Headlining Performers . 2017
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Purbayan Chatterjee
Purbayan Chatterjee is a renowned Sitar maestro from India. An exponent of the Senia Maihar Gharana, he is a direct disciple of his father - Pandit Parthapratim Chatterjee – and Sarod legend Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Chatterjee has performed extensively in India and overseas. His notable collaborations include performances with Shankar Mahadevan and Ustad Zakir Hussain. He is a recipient of many awards which include the President’s Award and the Rotary International Award.
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Rajrupa Chowdhury
Rajrupa Chowdhury took up the sarod at age five and trained under Sidhhartha Roy Chowdhury for twenty years. Brought up in the legacy of Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra of Rajshahi and Kolkata, she received top honors in Masters in Instrumental Music from the Rabindra Bharati University. She receives advanced taalim from Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay who continues to inspire and nurture her approach towards North Indian Classical music. Rajrupa Chowdhury has performed all around the world and has received several awards.
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Rakesh Chaurasia
Rakesh Chaurasia is an acclaimed flautist from India. He is a student and nephew of the iconic maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. R Chaurisia has been known to perform as a solo act, as well as with other musicians including Ustad Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Joshua Redman, amongst others. He has extensively toured in India and abroad – some of his notable shows include WOMAD, Festival of Saint-Denis in Paris, the Leicester International Music Festival in England and – most notably – a conclusion act for a twenty-four hour live BBC Radio broadcast celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee. Chaurisia is a recipient of the Indian Music Academy Award, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Award, Aditya Birla Kalakiran Puraskar, Guru Shishya Award, IWAP-Pandit Jasraj Sangeet Ratna Award and Pannalal Ghosh Puraskar.
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Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan is a distinguished vocalist from India. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana, and is the great-grandson of Inayat Hussain Khan and the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. Khan began his training under the guidance of his uncle and later from Nissar Hussain Khan. Khan is known to include the slow elaboration in his vilambit khayals in the manner of his maternal grandfather and developed exceptional expertise in the use of sargams and sargam taankari. His vocal prowess is considered to be one best in the tradition of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana and his performances are marked by spontaneous emotional appeal. Khan was awarded with the Padma Shri, as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006, Global Indian Music Awards in 2010, and the Maha Sangeet Samman 2012.
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Ronu Majumdar
Ranendranath Majumdar, popularly known as Ronu Majumdar, is a renowned Indian flautist. He is firmly rooted in the Maihar Gharana and trained under the guidance of his father Dr. Bhanu Majumdar, Pandit Lakshman Prasad Jaipurwale, Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Majumdar has been felicitated with many accolades for his memorable performances worldwide. He composed music for India’s first I-Max film ‘Mystic India’ and has led a concert of 5,378 flautists on one stage called ‘Venu Naad’ under the banner of ‘Art of Living’. The event was recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records. Majumdar was awarded with an All India Radio Award, a Grammy Nomination, Aditya Vikram Birla Award, Lifetime Achievement Award by Sahara India, National Kumar Gandharva Award and Sangeet Natak Academy Award for his contribution to Hindustani Instrumental Music.
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Sabir Khan
Sabir Khan is an Indian Classical musician known for his mastery of sarangi. He is the ninth generation musicians from his family to take up the instrument. Khan is the great grandson of Ustad Azim Khan, grandson of Ustad Gulab Khan, nephew of Hanif Khan and cousin of Dilshad Khan. He began his training under the guidance of his father, Ustad Sultan Khan, and uncle, Ustad Nasir Khan, and belongs to Sikar Gharana of Music. He has performed alongside his father and other great artists such as Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Kumar Bose, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Ustad Gulam Ali, Talat Aziz, Asha Bhosle and The Hazards. Khan has also played in several feature films like Chameli, Rog, Dor, Anwar, Sanwariya, Chhodon Naa Yaar, Jodha Akbar and more recently Amma.
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Saskia Rao-de Haas
Saskia Rao-de Haas is a renowned cellist and composer from the Netherlands, based in India. She trained in the disciplines of the western music, but changed her focus after coming into contact with Indian music in 1993. She began her training under Tibor de Machula and later studied the cello at the Conservatory of Rotterdam, specialising in Indian classical music under Koustav Ray and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, while finishing her masters in Ethnomusicology from the University of Amsterdam. Critics and audiences have praised her for artistic depth and technical virtuosity. Haas is credited for creating the ‘Indian cello’ and the ‘Veena d’ Amore’ - a smaller, electro acoustic cello. She has extensively toured through North America, Europe and Asia; performing at numerous prestigious shows and venues. Haas was the first female foreign artist to have performed at the prestigious Doverlane Music conference in Kolkata. Other notable Indian shows include performances at Legends of India in New Delhi, Saptak Festival in Ahmdehabad, Vasanta Habbha in Bangalore, Maihar festival, and Haridas Sangeet Samelan in Lucknow. She is a recipient of the Pandit Jasraj -Rotary Club of Hyderabad Award and Delhi Ratna. Haas, along with Shubhendra Rao, runs a foundation to promote Indian music education.
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Shahid Parvez Khan
Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is a renowned vocalist from India. He has performed in most major musical festivals in India and abroad, including the festival held in the US, Europe, Canada, Africa, Russia, Middle-East and Australia.
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Shivkumar Sharma
The name Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, to many aficionados of classical music, is synonymous with the santoor. He is credited for bringing the instrument from the realm of Kashmiri folk music into that of the Indian Classical platform, while facing resistance from most conservative quarters. Sharma’s journey began when his father asked him to pursue the development of the Kashmiri santoor. His persistence, repeated experiments and reconfigurations with the instrument gave it new life and eventually paved the way for a new genre of music, earning him tremendous success in the process. Considered to be a living legend and an embodiment of Indian ethos and values, Shivkumar Sharma has been the recipient of several awards from all over the world, which includes the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Shri, Tansen Samman, Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award, International Cultural Ambassador Award, Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters of The Indira Gandhi National Open University, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow, amongst many others.
