Nritya Arpan 10/16/16

Nritya Arpan – A Kathak Repertoire Presentation of Nritta, Nritya and Natya by Kathak Rhythm ensemble accompanied by live music ICMC of DFW and Kathak Rhythms have together embarked on a mission to spotlight, promote and institutionalize the Kathak form of Indian Classical dance. Kathak has evolved into its present rich and beautiful form absorbing style, music and culture over the ages from Hindu, Mughal and regional Indian Folk styles, making it into a true representation of our culture. Your support is sought for the unique presentation, to help preserve our culture, art and heritage, by encouraging our talented local artists trained in this beautiful dance. The offering of pure Kathak Nritya, Nritta and Natya set to live music will enthrall you. Events Tickets, Donor and Sponsor Information: (1) Kathak Rhythms, (469) 443 – 8225; www.kathakrhythms.com or (2) ICMC, (214) 336 – 3459 Sunday, October 16, 2016 4:00:00 PM Granville Arts Center, 300 N. Fifth Street, Garland, Texas 75040

Hindustani Flute Recital – Magical Bamboo Flute Rakesh Chaurasia, the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, has a famous name to live up to. Amongst the promising musicians of the second generation, Rakesh has carved a niche for himself , as an accomplished flautist. Incorporating the tradition of his renowned uncle and infusing his personal style , he has evolved a style which while maintaining the purity of the flute manages to capture the attention of the young listeners too. The most accomplished of disciples of his uncle, however, shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights. Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and non-classical concerts .He is also an accomplished studio musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry. Rakesh has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades. He received the Indian Music Academy Award, presented by the Honourable President Of India, Dr..A.P.J Abdul Kalam in 2007, the Aditya Birla Kalakiran Puraskar in 2008, the Guru Shishya Award in 2011, IWAP-Pandit Jasraj Sangeet Ratna Award in 2013 and the Pannalal Ghosh Puraskar 2013. Recently Rakesh toured as a duo for classical concerts as well as for The Masters of Percussion with legendary tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain at some prestigious venues globally. Rakesh has also had the priviledge of performing with some international names 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. He is destined to carve a niche for himself in the realm of Indian Classical Music with the simple yet extremely challenging instrument, the Bansuri. Sunday, October 02, 2016 4:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Aditya Kalyanpur is a talented tabla player and percussionist beyond his years, who has made a distinguished career working with some of the most prestigious names in Indian classical, jazz, and fusion genres such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, AR Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Pandit Jasrajji, Larry Coryell, George Brooks, Kenwood Denard, Boston based jazz band Natraj, Mickey Hart, John Mclaughflin. Kalyanpur was first seen with his Guru Ustad Zakir Hussain for the famous “Wah Taj!” television commercial at the age of 11. Having the honor of being recognized as an “A” Grade Artist of All India Radio, he has given public performances along with his guru. Since then he has lent the enchanting music of his tabla to numerous commercials. Honored with the title of Taal – Mani, Aditya Kalyanpur is the recipient of ITC’s prestigious Vidyasagar Award as well as the Sangeet Visharad. A commerce graduate, Aditya Kalyanpur has also achieved the distinct title as a Music Diplomat from Mumbai University. He has received scholarship from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training in New Delhi. In addition to many awards given in India and the United States, Kalyanpur is one of the first tabla players ever to be invited to Estonia for the prestigious Orient Arts Festival. As a soloist and accompanist, he has performed at other prestigious music festivals in India and abroad including the Edinburgh festival in Scotland, the Earagal Arts Festival in Ireland, and the Jazz Yatra in Bombay, India.On a more local scene, Kalyanpur has also appeared at the Great Lakes Folk Festival held every year in Lansing, Michigan, and many other festivals and competitions held across the United States. As a mark of his true versatility as a musician, Kalyanpur has performed solo for many bands and instrumental groups, including the world famous The Rolling Stones and also recorded for their saxophonist, Tim Ries. Aditya Kalyanpur is currently the leader of his fusion band Fuzikk, and a member of the world renowned group Bombay Jazz comprised of jazz legends Larry Coryell, George Brooks and Indian Flute Maestro Pandit Ronu Mazumdar.

