Artist Archive
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Uday Bhawalkar
Uday Bhawalkar is a distinguished vocalist from India. He spent over a decade studying and living in the traditional guru-shishya parampara with Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. Bhawalkar has an engaging style and is able to reach out and communicate with audiences of all backgrounds. He has toured in both India and abroad, and has received prestigious awards including the Kumar Gandharva Samman 2001 and the Raza Foundation Award in 2007. He has joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a visiting guru since 2012, and is also a guru at the Bengal Parampara Sangeetalaya in Dhaka.
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Ulhas Kashalkar
Ulhas Kashalkar is an acclaimed vocalist from India. He was born into a family of musicians. His father, N D Kashalkar, a musician in his own right, initiated him into Indian classical music. He also received training from great masters such as Pandit Ram Marathe and Pandit Gajananbua Joshi. Today, Kashalkar is considered to be a representative of the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharana. He has toured extensively around the world and participated in various music festivals in India and abroad. Kashalkar is a recipient of several awards, among them the prestigious Padma Shri and the Sangeet Natak Academy Award. He has been a Guru at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy for nearly twenty years and is presently the Principal and Guru of the Bengal Parampara Sangeetalaya, in Dhaka.
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Umakant Gundecha & Ramakant Gundecha
Umakant Gundecha and Ramakant Gundecha, known as the Gundecha Brothers were introduced to music by their parents, and are leading Dagarvani Dhrupad (devotional music) singers today. They were born in Ujjain in Central India into a Jain family; and received conventional university educations before moving to Bhopal in 1981 to train for four years under dhrupad masters, Zia Fariddudin Dagar and his brother Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. They gave their first performance in May 1985. Umakant and Ramakant have received many scholarships and awards, and were jointly awarded the Padmashree in 2012. The brothers have founded the Dhrupad Institute in Bhopal where they are teaching students from India and abroad.
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Vikku Vinayakram
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram, popularly known as Vikku Vinayakram, is a distinguished Carnatic ghatam artist from India; one of the percussionists credited for popularising the instrument. He trained under the guidance of his father Thethakudi Harihara Sarma, a notable percussionist. Vinayakram has widely toured in India and abroad. Apart from being an exponent of classical, he was also one of the members of the band Shakti – fusing Indian music with elements of jazz, along with John McLaughlin, L Shankar, Zakir Hussain, and Ramnad Raghavan. Vinayakram is a recipient of the Padma Shree, Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Sangeetha Natak Academy Award, a Grammy, amongst many others, for his contributions to music. He is also the Principal of Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya in Chennai, India – an academy established by his late father in 1958.
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Vinayakram Selvaganesh
Vinayakram Selvaganesh is a renowned Indian composer and percussionist, known to play the kanjira. He is the grandson of T R Harihara Sarma and son of T H Vikku Vinayakram. Selvaganesh trained under the guidance of his uncle, T H Subashchandran, at the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya. He is a patron of classical music, as well as contemporary genres. Selvaganesh was a member of the band Masters of Percussion – with Ustad Alla Rakha, Shakti and Remember Shakti – alongside John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. Throughout his career he has also performed with Dr. L Shankar, Dr. L Subramaniam, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurisia, Jonas Hellborg and Shawn Lane. Selvaganesh presently works with music for Indian films and his band dr JSM, with the UK-based songwriter/producer Dr. Joel and Carnatic singer Mahesh.
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Vishal Krishna
Vishal Krishna was born in 1991 to a family of distinguished musicians. He is the 11th generation of a line of dancers in the Banaras tradition. Krishna received his first training at the age of 3 from his grandmother Dr. Sitara Devi and later from Pandit Ravi Shanker Mishra. He also received training under his father Mohan Krishna, a celebrated Kathak dancer. Krishna has performed all over India and received the Shringar Mani Award in 2007.
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Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is a renowned classical musician from India, creator of the Mohan Veena – a modified 20-string Hawaiian guitar. Bhaat trained under the guidance of Pandit Ravi Shankar, and has achieved international acclaim for successfully implementing techniques of the sitar, sarod and veena on the western Hawaiian guitar. He extensively toured in India and abroad, and is a recipient of the Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and a Grammy.
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Vivek Sonar
Vivek Sonar is a flute artist from Northern Maharashtra, India. He trained under the guidance of Pandit Purushottam Antapurkar and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
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Warda Rihab
Warda Rihab is a distinguished dancer from Bangladesh. She trained under the guidance of Sharmila Banerjee, Tamanna Rahman, and Belayet Hossain Khan. Rihab is currently a student of Guru Kalavati Devi and Bimbavati Devi. She is working as a teacher of Manipuri dance in Chayanaut Sangeet Viddayatan and Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, and is the founder and artistic director of Dhriti Nartanalaya. Rihab has toured extensively within the country and has performed at shows overseas. She is a recipient of the Gold Medal from Rabindra Bharati University, Shikriti Shonmanona Award, Nritya Shiromani Award, Natya Sharadhi Award, Guru Mohisnam Amubi Singh Award, Dr. Hironmoy Banarjee Memorial Award, Dr. Nirod Boron Memorial Award, Sringermani Award, West Bengal Rajya Sangeet Academy Award, Sangeet Bibhakar Award, Dhaka University Award, and the National Education Week Award in Bangladesh.
