Alumni
Aastha Goswami
Aastha began her musical training at the age of 10, first from late Sri Sita Saran Singh Chauhan and later from Dr S S Awasthi, disciple of Ustad Amir Khan. She has completed the Sangeet Visharad, Sangeet Nipun and her masters in vocal music. Aastha has been the recipient of several scholarships and state and national level awards and has also been conferred the title of Surmani by Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai in 2004.
An All India Radio approved artist, Aastha was at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, first as a General Class Student and then as a Scholar between 2004 and 2006, under Pandit Arun Bhaduri. She also received guidance from Padma Bhushan Vidushi Girija Devi in thumri and dadra, while she was here and is presently continuing her training under her. Since leaving SRA, she has been involved with the Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana, at Vrindavan.
Aastha is a recipient of the Cultural Scholarship to Young Artists, 2001-2003 from the Government of India and has received to date 29 awards in various vocal music competitions across the country, including state level and national competitions.
An empanelled artist of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, she has been performing since 1995 and her numerous performances include concerts for ICCR, Uttar Pradesh, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Kal-ke-Kalakar (Mumbai), Purab Ang Gayaki Utsav (Varanasi and Delhi) and various concerts for Spicmacay and ITC-SRA. Aastha has also composed, sung and recorded padavalis for various projects.
Abhijit Ratnakar Apastambh
Born in 1986, Abhijit Ratnakar Apastambh has won several accolades including a National Child Award for Achievement in music, a National Scholarship and a gold medal in the classical music competition at the 13th National Youth Festival at Chennai in 2008. He stood 2nd in the All India Radio light music competition (2005) and is a B-Grade artiste of AIR. He has several performances to his credit and has been an ITC Sangeet Research Academy Scholar under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty since September 2008.
Abir Hossain
At the age of twelve Abir Hossain came under the tutelage of Sarod maestro, Padma Bhushan Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta of the Senia-Shajahanpur Gharana. He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy after having been mentored by his parents. Subsequently not only did he continue to train with Pandit Dasgupta but also, in 2009, came under the guidance of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
As a Guru of the Academy he trains a number of students and performs regularly on All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Abir gave his first public performance at the age of 16. His musicianship, an unusual combination of technical accuracy and melody, has taken him across the country and to Europe.
Abir has the recipient of many laurels including the National Scholarship awarded by the Government of India in 1997 and has also won a Gold Medal at the Sangeet Prabhakar. He has performed widely in Bangladesh, the US and has also won acclaim in Germany. He was awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in the field of Hindustani Instrumental Music (Sarod) by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India in the year 2016. Abir is an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
He is presently a Guru of the Academy.
Adarsh Saxena
Adarsh began learning music at the age of 6 from Shri Mahesh Chandra Sharma. He has since graduated with music and has gone on to win national level competitions, a Ministry of Human Resource Development scholarship and awards. He has performed for organisations like SPICMACAY, Sankalp, Kalabati Sangam Kala group and others in different parts of India. He has also performed for All India Radio. Adarsh was a Scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy between October 2005 and November 2011 under the tutelage of Pandit Arun Bhaduri.
Aditya Adhya
Born on 7th July 1997, Aditya Adhya began his initial training in the Tabla from his father at the age of 7. He later started learning Sarod from Shri Biswapati Mazumdar since the age of 13.
He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy on 9th January, 2013, as a Junior Scholar under Shri Abir Hossain with an overall supervision from Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta.
Aditya Sharma
Born in 1986, Aditya Sharma was initiated into vocal music by his grandfather and was further groomed by his parents. A Sangeet Visharad, he won the Harivallabh Sangeet Pratiyogita (both Junior and Senior, vocal) in 1999. He also won the All India Inter Varsity National Youth Festival (2005), the All India Radio Competition (2005) and was subsequently graded as an artist. He has performed at the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi Programme (Yuva Pratibha) and the Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan. Aditya was a Scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar between June 2007 and September 2011.
Adnan Khan
Born in 1992, Adnan started his initial Sitar taalim under his maternal grandfather, Late Zafar Ahmed Khan. He has since been learning the intricacies of the instrument from his father, Ustad Saeed Khan of Kirana Gharana who is a renowned Sitar player.
The gayaki ang is clearly palpable in his rendition of sitar. Further, he gives stress on melody and fine tonal quality, purity of Ragas, swar and sargam. He is was trained in gayaki ang by his uncle, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan.
Adnan has performed in various programmes throughout India including the music festival of Harivallabh in Jalandhar, and the Kal ke Kalakar Festival in Mumbai. He became a Junior Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan on December 2009.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty
Born in Kolkata, Ajoy Chakrabarty showed extraordinary promise in music from a very young age. He was initially groomed by his father, Shri Ajit Chakrabarty who shaped his early style in North Indian vocal music and later by Shri Kanai Das Bairagi. Ajoy also honed his musical skills under Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Talented both musically as well as academically, Ajoy got his Bachelor’s as well as Master’s degrees in music from Rabindra Bharati University, consistently topping his class. He was in his teens when he became a disciple of Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, the son of the great Patiala Maestro, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
Ajoy has been with ITC Sangeet Research Academy right from its inception, joining in 1978 as its first Scholar. He went on to become one of the youngest Gurus of the Academy, a post that he still holds and is a member of the Experts Committee. Ajoy’s list of awards and honours is monumental. To name but a few, he is the first Fellow to have received a Gold Medal from ITC-SRA, he was the first recipient of the Kumar Gandharva Award for the ‘ Best Musician of India under 45 ‘ , the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 2000 and the Padma Shri Award in 2011 were conferred upon him for his outstanding contribution to Hindustani Classical Music.
