Guitar N.Abhay is disciple of world renowed Mandolin player Padmashri mandolin U.Srinivas who is a Carnatic Classical artist with a slight difference.As yet not an oft used instrument.In this form of music,the electric guitar.N.Abhay has adopted it for the purposes of the Carnatic Classical & its various demands without any modifications to the instrument or its tuning.Nurtured in Classical music both Indian and Western from the age of 6 and having explored vast genres of music in both the fields,he zeroed in on his primary love,Carnatic Classical is his primary love.Carnatic classical music on his favourite instrument,"The Guitar".Though initially a daounting task to get the intricacies and microtonal inflections of a music as demanding as Carnatic Classical form an instrument essentially Western in nature,N.Abhay has managed to develop a style unique in its nature 7 in keeping with the purity of the music in question.Intially developing the techniques & "Gamakas" of Carnatic music on his own on the guitar,he was blessed to find his Guru in Padmashri U.Srinivas who now continues to groom him.
Vocalist.Ruchira Kedar
A multi-talented vocalist Ruchira Kedar has been in the field of music since 1993,winning several awards and accolades over the years along with the hearty applause of connoisseurs & music lovers alike in India & abroad,Ruchira stands strongly committed to her purpose in life-music.
She started training herself in Hindustani Classical Music at the tender age of 12.Training initailly under her father Sh.Dilip Kale,further she learnt the intricacies Hindustani Classical & Semi-Classical vocal music from the renowned vocalist of Jaipur Gharana,Dr.Alka Deo Marulkar.Thereafter Ruchira became associated as a residential scholar with the prestigious ITC Sangeet Research Academy,Kolkatta & received invaluable "Taleem" from the celebrated Gwalior-Jaipur Gharana Vocalist Pt.UlhasKashalkar,she also received significant guidance in Thumri from the doyen of Banaras Gharana,Vidushi.Girija Devi.
She has won many awards such as Ganvardhan Sanstha Award(Pune),Dewal Club Award(Kolhapur),Ruchira was awarded with The Central Government's Scholarship for young talent s in 2000.She is now 'A' Grade Artist of "All India Radio" and "Doordarshan".Ruchira has been recently awarded with "Surmani" Award by the "Sur Singar Samsad" in Mumbai.
Tabla & Sitar Maestro.Pt.Nayan Ghosh
Born in 1956 Pandit.Nayan Ghosh is acclaimed in India and around the world as one of the India's foremost musician with an unusual dimension the only Maestro with superlative command over the two diverted instruments The Sitar and The Tabla.Son and disciple of 20th Century Tabla Wizard Nikhil Ghosh and nephew of Pannalal Ghosh,"The father of the Indian Classical Flute".Nayan has inherited the rich and learned legacy from his five or six predecessors and carries it with a rare dignity and grace.Artistic brilliance,rich repertoire and a magnificence of tone are his hallmarks.Deeply loved by the senior most Stalwarts of the music scene like Ravi Shankar,Yahudi Menuhin,Vilayat Khan the legendary Ahmedjan Thirakwa and many others.Besides enjoying an unusually high level of respect from his contemporaries and younger musicians,he is already held as an important reference source for a whole new generation of music seekers.
Hailing from a background that reverberates with the taal of the tabla, music has been Fazal Qureshi's natural inheritance.Under the guidance of his Guru and father the late great tabla maestro, Ustad Alla Rakha, and with the inspiration drawn from his brother, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Fazal has developed a unique style that is distinguished for its fine sense of rhythm, versatility and eloquence.
He performs both as a soloist and as an accompanist. His deep rooted knowledge and dedication to Indian classical music helps him accompany North as well as South Indian instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers. The musicians he has performed with include Ustad Alla Rakha, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Dr. L. Subramaniam, L. Shankar, Vikku Vinayakram, U. Srinivas, Ustad Shahid Parvez, and Sitara Devi.
Fazal has expanded his horizons by being involved with other styles of music of the world especially Jazz and Western classical music, and has performed with many well known Jazz musicians. For the last 16 years he has been associated with Mynta, his world music band based in Sweden. They have performed all over the world and have released six immensely popular albums.
Besides being a performer he has also composed music for Mynta and for various other events. He has now started composing music for Indian films and is currently working on an album of his own compositions, thus adding to his versatility as a musician.
Flute Maestro.Rupak Kulkarni.
With music blown into his breath by father Late Pt. MalharKulkarni, he blossomed under the finest tutelage of flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia to become an outstanding exponent of "Maihar Gharana".