Shaam-e-Qawwali – Farid Ayaz & Abu Muhammad Ensemble – Live in Concert Qawwali is an ancient musical tradition that integrates spiritual, philosophical, religious, musical, and poetic elements to create an atmosphere that facilitates a spiritual connection between participants in a mehfil-e-samaa – a gathering of listeners of qawwali – and the ones they truly love. Qawwali has existed in a number of forms – samaa, zikr, Vedic chants and many others – for at least thirty-two centuries. The form of qawwali practiced today was invented by Hazrat Amir Khusrao in the thirteenth century. A poet, scholar, philosopher, politician, and musician, Khusrao defined, documented and established the tradition of Khusravi qawwali. He trained twelve young men – the Qawwal Bachay – in the art of qawwali to help propagate qawwali. Miyan Saamat Bin Ibrahim was the leader of this first group of qawwali performers. The tradition thus established has been preserved for more than eight centuries by the descendants of the Qawwal Bachay. It is followed by performers of qawwali in Pakistan, India and the rest of the world today. Farid Ayaz Qawwal & Abu Muhammad Qawwal are direct descendants of Miyan Saamat Bin Ibrahim and represent the twenty-seventh generation of the original qawwali performers trained by Amir Khusrao. Masters of music, poetry and rhythm, heirs to the original tradition of Khusrao’s qawwali, expert musicians, and the torchbearer’s of the tradition of Khusravi qawwali, the brothers are considered to be the foremost qawwals in the world today. They are known for their tremendous loyalty to Khusravi qawwali, their immense knowledge of Hindustani Sangeet, and for the remarkable fidelity and purity of their song; the qawwali that they perform is the same one that was practiced more than eight hundred years ago. Nothing has been allowed to change. Saturday, August 27, 2016 7:30:00 PM University Theater, University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Richardson, TX

Hindustani Violin Recital – Singing Strings Pandit Milind Raikar is a renowned Violinist in today’s generation. He is mainly Disciple of Padmashri Pandit D.K.Datar and Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar. Today, Milind has devised his unique style of playing violin. He has evolved a way peculiar to him of wielding the bow. The listeners rejoice his soothing, scintillating, brilliant and soul touching performance having a very different style. Initially he studied Hindustani Classical Music under the able guidance of his father Late Shri Atchut Raikar. Thereafter, Milind learnt from Pt. B.S.Math (Dharwad) and Pt.Vasantrao Kadnekar ( Goa). He has also learnt Violin in the Western style and has passed Grade Four of the renowned Trinity College of London, under the tutelage of Prof A. P. De Costa. He feels lucky that since 1997 He started learning from Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar who taught him all the nuances of the Raag performance, approach of raag, its delicacy, better way of developing the notes, and many more. He has been accompanying Kishoritai on Violin in her concerts and recordings, in India as well as Abroad. He has provided Music Direction to a documentary film, “In Search Of Truth”, in which he also has played the role as a singer. He has received numerous prestigious awards in India and abroad. He has performed extensively not only at major festivals in India, but also at various fine venues in Germany, Italy, USA, Switzerland, etc. Sunday, June 05, 2016 4:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Master Yadnesh Raikar started learning violin at the age of 1 year and started performing at the age of 4 years under the guidance of his Father Pt. Milind Raikar. He is studying in 10th grade in high school (SSC) at Bombay Cambridge School (Andheri, Mumbai).He is lucky to have guidance from Ganasaraswati KishoriTai Amonkar. He has given his first solo recital at the age of 4 At Karnataka sangh in front of a crowd of 600 people. He has also given his performances in Delhi, Nagpur, Dharwad, Goa as well. He is such a versatile musician that apart from violin he also avidly plays the keyboard, guitar and tabla very often. Has a very gifted voice and learns vocal from Shri Anand Pednekar and Pandit Vasantrao Kadneskar, Goa. He has sung in a album song along with Hariharan and Asha Bhosle. At present he is learning to play accordion from Amar Swamy. Has played a role of Young Pt.D.V.Paluskar in the documentary ‘Gaanyogi – Suvarna Yug’ where he sang and played Violin in the film too. He has performed his recitals in front of Honorable President Shri. Pranab Mukherjee, Chief minister Maharashtra Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, Governor of Maharashtra, chief of Army, Navy and Air force Chief. Pandit Shantilal Shah was born and raised in the culturally and artistically vibrant city of Banaras, India. His basic taalim was under Pandit Mahadev Prasad Mishra of Banaras Gharana. He is a worthy disciple of Taal-Yogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Shantilal remained a gold medalist from the Sangeet Natak Academy of Lucknow and also won the National Talent Scholarship awarded by the Govt. of India as well as the Sangeet Prabhakar award from the Prayaag Sangeet Samiti of Allahabad. Over the years he has performed with Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. Rajan-Sajan Mishra, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Laxmi Shankar, Ud. Sujaat Khan, Bhajan Sopuri, Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Padma Talwalkar, Arati Ankalikar, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Shama Bhate, etc. Additionally, Shantilal Shah has been effective at branching out from his roots in Indian Classical Music and brought his unique sound and style to the world of Western Music. One of his initial forays into Western music was as a featured performer in the 2004 Hollywood Film Dancing in Twilight, which received a Gold Medal of Excellence for a feature film score from the Park City Music Festival. He has concluded in March 2014 a series of performances with the Houston Grand Opera, in their unique presentation, River of Light, receiving high acclaim. This extremely successful and one of a kind program exposed Tabla to sold out audiences in a new artistic medium, blending Indian Classical Music with the classical style of Western Opera.