Ajoy has been proving sedulously and with success that Indian Classical Music if understood and practiced properly can contribute to international amity and understanding. Through his innumerable albums and CDs published all over the world and his extensive musical tours, he has spanned the cultural gulf between India and the West, endearing him even to those listeners who do not understand the language of the lyrics. A top grade Artiste of All India Radio, he has also authored several books.
Ananth Vaidyanathan
Previously trained in Carnatic music, Ananth Vaidyanathan became a Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1980. He was initially guided by Pandit A Kanan and Pandit Nivruttibua Sarnaik and then Pandit Sunil Bose of the Agra Gharana. From 1983 onwards, he headed ITC- SRA’s Academic Research department and was an instrumental part of the planning and execution of the growth of the Academy. Meanwhile, he continued to train under Pandit Sunil Bose with additional guidance from Pandit K G Ginde and Vidushi Girija Devi for another decade. Post ITC-SRA, he steered the Indian Classical music business at HMV (now Saregama) from 1995-1999.
In the last twenty-five years years, Ananth has worked intensively in voice engineering and culture techniques. Triggered off by a Ford Foundation funded period of learning in Europe under Prof. Peter Calatin in 1990, he trained in the esoteric methods of the late Swiss voice wizard, Frederich Husler, and has been applying this knowledge to the requirements of a variety of Indian music systems.
Ananth today continues to teach and research into voice and is a leading voice expert in India, specializing in voice engineering and vocal music training. He propagates the interests of voice culture in India with a passion that is almost like an activist, aspiring to create a new level of excellence in our music forms and performance practices.
He has guided many Hindustani and Carnatic musicians with their voice problems and perceptions. He also provides voice training to contestants on various Indian TV shows.
Anindita Deb
Born on 23rd June 1995, Anindita Deb joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Junior Scholar on 20th August, 2009. Her earlier training was under Ustad Rashid Khan and Jainul Abedin, both of whom were scholars of our Academy. She was under the tutelage of Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and was also guided for a while by our Musician Tutor, Janab Waseem Ahmed Khan. She has also been trained by Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. Anindita has numerous performances to her credit. She has won the 2nd prize both at the All India Radio Competition, 2011 and also at the Dover Lane Music Competition, 2011.
Anirban Banerjee
Anirban Banerjee was born in a musical family in Kolkata. With the support of his parents he was initiated into music and he started learning the Sarod from Sri Prattyush Banerjee, disciple of eminent sarod maestro Padmabhushan Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta of the Senia-Shahjahanpur Gharana. He was further trained by Shri Siddhartha Roy Chowdhury, son and disciple of Sangeetacharya late Anil Roy Chowdhury for 6 years with the best care and affection.
Anirban completed his BA Hons. in Sarod at Rabindra Bharati University. He stood 1st in many competitions and has also performed at several venues. Anirban was a scholar at the Academy from March 2012, for several months, training under Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta.
Aniruddha Bhattacharya
After being initiated into music by his mother, Smt. Gouri Bhattacharya, Aniruddha joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student in 1990, where he received training under Pandit A. Kanan and Smt. Malavika Kanan. He later became a Scholar and a Musician Tutor at the Academy under his Guru.
Gifted with a sonorous voice and a sensitive mind, Aniruddha is held in high esteem by his listeners. An A-Grade AIR artiste, he has performed at many programmes across India including ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Kolkata, ITC Sangeet Sammelan, New Delhi, Doverlane Music Conference, Kolkata, West Bengal State Music Academy Conference, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar Music Circle, Bhubaneshwar, Komal Nishabta Roda, Raipur Conference, Chattisgarh, Indo-Occidental Symbiosis, Kolkata and Harivallabh Music Festival where he featured among the stalwarts of classical music.
Accolades have come his way wherever he has performed, few amongst which were, the coveted Surmani title from Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai in June 1998. He has also toured US and France and has performed at The Darbar Festival, London, in April 2009.
Anjana Nath
Born in 1968, Anjana Nath started singing from her early childhood. Her first formal teacher was Smt. Meera Banerjee, and she later continued her talim under Late Lalit Mohan Sanyal. Anjana joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar in 1989 and remained here for 10 years as a Scholar under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and strove relentlessly to master her art under her Guru’s strict vigilance.
An ‘A’ graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Anjana has topped several khayal and thumri competitions, including those organised by The Dover Lane Music Conference, The West Bengal State Music Academy and the Prayag Sangeet Samity, Allahabad. She was also a National Talent Search scholarship holder. She has received a fellowship for Music Therapy from the Government of India in 2006 and has received awards for thumri from Bharatiya Sanskriti Parishad and the VSK Baithak, Delhi (Girija Devi Puraskar).
