazals such as Begum Parween Sultana, Ustad Rashid Khan, and Pandit Satish Vyas, as well as Asha Bhosle, Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota, Talat Aziz, and many others.
Rakesh Chaurasia (Flute) Rakesh Chaurasia started as a child prodigy and went on to become one of the most accomplished disciples of his uncle, flute maestro, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Infusing the tradition of the Chaurasia legacy with his personal influence, he has evolved a style that maintains the purity of the flute and captures the attention of the young listeners too. Rakesh s flute has matched note and rhythm with wind instruments of other cultures as well as having performed jugalbandis with Carnatic and world famous instrumentalists. Rakesh s forte is in blending his flute without really losing its identity in mixed instruments concerts. Rakesh has been the recipient of numerous accolades, and has appeared in prominent events in india and abroad. He was invited to conclude the twenty-four hour live BBC Radio broadcast celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth s Silver Jubilee, reaching audiences worldwide. He has toured with tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain and also performed with international musicians such as Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Joshua Redman. Rakesh's most recent venture is his fusion band Rakesh and Friends (RAF) which creates music that appeals to the young without sacrificing the essence of classical music. Zakir Hussain (Tabla) The Maestro in his own words When I play music, I pay homage. When I practice music, I meditate. You learn! You learn! You learn! You don t ask questions. You learn and in that process you find your answers. The answer may appear five years later, which you may very well have been told five years earlier. You find out and may be that is a better way to learn, because you have grown with the answer to a point where you understand it. -- Documentary The Speaking Hand I was brought home from the hospital. The tradition is that the son is handed to the father, and then the father has to recite a prayer in the son's ear, putting him on his way. My father, when he took me in his arm, instead of reciting a prayer, he sang rhythms in my ear and my mother was very upset and said, 'Why are you doing this?' And he said, 'Because this is my prayer' I ve never wanted to fit in Abbaji s shoes and am happy to walk in my own. My father made it categorically clear: I don t expect my sons to be me because what I m doing is already done. They ve to be better than me, he d say. Photocopies are eventually consigned to the dust bin and only originals preserved." I firmly believe that the primary role of the tabla is saat sangat (accompaniment). Which is why I enjoy being on stage with Shivji, Amjadbhai or Birju Maharaj. I look forward to these concerts. Unlike a solo concert where I am my own boss, here I have to strike a dialogue in the musicmaking process. This enriches and makes me a better musician and tabla player. -- Interview with DNA India My tabla is actually pointing out to me how much more there is to do. The thing is, every time you play with a new musician, you see that musician looking at your music, your ability, yourself, through his or her eyes, and therefore discovering different shades that I myself may have overlooked...my tabla is saying to me, There s more to do: Miles to go before you sleep. -- Interview for CapitolBop 9:20 1:00 3:40 5:30 8:50 12:20 2:10 8:10 23 March Sanders Theater