Gundecha Brothers – Live In Concert Pandits Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are the leading exponents of the Dhrupad style of music. They are among the most active performers in Indian and international circuits. They were conferred “Padmashri” in 2012 by the Govt. of India for their contribution in the field of Dhrupad and Indian Classical Music. Born in Ujjain in Central India, both were initiated into music by their parents. Gundecha Brothers received conventional university education and learned the Dhrupad vocal art under the renowned Dhrupad vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and also with Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (the distinguished performer of Rudra Veena) under guru shishya paramapara in Dhrupad Kendra Bhopal. The Gundecha Brothers have sung great Hindi poetry by Tulsidas, Kabir, Padmakar, Nirala in Dhrupad style . They have recorded about 50 cassettes and CDs by H.M.V, Music Today, Rhythm House, Times Music, Sony, Senseworld Music, Sundaram Records, IPPNW Concerts Berlin, Navras and Audio Rec London. They have also sung for many television channels in India and have been broadcasted on British, U.S., German and French, Japan and Australian Radio as well. As well as being an integral part of all of India’s prestigious music festivals, the Brothers have also performed and conducted workshops at many important international music festivals and institutions in about 25 countries in Europe, U.S.A, Australia, Japan, Egypt, Singapore, Bangladesh, U.A.E and Hong Kong. They have received M.P. Govt. Scholarship from 1981 to 1985, National Fellowship from 1987 to 1989, Ustad Allauddin Khan Fellowship in 1993, Sanskriti Award in 1994 and Kumar Gandharva Award in 1998 by Govt. of Madhaya Pradesh and Dagar Gharana Award by Mewar Foundation in 2001. Rajat Kamal – National Film Award for the Best Music Direction ( 2006), Puttaraj Gawai Award 2010 from Puttaraj Gawai Pratishthan, Dharwad. Saturday, May 14, 2016 4:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Akhilesh Gundecha has learned Pakhawaj playing from Pandit Shrikant Mishra and Raja Chhatrapati Singh Ju Deo. He is post graduate in music and graduate in Law. Has also got scholarship from Ustad Allauddin Khan Sangeet Academy,Bhopal and Govt. of India. He has accompanied many of the Dhrupad Maestros like- Ustad Z.F. Dagar, Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar, Pt. Siyaram Tiwari, Shrimati Asgari Bai, Dr. Ritwik Sanyal and Bahauddin Dagar. He has also played solo recitals in Tansen Festival-Gwalior, Haridas Sangeet Samaroh Mumbai, Dhrupad Samaroh Bhopal and many other festivals. He has toured, USA ,Europe, Japan, Australia. He is regularly featured on Radio and Television. ”Sur Mani” award from Sur Singar Samsad received by Akhilesh Gundecha in 1990. He also achieved Gold medal from Dhrupad Mela, Banaras in 2008. Akhilesh Gundecha founded ‘Madhya Laya’ – a north Indian taal vadhya kachahari that has performed all over India and USA. He is currently teaches the pakhawaj at Dhrupad Sansthan, Bhopal.

