Music Festival of India – Swarsudha – A Hindustani and Carnatic Music Jugalbandi

October 1, 2013 5 Comments

Music Festival of India – Swarsudha – A Hindustani and Carnatic Music JugalbandiThis concert is in part sponsered by Texas Instruments, Inc.
Saturday, October 26, 2013 7:00:00 PM Venue: Allen Library Civic Auditorium, 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen TX 75013Admission: ICMC Members: Free TI Employees: Buy 1 Get 1 Free General: $30 Student: $20	Neyveli Radhakrishna Double Violin Indrajit Banerjee Sitar Rohan Krishnamurthy Mridangam Subrata Bhattacharya Tabla

Born in Andhra Pradesh and raised in Neyveli, Radhakrishna began his vocal stream of musical education at the age of eight under Sri C.S. Anandamani and simultaneously trained under Neyveli S.Vimala for violin. Violin virtuoso Sri M.N.Ganesa Pillai took Radhakrishna under his wing for over a decade. Later violin maestro, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri M.Chandrasekaran groomed him, honing his concert skills. Radhakrishna holds Master’s Degree in Indian music with distinction. Radhakrishna has teamed up with the cream of Carnatic musicians, notably Dr.N.Ramani, T.V.Gopalakrishnan, T.K.Govindarao, T.N.Seshagopalan, O.S.Thiagarajan, Ravikiran, Kadri Gopalnath, etc. Radhakrishna was privileged to participate in the musical odyssey of Bharat Ratna, legendary Pt Ravi Shankar’s Festival of India II and III across US and Canada, performing in most prestigious halls. Radhakrishna plays the rare, creative and unique ten string, stereoscopicDOUBLE VIOLIN, the only one of its kind in Asia among a handful in the world. His version of “nouveau” DOUBLE VIOLIN is a recent addition to the world of string instruments. Incorporating the range of violin, viola, cello and double bass, it showcases that music transcends the barriers of time and has a unique, universal appeal.Sitarist Indrajit Banerjee is one of the leading exponents of the Maihar Gharana. He was born in a musical family, unique due to the large number of accomplished artists in Hindustani Classical Music. Some of these family members include his guru, Pandit Kartick Kumar (Sitar), Pandit Barun Kumar Pal (Hamsa Veena), Niladri Kumar (Sitar), Partho Das (Sitar), Aparna Roy (Surbahar). He got inspiration from his sitarist mother, Manju Banerjee, who was a disciple of late Nikhil Banerjee, and afterwards, Santosh Banerjee. Indrajit’s training began with his maternal grandfather, Bankim Kumar Pal, who was the disciple of Inayat Khan, and Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhuri (Kochi Babu). He then took training under Pandit Manilal Nag of Bishnupur Gharana. Later on, he took intensive training from his uncle, Pandit Kartick Kumar, who is a senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. All of this training developed a strong foundation for Indrajit’s music, and creative individuality. Indrajit has a special touch on Sitar combined with technical virtuosity and sensitivity. Acclaimed an “international performer and promoter” of the South Indian pitched drum, the mridangam, by USA Today in its “All-College Academic Team,” and “Pride of India” by India’s leading newspaper, Times of India, Rohan Krishnamurthy is considered a young musical ambassador in the Indian music scene. Having initially received mridangam training with Damodaran Srinivasan and continuing advanced training from the mridangam maestro Guruvayur Dorai in India, Rohan has performed in hundreds of concerts in North America and India since the age of nine with leading artists including Prof. T.N. Krishnan, Dr. N. Ramani, R. K. Srikantan, T.N. Seshagopalan, Chitravina N. Ravikiran, S. Shashank, T. M. Krishna, and S. Sowmya. He has spearheaded numerous cross-musical ventures with well-known symphony orchestras, jazz ensembles, and distinguished musicians including Grammy Award-winners Glen Velez and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Anoushka Shankar, Jamey Haddad, and Ayano Ninomiya. 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.