Anjana has been performing continuously in many music festivals in India and abroad. These include Prayag Sangeet Samity Music Conference, Samraat Sangeet Academy Music Conference in Goa, Harivallabh Music Festival, Jalandhar, Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre festival in Mumbai , ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelan in Kolkata, Sangeet Natak Akademi concerts and many more. In addition to performing at international music festivals in England, Spain, Germany & Switzerland, she has also held workshops in these countries that received appreciation. She has also composed some Bengali songs in the light classical genre and has had five CDs of her performances of khayal, thumri and bhajan released by companies in India and abroad.
Ankush Nayak
Born into a family of musicians and educationists, music is Ankush’s lifeblood. He is the proud son of educationists, Shri Narendra L Nayak and Smt. Ushaprabhu N Nayak. At the age of four he was initiated into Carnatic music. But it was at the age of nine that Ankush had his tryst with the Sitar: a spell binding concert by Ustad Rafique Khan, a reputed Sitarist made Ankush see the sitarist in himself. He then began his tutelage under Ustad Rafique Khan, in the Guru-Shishya Parampara, under whom Ankush nurtured and blossomed into what he is today. His performance the very next year for All India Radio broadcast on International Children’s Broadcasting Day is a testimonial to his passion for the Sitar and the meteoric growth of the artist in him. So this child prodigy started his public performance at the age of 10. His approach to rhythm is largely intuitive, fresh and spontaneous which casts a spell on his audience. His quest for layakari and laya brought him to Mridangam and Ghatam maestro Vidwan Trichy K R Kumar.
A ‘B’ graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Ankush has performed at various music festivals across India and in USA. Ankush secured the First prize in National Level Music competition conducted by All India Radio in the category of Hindustani Instrumental (Sitar) for the year 2009-10.
He was a Junior Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta between January 2011 and June 2012.
Annesha Ganguly
Born in 1993, Annesha Ganguly took her initial training in Hindustani Classical Music under Smt. Dalia Rahut and remained with her for ten years. She also received voice training from Shri Shubhadeep Mukherjee for several years. Annesha has performed at various concerts and has participated in a number of competitions, winning several prizes since she was nine. She was a Junior Scholar of the Academy between October 2010 and May 2015 under the tutelage of Vidushi Girija Devi.
Anol Chatterjee
Born on January 1, 1984, Anol Chatterjee was initially guided by his parents, Shri Biswanath Chowdhury and continued his training under Sri Ajit Chakraborty, Smt. Chandana Chakraborty and Shri Shantanu Bhattacharya respectively. He has been a student of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty since the year 2000 and was a scholar under him at ITC Sangeet Research Academy between December 2008 and May 2009.
A graduate in English Literature with a Masters in Vocal Music, he has received a National Scholarship, stood first in several well-known music competitions and has performed creditably at several reputed venues all over the world. He has also worked as a guest artiste and lecturer in Leeds College of Music, UK. Anol also trains young talented students at Shrutinandan, Kolkata. Anol, who has an album to his credit, has also established a music institution, `Aalaap`, where almost 200 students learn Indian music throughout its branches in Kolkata, Asansol, Agartala and New Delhi.
Aparajita Lahiri Brahmachari
Aparajita was initiated into the art of vocal music under the able guidance of Late Smt. Renuka Sen, disciple of Pandit Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay of Vishnupur Gharana and the grand disciple of Sarangi player, Ustad Badal Khan. She continued her training under Dr. Mangla Kapoor in Varanasi and Dr. Sunita Bhale and Shri Satish Indurkar in Khairagarh.
Aparajita joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2009 as a Scholar, where she trained under Vidushi Girija Devi until April 2016. She also took training in khayal gayaki under the guidance of Shri Omkar Dadarkar.
Having developed the quality of captivating her audience with her voice and gayaki, Aparajita has performed all over India. Some of her performances include Sangeet Ganga, Varanasi, Sangeet Sammelan, Titlagarh, Orissa, Durga Kund Mahotsav in Varanasi, Baithak concert at Delhi, Raaging Kala Kendra, Digboi and Malhar Festival, ITC Sangeet Research Academy.
Arnab Chatterjee
Initiated into music at the early age of five by his father, Shri Arun Kumar Chatterjee and then by Pandit A. Kanan, Arnab evolved into a young performer very early in his life, participating in numerous competitions and conferences in and around Kolkata. Arnab was an ITC Sangeet Research Academy Scholar between 1998 and 2003, training at first under Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan of the Kirana gharana and subsequently under Pandit A Kanan. A recipient of the National Talent Scholarship, Arnab stood 1st in his Sangeet Visharad, winning a Gold Medal. He has also stood 1st at the All India Vocal Music Competition organised by Pandit Omkarnath Thakur Sangeet Mandal at Bharuch in 2002. Arnab has been honoured with the title of Surmani by the Sursringar Sansad of Mumbai and was also adjudged Best Young Vocalist of 2004-2005 by Bharatiya Sanskriti Sansad.