Hindustani Vocal Recital – Khayal Sangeet Arshad Ali is one of the few prodigies to live up to their initial promise. Arshad, the grandson of the legendary sarangi maestro Late Padmashree Ustad Shakoor Khan, was absorbed into the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, as a scholar at the age of six. Born in the family of the principal Kirana Gharana musicians, he received extensive talim from his maternal uncles, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan in the true guru-shishya parampara system of training. Today, Arshad is one of the few contemporary singers of the Kirana Gharana to have assimilated the essence of the meer-khand vistar or development, typical to the gharana. As a child, he became one of the most celebrated “Little Ustad” of India. In the year 1993, at the age of nine, he was described as “the biggest sensation of Sawai Gandharva Sammelan” following his performance on a special invitation from Bharat-Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi on the occasion of his 75th birthday celebrations. With the judicious usage of the distinctive style of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Ustad Abdul Waheed Khan, Arshad Ali Khan is emerging as the leading vocalist of Kirana Gharana worldwide. Today his performances across continents of Europe, Asia and Africa are hailed with credit of offering a sound, polished and individualistic voice which is capable of reaching a wide spectrum of audience starting with a teenager to that of a nonagenarian. Saturday, April 23, 2016 4:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Harshad Kanetkar began his initial training in Tabla at the age of five with Shri Mukhade. For the past twelve years he has had intensive training under Shri Palsule and Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Harshad is one of the few Tabla players of his generation who has equally adept and versatile in the art of accompanying vocal, instrumental and dance. He has accompanied many leading artists like Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Ustad Shahid Parvez,Veena Sahastrabuddhe, Shama Bhate (Kathak), Aarti Tikekar, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande etc.in prestigious music conferences all over India. He has also traveled and performed extensively in U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East. His recordings include solo works and fusion of musical traditions of the East and West. Harshad has received many accolades and honors including the National Scholarship from the Government of India. He also was a visiting faculty at the Pandit Jasraj Music Academy in the U.S. Currently he is on the faculty at the University of Pune. Uday Kulkarni had started training in music from his father Late Shri. Govind Kulkarni. After that he started taking advance lessons from Shri.Pramod Marathe. Uday has done “Sangeet Visharad” from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. He has accompanied many artists all over India. He is also a graded artist on All India Radio (AIR). He has accompanied many artists like Pandit Ajay Pohankar, Devaki Pandit, Shounak Abhisheki, Manjiri Alegaonkar etc. He has also accompanied in light music programs with renowned artists.

Sarod Recital – Divine Strings One of the youngest President Award Winning “A” Grade Sarod artiste of All India Radio & National Television – Kolkata, Abhisek Lahiri has won the hearts of discerning audiences worldwide with his maturity, depth & perfection already at the age of 29. Abhisek was initiated in Sarod at an early age of 5 and trained under the tutelage of his father as well as Guru, eminent Sarod maestro Pandit Alok Lahiri & became one of his premier disciples. Abhisek’s Sarod recital has a blending of three major Gharanas of Sarod playing: Shajahanpur, Senia Maihar & Senia Bangash Gharana (Gwalior). Abhisek’s playing reflects the subtlety, aestheticism and nostalgic spirituality while combining it with resonant power & intensity to captivate the listener with the beauty and originality of his Sarod playing. Abhisek possess the dignity of being the First Indian Musician along with his eminent father to perform in “Europe Parliament” in France and also in “Canada Culture Days” in Hamilton, Canada on invitation of The Malhar Group. Abhisek is an empanelled member artist of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. Abhisek took part in the “World Kinder Festival” in Holland & enthralled the audiences as a ‘Wonder Child Sarod Player’ in 1997. The Dutch Television network telecasts his recitals countrywide even now. Abhisek has some CD albums released to his credit: His two solo albums “Sparkling Sarod’ and “Mood of Puriya Kalyan” released by Bihaan Music received nominations in Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA) of Mumbai in “Best Hindustani Classical Album- Instrumental” category for the year 2010 & 2014 respectively. His latest release “IONAH Trio” CD album along with Japanese Guitarist Hideaki Tsuji is also getting world wide appreciation. Abhisek has performed extensively within India and across the world in countries like USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka etc. Saturday, April 02, 2016 4:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Subrata Bhattacharya is one of the leading tabla players in India today. He has received his taalim under Shri Tamal Krishna Chatterjee, Shri Nripen Karmakar and Shri Tapan Kr. Banerjee before he was finally accepted as a pupil of tabla maestro Pt. Shankar Ghosh, all of whom honed his talent to the level of refinement now witnessed by audiences everywhere. He has since proved himself a worthy exponent of the Farukhabad Gharana. Recognition of his talent has come in the form of such awards as the Sangeet Prabhankar and the Gold Medal and the Saangeet Praveen from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahadad, and Sangeet Bhushan from the Bhatkhande College, Lucknow. Renowned artists whom he has accompanied in the past few years are Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Dr.N.Rajam, Pt. Buddhaditya Mukherjee, Ud Shahid Parvez Khan, Ud Ali Ahmed Hussain, Chitraveena Ravikiran, Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Pt. Samaresh Chaudhury, etc. He is a visiting professor at the University of Urbana Champaign ,IL. The next milestone of his creativity and innovation is “Naad- The Everlasting Sound”, a group he has formed to experiment with fusion music. It seems the next inevitable step in Subrata’s career as a mingling and merging of eastern ,middle eastern and western styles of music is the trend among makers and lovers of music these days.He is been a part of the Chicago based Indo -Jazz band Flat Earth Ensemble since its inception.

