Latest Coverage
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Tanmoy Bose
Tanmoy Bose is a renowned tabla artist, as well as a composer and actor, from India. He initially began training in classical vocals, under the guidance of Pandit Maharaj Banerjee, and also learnt to play the harmonium and tabla under Pandit Mantu Banerjee. He began training under Pandit Kanai Dutta after the passing of his first guru and later became a disciple of Pandit Shankar Ghosh. Bose has performed at prestigious shows in India and abroad. His notable collaborations include performances with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, Pandit V G Jog, Ustad Imrat Khan, and many others. Bose is also a founding member of the band, Taal Tantra. He is a recipient of numerous awards and accolades which include the Sangeet Sanman, Sangeet Maha Sanman, amongst numerous others.
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Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
Tejendra Narayan Majumdar is a distinguished sarod artist from India. He began his early training under the guidance of his grandfather, Bibhuti Ranjan Majumdar, and later his father, Ranjan Majumdar, nurtured Majumdar’s considerable talent. He eventually continued his training under many notable musicians, which included Ustad Bahadur Khan, Pandit Amaresh Chowdhury, Anil Palit, Pandit Ajay Sinha Roy, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Majumdar is known to combine the intellectual density and technical virtuosity of his gharana, while combining elements from the Dhrupad, Tantrakari, as well as Gayaki styles of music. Quoting the New York Times in an article published in 1994: ‘Mr. Majumdar’s playing sometimes suggested the way Beethoven reconstructed a theme of his variations in his late works.’ He was awarded the President’s Gold Medal, the Pandit D V Paluskar Award, the Sangeet Mahasamman, to name a few. He is currently a guru at the Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, in Dhaka.
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U Rajesh
U Rajesh is a notable mandolin artist from India. He is the brother of mandolin maestro U Shrinivas and began his training under the guidance of his father and brother. Rajesh has performed at shows in India and abroad and collaborated with a number of musicians, which includes Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shankar Mahadevan, Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Mike Marshall, Karsh Kale, John McLaughlin, amongst many others. Rajesh is a recipient of the President’s Award in 2007 and a Grammy nomination in 2009 with John McLaughlin for his album ‘Floating Point’.
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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.