Arnab is empanelled with the Indian Council For Cultural Relations as a teacher of classical music. As an “A” Grade performer of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Kolkata, Arnab broadcasts regularly. He has been also selected as an examiner of Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.
His numerous performances include those for Indo-Occidental Symbiosis and the Dover Lane Music Conference at Kolkata, Saptak Music Festival at Ahmedabad, Lucknow Mahotsav, Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Music Festival at Patna, and many more prestigious concerts at Dhaka.
Arshad Ali Khan
Arshad Ali, the grandson of the legendary Sarangi maestro late Padmashree Ustad Shakoor Khan, joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1990, at the age of six, becoming the first and only Scholar of that age in the Academy. Born in the family of the principal Kirana Gharana musicians, he was brought to Kolkata from Delhi by his maternal uncles, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan from whom he has been receiving extensive taleem since over two decades.
His first ever performance was at the age of six at ITC SRA, where he sang in front of stalwarts like Pandit Vijay Kichlu, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Ustad Zakir Hussain, Dr. Girija Devi, Pandit A. Kanan and Pandit V.G. Jog amongst others. In the year 1993, at the age of nine, he was described as “the biggest sensation of Sawai Gandharva Sammelan”.
Winner of the Jadu Bhatta Puraskar in 2002, the Bharatiya Sanskriti Samsad Best Vocalist Award in 2010, Arshad has performed in many prestigious festivals in India and abroad. These include Bhatkhande Sangeet Sammelan, Lucknow, Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar, Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Sangit Pratibha at Patna, Gharana Sammelan, Mumbai, Sawai Gandharva, Pune, Saptak Music Festival, Ahmedabad, Karavalli Festival, Mangalore, Doverlane Music Conference, Kolkata and Bengal Foundation Music Conference, Bangladesh. He has also performed at numerous ITC Sangeet Sammelans across the country.
Arshad is the recipient of the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, 2015, from Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Sur Jyotsana National Award, 2013, from Lokmat , Maharashtra. A solo album of his, Murchhana was released in Bangladesh in 2002 and he has had several CD releases in India, namely ‘Multani’, ‘Immortal’, ‘Sparkling Kirana’ and ‘Eternity’ by reputed labels such as HMV Saregama and Orion Entertainment.
Arshad was a Scholar, Musician Scholar and Musician Tutor at the Academy.
Pandit Arun Bhaduri
An artist of great depth and vision, Pandit Arun Bhaduri was gifted with a deep and sonorous voice, a brilliant range and a rare fluency. Born in Murshidabad, West Bengal, on October 7, 1943, he was tutored by Md. A. Daud. He acquired further embellishments from Md. Sagiruddin Khan. His talent won him a place at Sangeet Research Academy as a Musician Scholar, where he received training from the late Ustad Ishtiaq Hussain Khan of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana. Arun Ji got further encouragement from Padmashree Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh who taught him both classical and light classical music and also made him aware of the nuances in lyrics.
In his pursuit of musical excellence, Pandit Bhaduri has also been greatly influenced by Ustad Amir Khan and has imbibed the late Ustads aesthetic qualities. He has fused all these styles beautifully to create an inimitable style of his own. Pandit Bhaduri has rendered Bengali songs and Bhajans with equal ease.
A top grade radio and television artiste, he had made his mark in the world of music with effective blending of imagination and organised demonstration. Arun Ji has performed at several national concerts and sammelans and has had his share of concerts abroad as well.
He was a Guru at the Academy till his demise in 2018.
Ashim Kumar Dey
Ashim initially trained under his father Sudhir Chandra Dey and subsequently under Basudev Roy. Both his gurus were students of Sukhendu Goswami, a renowned classical musician. Ashim has been associated with ITC Sangeet Research Academy first as a General Class Student under Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan and from mid 2005 till 2008, as a Scholar under the coveted tutelage of Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan. He has won prizes in several competitions, including 3rd position in the Trailokya Sangeet Parishad competition. He has also given several public performances.
Ashlesha Sintre
Ashlesha Shintre learned Hindustani Khayal for 5 years from Smt. Ranjana Bhide in Pune. In 2005, she started learning Dhrupad from Guru Pandit Uday Bhawalkar before pursuing higher studies and work, abroad. She returned in 2011 and resumed her Dhrupad lessons. She was a visiting Scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy between July 2012 and December 2013.
Avtar Kaur
Born in 1992, Avtar Kaur started training in vocal music under Shri Kirpal Singh at the age of 10 during which she also learnt playing the Tabla from Pandit Ramakant. Following this she learnt the Sitar from Dr. Virendra Kumar, disciple of Late Ustad Vilayat Khan.
She performed at Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan in 2010 and 2013, after winning prizes in thumri, khayal and instrumental music (Sitar).
Avtar was a Junior Scholar of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy between August 2014 and March 2016, under the tutelage of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
Bakul Chatterjee
Bakul Chatterjee had her initial training in music from Pandit A Kanan and Smt Malabika Kanan as well as from Smt Hirabai Barodekar for a short while. In 1979 she joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a disciple of Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan. She also received guidance from Pandit K G Ginde and Vidushi Girija Devi.