The Art Stage ICMC presents its annual event presenting a medley of several short vocal, instrumental and dance performances, by performing and amateur musicians of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. This event is FREE to general public. The primary reasons for this concert are to bring awareness about Indian classical music in the community and also to stage upcoming talent. Since its inception in 1983, ICMC has built the most comprehensive concert series and is regarded as the premier producer of Indian classical music and dance in Dallas/Fort Worth and the surrounding area, by consistently presenting more than seven culturally diverse concerts a year for the sole benefit of its members and the general public. ICMC’s mission is to entertain, to interest, to educate, to train and to provide spiritual nourishment to its members and the general public, and to significantly contribute to the multiethnic heritage and the cultural vitality of the city, through its concerts. Saturday, March 19, 2016 2:00:00 PM Jonsson Performance Hall – University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Art Stage 2016 musicians include: Vocals – Manjusha Hardikar, Chittranjan Gupta, Suparna Ukey, Sai Hardikar, Divya Ruikar, Shreya Date, Anita Barsode, Laxman Subramaniam, Neena Sharma, Chetan Moghe, Tanvi Deshpande, Varenya Shrikant, Samhita Kumar Shibani Sinha, Ksheera Jalkam, Sumeesha Gupta, Sidharth Kumar, Diya Nariani, Renuka Khopade, Maitri Mirpuri, Aarushi Sen, Krushna Shinde, Vanshika Srivastava, Prisha Agarwal, Venuka Srivastava & Sidharth Bhat. Kathak – Meerambika Kulkarni, Ruchi Kale, Ishani Kale, Ritu Trivedi, Juhi Agarwal, Rishika Prakash, Ria Bhasin, Komal Redkar, Amita Satish, Swarangi Potdar, Manju Sharma, Sejal Patel, Sapna Ganeshan, Shivani Patel, Meenakshi Mohan, Arti Gupta, Sapna Adhikari Koli, Nivedita Mukherjee, Maya Garg, Neya Kichambre, Shakshi Bolar & Ashwini Kulkarni. Harmonium – Anshu Saran, Surendra Mistry, Chetan Moghe & Aloknanda Saha Tabla – Shantanu Bhattacharya, Surendra Mistry, Swapnil Ukey, Atul Joshi, Emad Siddiqui, Ayan Kichambare, Manoj Patel, Omkar Magi, Anwar Anjani, Param, Ila Bhattacharya, Krishna Virani, Rishi Virani, Naren Pullela & Mahesh Ruikar. Flute – Vilas Kulkarni & Sohan Date

Hindustani Vocal Recital – Khayal Sangeet Pandit Sarathi Chatterjee is one of the foremost Hindustani Classical vocalists in India. Born in a musical family, Sarathi received his initial training from his father, Prof. Arun Kumar Chatterjee, a highly respected and accomplished representative of the Kirana Gharana, and from his mother Smt Shefali Chatterjee. Even as his early spark of talent matured into musical sophistication, artistry and virtuosity, Pandit Sarathi has continued his musical “sadhana” under the guidance of the celebrated vocalists Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra of the Benaras Gharana. Thus, Pandit Sarathi Chatterjee’s music now blends the elements of Benares Gharana into the Kirana Gharana “gayaki” of his original training. Sarathi’s performances are characterized by a powerful and melodious voice, depth of expression, purity of tone, the systematic development of Vistaar, the highly complex yet well structured “sargams”, and sizzling “taans” which develop and portray the emotional content of his chosen raga. Apart from Khayal Gayaki, Sarathi is also an accomplished performer of romantic musical styles such as Thumri and of devotional music such as Bhajans. An “A-top” Grade artist of the All India Radio and Doordarshan & ‘Outstanding’ category musician in ICCR panel Sarathi has been awarded a junior fellowship by the Ministry Of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India for research on ‘Different Styles of Thumri’ in 1998. Pandit Sarathi had his A.I.R National prog of music in 1998 & 2011, National Prog of music at Doordarshan in 2004 & Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan during 2008.Apart from his musical accomplishments, Sarathi also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Rubber and Plastic Technology from Calcutta University. Saturday, November 07, 2015 4:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Sumit Mishra belongs to a Family of Banaras Gharana. He started his learning process from his Father Pt. Sohan Lal Mishra & his uncle Pt. Mohan Lal Mishra. The great Tabla Maestro Pt. Bundi Maharaj is his great Grandfather & his grandfather Pt. Damodar Mishra who did the same in vocal music with his superb voice & exellent persentation of Ragas. A commerce Graduate from St. xavier’s College, Kolkata, He won Several awards in many cultural fests. The big Break in his career as a Harmonium player was when he got a chance of accompanying with Padmabhusan Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra he had been performing as harmonium-accompanist with established artist like Padambhusan Vidushi Girija Devi, Pandit Mohan lal Mishra, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Pandit Ulhas kasalkarji, Pandit Kaivalya Kumar, Smt. Savita Devi, Late Smt. Purnima Chaudhury, Pandit Kumar Bose, Pandit Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari. He has performed at various festivals including Sankat Mochan Festival, Saptak Festival, Gunidas Festival, Malhar Festival, Dover Lane Festival, Ganga Mahotsav, Taj Mahotsav, Hari Das Sangeet Sammelan, ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Bundi Maharaj Sangeet Festival, Gritma Sangeet Festival, Nadam Festival, Rasipa Festival, Sangeetam Festival, Shivratri Mahotsav, ICCR Festival etc. He has also started learning Sarangi which has the feature of radiating a hundred colors of music under the tutelage of Pt. Basant Mishra (Disciple of Sarangi Maestro Pt. Gopal Mishra) Now he is under training of Padma Vibhushan Pt. Ramnarayan. Pandit Ashis Sengupta is a versatile percussionist of the Banaras gharana. He received his initial training from his father Shri Ranjit Kumar Sengupta and was later groomed by Pandit Nanku Maharaj, Pandit Mahapurush Mishra and Pandit Krishna Kumar Ganguly. Pt. Sengupta has innovated to the various rhythmic compositions learnt from his Gurus and is also blessed with a lot of traditional compositions, Stotras and varieties of Gats from the great Gurus. Both as a soloist and an accompanist to widely varied music styles and performers, he is also an established western drummer to his credit. Apart from playing Tabla, he has composed Bhajans and music arrangements for light music compositions recorded by many reputed audio-video companies. Most recently, he has written a book on Tabla named “Facets of Tabla Playing”, published by Kanishka Publishers, New Delhi. He has traveled extensively all over the globe for his performances and lecture-demonstration on Tabla playing under the aegis of numerous organizations. At present he is a member of the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, University of Delhi. Pandit Ashis has established Music Academy in USA and India, where he promotes Indian music & culture and also organizes concerts tour throughout the world in twice a year.

