Headlining Performers
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Supriya Das
Supriya Das is a classical vocalist from Bangladesh, an exponent of Khayal. She began her training under her mother, Sujata Paul, and later trained under Pandit Ramkanai Das and Rezwan Ali. She is presently a student of Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, under the guidance of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. Born in 1990, Supriya Das is a classical vocalist who was introduced to music from a very early age. Trained under Pandit Ramkanai Das till he passed away recently, Supriya later become a disciple of FM Rezwan Ali and received a brief training from Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar under a Bengal Foundation scholarship. She is a regular Radio Bangladesh Grade A artist in both classical and Nazrul Sangeet; and has performed in many important programmes, including 5th Annual Classical Music Conference of Lakshyapar and the Bengal Classical Music Festival 2014. Currently a MBA student at Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Supriya aspires to spend her life learning and propagating classical music.
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Suresh Talwalkar
Suresh Talwalkar is a renowned Indian tabla artist. He studied the rhythm theory of Carnatic music and Hindustani Classical singing. He began his training under the guidance of his father, Dattatrey Talwalkar, and continued his musical education from Pandit Pandharinath Nageshkar, Pandit Vinayakrao Ghangrekar and Pandit Ramnad Ishwaran. Talwalkar’s style draws from several gharanas and he has been known to accompany numerous distinguished musicians - he frequently performed with sarangi artist Pandit Ram Narayan since the late 1960s, and has accompanied classical singer Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar on many occasions. He performed at numerous prestigious shows in India and around the world. Talwalkar is the recipient of numerous awards including the Padma Shri, Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, All India Radio Award, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, to name a few. He is also a Guru at the Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay in Dhaka.
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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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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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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.