An “A” grade artist of All India Radio, Bakul regularly features in various well-known musical conferences all over India, performing classical and light classical music. She has also performed overseas especially in the U.S.A and Bangladesh and has held musical workshops at Paschim Banga Rajya Sangeet Academy as a classical trainer.
Brajeswar Mukherjee
Born at Burdwan on March 11, 1984, Brajeswar was initiated into vocal music by his parents and later learnt from Shri Hara Kumar Chatterjee and Shri Asit Roy. He was accepted as a disciple by Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty in 1997 and became a Scholar under his Guru in May 2009. Since 2000, he has been teaching at Shrutinandan, the music school established by Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
Brajeswar has performed with Dr M Balamuralikrishna in Chennai and Singapore. His solo performances have been at prestigious concerts like the ITC SRA Mangaldeep Sammelans, the Dharwad Music Festival, NCPA Mumbai, India Habitat Center, Legends of India at Kolkata and Rajya Sangeet Academy.
He has also performed at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan at London and at concerts in New Orleans and Charlotte in USA. A B-High graded artist of All India Radio & Doordarshan, he had earlier won the Government of India’s National Scholarship. In January 2012, Brajeswar was the proud recipient of the Gaanvardhan Award at Pune.
He is currently a Guru at the Academy.
Chandra Chakraborty
Chandra started singing at the age of 3. Her first teacher was her mother, Smt. Manju Chakraborty. By the age of 12, she had completed Sangeet Prabhakar and Sangeet Visharad in music and Kathak dance and started performing regularly at All India Radio and Doordarshan. Soon after, she joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy, as a General Class Student, receiving her musical tutelage from Pandit A Kanan. She later became a Scholar, training under Malabika Kanan, from 1987. Under the able guidance of her Gurus, Chandra has given Khayal and Thumri a touch of her vibrant personality and has created a style distinctly her own.
After leaving the Academy, Chandra was selected by ICCR and moved to Johannesburg as the teacher of Indian Music at the Indian Consulate. She started performing all over Africa including major cities like Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, the Sun City Superbowl, and even remote villages at Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Chandra is the founder of three music schools in Johannesburg where her students provide music lessons. Under Chandra’s guidance, a group of 30 African students performed Indian Classical Music in the presence of Dr. Nelson Mandela.
Chandra moved to the U.K in 2000 and represented the Indian Consulate of London in Ireland, Sweden and Denmark. Presently, Chandra is performing all over UK and Europe.
Chintan Upadhyay
Born in 1982, Chintan started his initial training under his parents and later on did his Sangeet Alankar from Bruhad Gujarat Sangeet Samiti, under Shri Laxmipati Shukla. He then went on to train in Kirana Gharana under Shri Ashvin Andhariya.
Chintan has been a recipient of the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He has been learning under Pt. Uday Bhawalkar in the Guru-Shishya Parampara tradition since 2008.
Chintan did his first public Dhrupad performance at Y.B. Chavhan Hall, Mumbai in 2009. He has performed at NCPA, Mumbai, Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre, Mumbai, Ustad Alla Rakha Festival, Punjab, Suburban Music Circle, Mumbai, Malhar Avishkar, Pune and over other parts of India as well.
He had served as a Visiting faculty at Lalit Kala Kendra, Pune University and has also conducted Dhrupad workshops in Bhavnagar, Mumbai and Aurangabad.
Chintan joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Uday Bhawalkar on 1st July 2013 and continued to be a Scholar till 1st October 2014.
Dalia Rahut
Dalia Rahut was initially trained in Hindustani Classical music by Pandit A. Kanan. She was one of the first scholars of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, joining in 1978. Training under Vidushi Girija Devi from 1978 to 1992, she is a true representative of the Banaras Gharana, excelling in thumri, dadra, tappa, kajri, holi, chaiti, jhula, bhajan and other semi-classical forms. Dalia has also completed her Master’s Degree in Bengali literature.
Post SRA, she has devoted her life to the promotion of classical music through teaching, workshops and vocal recitals in India and abroad. As a public performer, she has performed at several conferences in India like the ITC SRA Annual Music conference in Delhi, Gharana Sammelan in Mumbai, Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior, the Dover Lane Music Conference in Kolkata, Annual Music conferences at Baroda, Indore, Jodhpur, Tirupati, Lucknow, Patna and many others.
She has conducted workshops on classical music under the aegis of Paschim Banga Rajya Sangeet Academy, Kolkata and is an empanelled judge of the Academy. She is an artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan, with cassette and CD releases to her credit.
Debasmita Bhattacharya
Debasmita had her initiation in music from her father sarod player Pandit Debasish Bhattacharya who is the seniormost disciple of Padma Bhusan Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta of the Senia Shahjahanpur gharana.
She has been receiving training from Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta from the age of 12. She was a Scholar of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 2009 and 2017. Debasmita has completed her Masters in music with a gold medal from Rabindra Bharati University where she started pursuing a Ph.D as well.
