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Presented by Mahesh Kale
Ashvini Bhave (Narration), Salar Nader (Tabla),
Pankaj Misra (Sarangi), Vivek Datar (Harmonium)
Mahesh Kale
Mahesh Kale, a disciple of Late Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, has a fast-growing reputation as one of the great voices of the younger generation of North Indian classical singers. Known for his captivating stage presence and thrilling performances, Mahesh is now a much-sought-after artist, having performed extensively in India, USA, Europe, UAE, and Southeast Asia. Mahesh is a versatile vocalist and is equally proficient at semi-classical forms like Thumri, Dadra, Natyasangeet, Abhang, etc. Mahesh was honored with an award by the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad (2010) for his role in a popular Sangeet Natak (theater musical) "Katyar Kaljaat Ghusli". Mahesh had his debut performance at the prestigious Sawai Gandharva Music Festival last year which received generous appreciation. He appreciates other forms of music and has performed with world renowned percussionists and Jazz artists like Trilok Gurtu, Sivamani, Pedro Eustache, Frank Martin, George Brooks, and Kai Eckhardt. More info on www.maheshkale.com
Ashvini Bhave
Ashvini Bhave is recognized as one of the most talented and versatile actresses in Indian theater, television and cinema. She has acted in 40 films with a number of critically acclaimed performances in films such as Kalat Nakalat, Aahuti, Sarkarnama, Bhairavi, Purush and the highly successful 'Henna' from R.K Productions. Besides receiving a degree in 'Motion Picture and Television' from Academy of Arts University (San Francisco), she also has a degree in Philosophy from Mumbai's Ruparel college. She has won several prestigious awards for 'Best Actress' including Maharashtra State Government Award, Bengal Film Critics Award, Screen Award, Maharashtra Times Sanman and V. Shantaram Puraskar. She has authored an extremely popular column in the Marathi daily ' Loksatta' for many years and a compilation of this column has also been published in the form of a book titled 'Manobhave'. Ashvini made her debut as a film maker with a documentary on 'Warli art and culture', which she wrote, directed and produced. The documentary was screened at the Mumbai International Film Festival. In 2006 she produced a critically acclaimed film 'Kadachit' under the banner of Kasa films and played the lead character in it. She is the associate producer of a documentary film 'The human experiment' which is currently in production. She awaits the release of her new movie 'Aajcha Diwas Maza'. More on www.imdb.com/name/nm0080385
Salar Nader
Salar Nader is one of the most sought-after young percussionists of his generation. Born in Hamburg, Germany to Afghan parents in 1981, he moved to the Bay Area and began to learn tabla 'bol' at an early age. At age seven, he became a disciple of Ustad Zakir Hussain and impressed Zakirji with his inborn talent. Zakirji considers him as one of his most talented protégés today. Nader is a founding member of today's foremost Afghan music ensemble, Sounds and Rhythms of Afghanistan (SARA), where he plays dhol, dholak and tabla. He has played internationally with many renowned masters such as Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, world famous sarangi virtuoso Ustad Sultan Khan, Rob Wasserman, Ustad Rashid Khan, and Ghulam Ali. More info on www.salarnader.com
Jagan Ramamoorthy
Jagan Ramamoorthy is a world-class violinist, teacher and composer with an MFA (2002-2004) from CalArts in world music performance and a Durfee foundation Master Musician Fellow (2006-07) a recognition of merit in teaching and training Violinists, Cellists and Violists in a special genre known as "Gaayaki-Ang" - the singing style. Of the eight ‘Gaayaki-ang’ violinists through out the world, he is the only true representative of the famous N. Rajam School along Ms. Kala Ramnath, performing and teaching in the USA. Jagan is also credited in six major blockbuster movies from Hollywood since his arrival in 2002 and is very actively involved in writing and production of crossover genre films. Widely known for his excellent tonality, being a traditionalist and purist in Raga-Bhava-Rasa, he dares to collaborate in crossover genres elegantly. Jagan has established himself as a pioneer in the rare Gaayaki-ang Violin genre, trained and blessed by his few illustrious gurus or mentors such as Padmabhushan N. Rajam, Pandit V.U. Rajurkar, Sushree Malini Rajurkar and Smt. Shyamala Daithankar (Vocalist) of Jabalpur. Jagan has accompanied the Tabla wizard Ustad Zakir Hussein in several of his live concerts and shows with Kathak dancer Toni Minnecola as well. Jagan was featured as a composer/violinist in movies such as Hulk, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, The Quantum Activist, Drag Me to Hell and the very recently released blockbuster film Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. More on www.spundana.org
Chaitanya Kunte
Chaitanya Kunte is a bright Harmonium player, composer and scholar in young generation. Chaitanya has been undergoing extensive training in Hindustani Art music and musicology under guidance of Dr. Arawind Thatte, Pt. Mohanrao Karve and Dr. Ashok Da. Ranade. He has accompanied maestros such as Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar, Pt. Birju Maharaj, etc. on Harmonium. He also gives solo Harmonium concerts. Having created a niche for himself as a classical composer, Chaitanya’s compositions cover a wide range of genre such as Khayal, Tappa, Tarana, Chataranga, Thumari, etc. Chaitanya has composed music for several thematic concerts and also for Kathak dance choreographies. Chaitanya is M.A. (Indology and History and an M. Phil. in Archaeology) and he received fellowship for his research on ‘Tappa’ from Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. He was honored with ‘Pt. Govindrao Patwardhan Award’ for Excellence in Harmonium, ‘Keshavrao Bhole Sangeetkaar Puraskaar’ for his contribution as a composer. He also received ‘Vasantotsav Award’ from Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Foundation and PNG for his contribution as a creative musician and researcher. Chaitanya is a Guru and visiting lecturer at Lalit Kala Kendra (Centre For Performing Arts), Pune University. More on www.chaitanyakunte.weebly.com