With arduous training and hard work, has mastered "Dhrupad, Khayal and Tantrakari ang" (style). His recital is always a rare treat combining Dhrupad and Khayal gayaki, melodious alap and scintillating "Tatkar" (tounging technique used for Jhala) innovative improvisation with mesmerising "Layakari", superb breath control and dexterous finger work.
Born in the family that is adorned with the rich heritage of Sur, Laya, Taal over five generations, Apoorva Gokhale inherits melody, harmony and rhythm from her grandfather Late Pandit Gajananbuwa Joshi and the great-grandfather Late Pandit Antubuwa Joshi, who himself was an eminent Darbar Gayak.
Her formal education started at an early age of 5 years under the tutelage of her grandfather Late Pandit Gajananrao Joshi, who was a vocalist and violinist, reputed for his versatility and making a superb blend of three gharanas viz. Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra in his gayaki.
Later, she continued her further training under the supervision of her uncle Pandit Madhukar Joshi, who too is a well-known vocalist and violinist and also from Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. At the same time, she also received training from her father Shri Manohar Joshi and her aunt Dr. Sucheta Bidkar. While taking lessons from these gurus, she perfected her basics in Sur, Laya, Taal.
She is also seeking guidance from Pandit Shankar Abhyankar, the eminent sitarist and rachnakar and also from Smt. Manik Bhide, Smt. Ashwini Bhide and Shri Yeshwant Mahale.
She has been awarded with the Acharya S. N. Ratanjankar Foundation Trust‘s scholarship and Pandit K. G. Ginde Puraskar for two years.
Apoorva has also been honoured with “ Surmani” title by “ Sur Singar Sansad”.
and the “Vidyasagar Award” from Music Forum.
She is an approved artist of AIR and has a cassette and CD released by Legendary Legacy. Apoorva is a Commerce graduate and has also completed her Post graduation in Music.
A recipient of prestigious Jr. Fellowship in the field of Hindustani ( Vocal ) classical music by Ministry of culture, Apoorva undoubtedly has a bright future.
She has delivered performances in many prestigious concerts in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Bangalore, Aundh, Karad, Ichalkaranji etc.
Violin Maestro.Kala Ramnath
Violin Maestro.Kala Ramnath the contemporary torch bearer of Mewati Gharana stands today amongst the most outstanding instrumental musicians in the North Indian classical genre.Born into a family of prodigious musical talent,which has given Indian music such Violin legends as proof.Prof.T.N.Krishnan and Dr.N.Rajam,Kala's genius with the violin manifested itself from childhood.Kala began playing the violin at the tender age of 3,under the strict tutelage of her grandfather Vidwan.Narayan Iyer,simultaneously she received training from her aunt,Dr.Smt.N.Rajam for fifteen years she put herself.under the training of Mewati vocal maestro Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj.This has brought a rare vocal emotionalism to her art.her violin playing is characterized by an immaculate bowing and playing technique brought about by the dexterous use of her fingers,command over all aspects of rhythm,richness and clarity in pitch and tone.she has completely revolutionized the technique of playing the violing by taking this instrument so close to vocal music that today her violin is called as"The singing violin". Kala has performed at all major music festivals in India,prominent among them being Shankarlal Festival Delhi,Tansen Samaroh-Gwalior,Saptak-Ahmedabad,Pt.Motiram and Pt.Maniram conference -Hyderabad,Spirit of unity concerts-Delhi,Swami Haridas sangeet Sammelan-Mathura and so on.In 1984, she won the President's award in the prestigious AIR music competitions.In 1988,she became the first ever Hindustani musician and violinist to record for CBS Indian Ltd.Besides being a charismatic musician,Kala has also an outstanding academic record.She is also a top grade artist in Radio and Television.she has also won many awards Rashtriya Kumar Gandharva sanman,Pandit.Jasraj Gaurav Puraskar,Sur Ratna,Surmani to name a few.Kala has won the acclaim of discussing audiences and critics world-wide. Not only Kala is a great performer but she is also a great teacher.Kala has also been experimenting with several types of genere of music-both within the tradition of Indian classical music and crossovers other types of music.Besides all these,she has many CDs to her credit.The prestigious songlines magazine reveiwing world music voted the sense world album called "Kala and Samvad"top of the world in its charts for the years 2004,Yashila for 2006 and Samaya for 2008. Songlines also selected her as one of the fifty best instrumentalists of the world.Kala became the first Indian Violinist in 2006 to be the subject of a major feature in "The strad"the periodical viewed as as "Violin Bible".Th encyclopedia Rough guide to World Music in its third edition,which was released on 21st December 2009,has a solo essay on her for her in the contributions in the field of Indian music.