The Sangeet Praveen title was conferred upon Debasmita in 2008 by the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad with a gold medal. She stood first in the Dover Lane Music Competition in 2013 and also the Rajya Sangeet Academy competition in 2013. A National Scholarship holder, she was a finalist from Kolkata in the Nadved Competition organised by Spicmacay and Doordarshan in 2014.
Debasmita regularly conducts workshops, demonstrations and concerts in schools and colleges in India organised by Spicmacay. She has performed on important concert platforms such as the Saptak – Sangeet Sankalp and the ITC Sangeet Sammelan.
On an invitation from Ethno Sweden, Debasmita visited that country in 2015. In 2016, she was invited to join an international music exchange program. She also delivered several classical music concerts in Florida, Nashville, Chattanooga and San Francisco on the occasion and got a great response from the American audiences. Debasmita also performed at the prestigious Darbar Festival in the year 2017.
Dhruv Sharma
Born in 2000, Dhruv Sharma received his initial training from Ustad Samshad Ali Khan and Shri Harjinder Pal Aman. Having given his first public performance at the age of 4, he continued to perform at platforms like All India Radio and Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan ever since. He won various inter-state music competitions and received a scholarship from CCRT.
Dhruv is academically bright and has also won accolades in various inter-state sports meets. He joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2013 and was under the tutelage of Musician Tutor, Shri Brajeswar Mukherjee with overall guidance from Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty until 1st July 2015.
Dinkar Panshikar
Born in 1936, Panshikar had his early lessons in music from the late Dattatreya Kunte in Patan, Gujarat. He later moved to Mumbai and received advanced and rigorous instruction from Shri Vasantrao Kulkarni and Shri Suresh Haldankar. But it was Panshikar’s final guru, Pandit Nivruttibua Sarnaik of the Jaipur Gharana who made a lasting impress on his gayaki. Panshikar spent many years with his guru and also accompanied him to Kolkata where he had the good fortune to continue his learning from him for a straight period of 4 years as a scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy from 1979.
A top grade artiste of All India Radio, Panshikar is regarded as one of the finest exponents of the Jaipur gharana and has performed in major cultural venues in India and overseas. He was awarded the ITC Musician of the year 2009-2010 for his Ada-Chautaal compositions in various complex Ragas. He taught at the Goa Kala Academy as its Head of Department of Classical Music and had several commercial releases to his credit.
Dola Dasgupta
Initially trained by Smt. Suchitra Saha, Dola started out as a General Class Student of ITC Sangeet Research Academy. After she became a Scholar in 2001, she became shishya to guru Biresh Roy, a veteran of the Rampur Gayaki. She was training under Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, of the Kirana gharana before she left the Academy in 2004.
A Sangeet Visharad from Pracheen Kala Kendra (Chandigarh), Dola received a National Scholarship from the Government of India in 2005 and went on to achieve a ‘B-High’ grading from All India Radio. She has performed in several programmes in Delhi, Calcutta, Siliguri, Rajasthan, Mathura-Vrindaban & Banaras.
Durba Bhattacharya
Imbibing music from her mother, Smt. Tapati Banerjee, Durba Bhattacharyya was nurtured in the basics of Hindustani vocal music at a very early age by Ustad Mazhar Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana. She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1987, aged 12, receiving tutelage from Ajoy Chakrabarty, first as a General Class Student and later as a Scholar between 1992 and 1996. Durba also took specialised lessons from Vidushi Meera Banerjee, the veteran musician who was a shagird of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Since 1997, she has been learning from Shri Shantanu Bhattacharyya, her Gurubhai-turned-husband, who was also a former Scholar here.
Durba has performed at several cities in India including the Amir Khusro Music Conference in Chennai while her international concerts include performances at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore, Sangeetaanjali in Fremont, Bay Area, Humber College, University of Toronto and several other concert tours in UK, France, Canada, USA, Singapore and Bangladesh between 1997 and 2007. She has cassette & CD releases of bhajans to her credit.
Dwaipayan Ray
Dwaipayan Ray has been learning the Sarod since the age of 8, first under the guidance of Shri Pranab Kumar Naha and subsequently, under the tutelage of Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta. In 2009, he joined as a Junior Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, under the tutelage of Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta and was associated with the Academy until 2013.
He was awarded the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, 2010 and has performed in numerous music conferences and has also recorded for All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Ghulam Akbar Khan
Ghulam Akbar Khan hails from the Rampur Sahaswan lineage. Son of Ustad Ghulam Baqur Khan, he had his complete training under Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan, his father-in-law. He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1978, where he continued his training under Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan. A versatile performer, his renditions have always been in the typical Rampur-Sahaswan style. Apart from his essential forte of khayal and tarana, his renditions of the lyrical forms including thumri, ghazal and bhajan have been well appreciated.
Ghulam Niyaz Khan, son of Ghulam Akbar Khan and grandson of late Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan, was born at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy. Fondly known as Khurram, his musical talent was recognised at the tender age of two and a half. Trained by his grandfather who was then a Guru of ITC SRA, he was a Scholar between April 1993 and August 1994 and at the age of 12 was astounding audiences at ITC Sangeet Sammelans around the country.