Music Festival of India – A Medley of Instrumental & Vocal Recitals Pandit Debojyoti Bose naturally inherits an unstrained musical acumen, for he was born in a family of passionate musicians,on the 20TH day of December 1962 at Kolkata. He is the fourth generation musician in the Bose family. His great grandfather Sri Akshay Kumar Bose, a jaminder of Pankobil in Jessore, now in Bangladesh, had a great passion for tabla which was passed on to the generations that followed. That is how he is a born tabla player. His father Pandit Biswanath Bose a tabla legend of Benaras gharana, a disciple of Pandit Kanthe Maharaj and his mother Smt. Bharati Bose a keen Sitar player and a disciple of Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, sowed the seed of music in him by imparting the early lessons. Debojyoti achieved so many awards, some of which are – Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan scholarship(1981)from SBKK, Delhi, KalkeKalakar (BHU,Varanasi,1984),felicitated by Rabindra Bharati University (Kolkata,1989),Anandalok Award by ABP (1999),felicitated by Vishwabharati University (Shantiniketan 2000),Citizen of Honor from Brown University(2002). Visited Indonesia as an Indian delegate in 2002.Visited Russia,China & Mongolia as a state guest in 2009.Invited to perform in Salon de Virtuoso (New York).Selected as jurist in Tele Samman in 2007. Worked with Mazdidik Nini Thowo a legendery dancer of Indonesia performed with Renowned Chinas Musician. Debojyoti has performed in all major festivals in India including The Dover Lane Music Conference (Kolkata),Saptak (Ahmedabad),Harballav Festival (Jallundher),Sarod Festival (Delhi),Tansen Samaroh (Gwalior), SangeetSabha (Pune), Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh & Dhrupad Mela (Varanasi), SangeetNatak Academy Concert (Chennai & Hyderabad), Parampara Concert ICCR (Delhi),ITC Sangeet Sammelan, etc.. He has also toured extensively abroad including USA, Russia, Indonesia, UK, Bandladesh, Australia, etc. Saturday, October 03, 2015 7:00:00 PM Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013 Sandip was initiated into music by his mother Smt. Krishna Bhattacharjee at the age of four and he continued his talim under Smt. Amita Dasgupta later. At the age of sixteen, Sandip began his training at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) under the distinguished guidance of Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, sons and disciples of the late legendary Sarangi Maestro Padmashree Ustad Shakoor Khan. In 2003 he joined ITC-SRA as a residential scholar and in 2013 he became an acknowledged musician at the academy. Under both his gurus, Sandip was nurtured in the true guru shishya parampara system of training in the Kirana Gharana. Sandip has accomplished a rare feat: he has lived up to the promise and talent he showed as a child prodigy. He has performed on stage with many renowned musicians, including Ustad Rashid Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Vidushi Girija Devi, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Pandit Shiv kumar Sharma ,Pandit Hari Prasad Chourasia, Pandit Rajan Sajan Mishra, Pandit Jasraj, and Ustad Zakir Hussain. He has been honored to share the stage with the Kathak Legend Pt Birju Maharaj at John Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, USA. Sandip holds a Bachelor’s degree from Rabindra Bharati University (Kolkata) in classical music.He ranked First Class First. He is also skilled in singing numerous semi-classical forms like Bhajans, Ghazals, Nazrulgeeti, etc. Sandip is today one of the most promising young classical artists and perform regularly across India and abroad (United States, Europe and Bangladesh). A recipient of the Title Surmani from Sur Singar Sansad Mumbai, Sandip also broadcasts regularly over the All India Radio as an “ A “ Grade artist. Considered among the top class of tabla players from India, Pandit Abhijit Banerjee is one of the most sought after creative artists in the realm of Indian classical music. Apart from his contributions to Indian music he has delved into a diverse variety of world music crossover as both a performer and composer. Recognizing his talent and natural inclination towards music his father steered him to tabla at the age of four. Abhijit also studied vocal music and violin later in his life in making a complete musician out of him. He is considered as one of the main disciples of the illustrious guru, the late Pt. Gyan Prakash Ghosh. Abhijit has accompaniment on tabla nearly all of the top ranking stars of Hindustani classical music including Pt.Ravi Shankar, Late Pt.Nikhil Banerjee, Begum Parweena Sultana, Pt.Jasraj, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Dr.Balamurali Krishnan to name a few. As a tabla soloist he has also left his distinct mark through numerous performances and publications in India & abroad. Abhijit has toured extensively in USA, Canada, U.K., Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, South East Asia and Mexico as well as performing in all of the major classical music festivals in India. International performances of note include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Gevant Haus in Germany, Paleis in Brussels, Theatre de la Ville & Radio France in Paris,BBC whole night music series. Souht Bank, London. In addition to a highly successful career in Indian Classical music, his crossover work includes collaborations with musicians such as Ry Cooder, Larry Corryell and Trilok Gurtu, Jon Santos, Keny Endo and many other. Abhijit founded & established Dhwani Academy of Percussion in Los Angeles and KOlkata attracting talented students from around the world. Amit Kelkar’s musical education began at a very young age at home from his mother Smt. Suniti Kelkar and her father Shri. Narayan Gadgil. Amit taught himself to play the harmonium and performed for the first time on stage at the age of 14. He has provided harmonium accompaniment to several renowned artists over the years, including Pt. Sanjeev Abhyankar, Dr. Prabha Atre, Smt. Minoo Purushottam and Prasad Khaparde. Amit is also a versatile singer and music composer. He is currently learning hindustani vocal music from Dr. Mohankumar Darekar. Amit performs ghazals and light music frequently in the DFW metroplex. Amit holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and also has released three CD-albums released in the United States.