Girish Chatterjee
Initiated into vocal music by his father, Shri Tarakeshwar Chatterjee and his mother, Smt. Dipali Chatterjee, Girish became a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1982 and trained for 6 years under Pandit A. Kanan. He was also deeply influenced by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
Girish settled in Mumbai after leaving ITC-SRA and went on to compose and sing playback for the Mumbai film industry. A thumri, “Mora Saiyan Bedardi” that he has written, composed and sung for the Hindi feature film, Mirch, has been nominated for the National Filmfare Awards 2011.
Girish regularly performs worldwide and has thousands of students under his guidance throughout the world. He is also a regular artist on All India Radio and Doordarshan programmes. He has won several awards including the Sangeet Surmani Award and has classical, ghazal and devotional cassette and CD releases to his credit.
Gopa Kanjilal
Gopa Kanjilal was initiated into classical music by her grandfather, Late Smarajit Kanjilal. She was a Research Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 1978 and 1980. During her research on Classical Music, she was under the able guidance of Ustad Ishtiaque Hussain Khan of Rampur Gharana and Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan of Agra-Atrauli Gharana.
After leaving the Academy, she made a name for herself in light music. She has been engaged in a host of musical activities, including performances and teaching. She is a Principal cum Music Teacher at the Anandamath Sangeetayan, Nabapally, Barasat, teaching classical vocal music and Nazrul Geeti to students of different age groups.
Numerous awards and honours have come her way. She stood 1st (Gold Medal) in Sangeet Praveen (M. Mus) from Prayag Sangeet Samity, Allahabad in 1972 and the All India Classical Music Competition, organised by Prayag Sangeet Samity, Allahabad in 1972. She topped the All India Radio Music Competition in 1973 in the khayal category and was awarded the Silver Veena from the Hon’ble President of India. She also received a National Scholarship from the Government of India from 1973 to 1975, the Sur Mani title from Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai and several others.
Gopa has given many performances all over India, some of her major concerts being Sur Singar’s Kal Ke Kalakar Sangeet Sammelan, Bombay, in 1975, Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Tarun Kalakar Sangeet Sammelan, New Delhi in 1976, the Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan, Bombay, in 1975, the Hindustani Classical Sangeet Sammelan, Chennai, organised by S. G. S. Sabha in 1977, the All India Classical Music Conference, Bangalore in 1977, the Banga Sanskriti Sammelan, Kolkata in 1978, ITC SRA’s Music Soiree at Raj Bhawan, Kolkata, in 1978, ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Allahabad in 1979, and concerts organised by Sangeet Kala Sangam, Bhopal, Bhatkhande Lalitkala Sangeet Samity, Raipur and All India Radio between 1979 and 1981.
Gourab Chatterjee
Gourab Chatterjee was introduced to Hindustani vocal music at the age of five by his mother. After her demise, he began to receive training from Shri Jainul Abedin, a renowned vocalist of the Agra tradition. He went on to become a General Class student at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy from 1999 and then a Scholar, under the tutelage of Arun Bhaduri from 2003. Apart from being a promising vocalist, Gourab is also an accomplished accompanist on the Harmonium. Gourab completed his training in March 2006.
Post SRA, Gourab has been teaching Hindustani Classical Music, giving performances and providing Harmonium accompaniment at various programmes within the country and abroad with celebrated musicians. His major concerts have been at Mumbai & Jodhpur Palace with Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Durgapur Youth Festival with Pandit Kumar Bose and in Germany with Smt. Kaushiki Chakrabarty.
Hem Raj Chandel
Initiated into music at an early age by his mother, Hem Raj ventured into Hindustani Classical Music only in his late teens, training under Dr Ganga Ram Sharma and Dr Neelam Paul of the Delhi and Agra gharanas respectively. At ITC-SRA, he trained under Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan of the Gwalior gharana between 2001 and 2004, both as General Class Student and Scholar. Hem Raj holds a Ph.D in music from Punjab University, Chandigarh and was awarded a junior and senior research Fellowship (2004-09) from U.G.C New Delhi. He broadcasts regularly as a classical vocal, folk and light music artiste from All India Radio, Shimla and has composed more then 300 compositions in classical music and light music under the pen name “Rajrang”. He has also published two books “Saras Raag Rang” and “Sangeet Jagat Ke Daideepayman Nakshtra Baba Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan Saheb” and has many research papers to his credit.
Hem Raj stood 1st in the 17th National Youth Festival held at Udaipur in the Classical Vocal category and has won gold medals from the Prof. Lal Ji Shrivastav Research Academy, Allahabad and the Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad. He has performed at numerous concerts including the Kal Ke Kalakar for Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai, and several others at Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Darbhanga, Shimla and other places in Himachal Pradesh. He has also given vocal support and accompanied his Ustad in all his major concerts all over India. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Vocal Music in the Governmet College, Dhaliara in Himachal Pradesh.
Hrishikesh Purushottam Gangurde
Hailing from Pune, Hrishikesh Gangurde was initiated into vocal music at the age of five by his father Shri Purushottam Gangurde. He later received talim for eight years from Dr. Vikas Kashalkar and Pandit Yashwantbua Joshi. While in school and college, he won prizes in classical music competitions and also received scholarships from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi and Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre, Mumbai. For six years from 2000, Hrishikesh was a scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy under the able guidance of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. He has also learnt semi classical music from Vidushi Girija Devi.
He has completed his Master’s Degree in Commerce and M.P.A. (Vocal Music) from Shivaji University Kolhapur. A “B High ” graded performer of All India Radio, he has won many awards for music at the school, collegiate and national levels, including the Pandit D.V Paluskar Classical Vocal competition, State level competition by “Bandish” at Ahmadnagar, Bharat Gayan Samaj at Pune, SPICMACAY classical vocal competitions etc.
Hrishikesh performs regularly in India, having performed at Pune, Nashik, Nagar, Ranchi, Madhubani and at the Tansen Sangeet Sabha in Bhopal. He has also performed with Pandita Shama Bhate, an eminent kathak guru and her students. He has two CDs releases to his credit in which he has provided the tabla accompaniment for Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Hrishikesh has recently joined K K Kapoor Sangeet Research Academy, Lucknow as a guru.
Indrani Mukherjee
Indrani was initiated into music at the age of 3 under the guidance of her mother, Smt. Shikha Chatterjee her aunt, Smt. Rita Roy and later started learning under her maternal grandfather, Shri Sanjib Banerjee, a well-known vocalist of the Kirana Gharana. She was an ITC SRA scholar between 1996 and 2001, perfecting her art under the guidance of Pandit Arun Bhaduri. She has also trained under the Late Pandit Ramashray Jha of Allahabad, Late Vidushi Purnima Choudhury of the Banaras Gharana and Vidushi Manju Sundaram of Varanasi.
A fulltime musician, Indrani has since 2001, been a prolific performer at various festivals and venues of note both in India and abroad. She is a regular performer in All India Radio & Television, and is an empanelled Artist of ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and Spic Macay. She has performed at Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav- Pune, Dr. Basant Rao Deshpande Sangeet Smiriti Samaroh SCZCC, Nagpur, Thumri Festival – Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi, Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan, Mumbai, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Patna, Sangeet Piyasi, Sovabazar Sangeet Sammelan, Rajya Sangeet Academy, Bhowanipur Sangeet Sammilani, Salt Lake Music Conference, and many others around the country. Her international concerts have taken her to France, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Lebanon, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. She has performed at Darbar Festival, London, UK. She has also represented India in Syria and Azerbaijan.
Besides teaching in Kolkata, Indrani has conducted workshops in France, Germany, Switzerland and Syria and has been interviewed by Radio France. She has also performed in highly successful duets with sarodiya Pandit Partho Sarothy, both in India and Europe. She has numerous CD releases to her credit, both as solo performer and as part of experimental music project.
Pandit Jagdish Prasad
Pandit Jagdish Prasad was initially groomed under the guidance of his father, Pandit Badri Prasad, who was the court musician of the former principality of Raigarh, Madhya Pradesh. Later, he was under the tutelage of legendary artiste Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana. Under the tutelage of both these Gurus, he enriched his repertoire in both classical and semi-classical music and could sing khayal and thumri with equal command.
He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1977. A gifted musician, he performed throughout the country and abroad. He left the Academy in 1984 and later joined Khairagarh University in Madhya Pradesh as a lecturer. He continued to serve the cause of music until his death on July 18, 2011 after a brief illness.
Jainul Abedin
Born in 1967, Jainul Abedin representing the Agra gharana, was one of ITC SRA’s earliest scholars and trained here for more than 20 years between 1978 and 1999. He received rigorous talim from Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan and subsequently under Pandit Vijay Kichlu and Pandit Sunil Bose. Growing up in a musical atmosphere amidst some of the greatest luminaries of Hindustani music, Jainul has also received invaluable guidance from personalities like Pandit K G Ginde and Smt Dipali Nag. He has featured in numerous major festivals as well as the various ITC Sammelans in the country. He has also toured Canada, USA and Bangladesh.
Including the decade he spent with us working in the erstwhile Prefect’s Department and assisting with the musical content of the website, Jainul was associated with this academy for 30 plus years. Today, Jainul is devoted fully to his music, giving talim in Hindustani Classical Music to innumerable students, giving professional performances regularly and also conducting successful workshops both in India and Bangladesh to popularise Indian Classical Music amongst the young generation.
Jainul has also formed a social organisation, South Kolkata Music and Art Foundation, whose primary activities are to help aged musicians suffering from financial distress, provide free training to financially disadvantaged students and contribute to socially desirable goals.
Jayanta Pandey
Jayanta Pandey started his musical training at the tender age of four, under his father, Shri Ashis Kumar Pandey and later, Shri Bhismadev Bhattacharya. He was a scholar at ITC SRA between 1980 and 1984 under the guidance of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. He later trained under Ustad Munawar Ali Khan and then, Pandit Prasun Bandopadhyay and Vidushi Meera Bandopadhyay. He received the National Scholarship award in 1990 and is a regular artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Jayanta has numerous performances to his credit. From 1995, he has been a staff artist of AIR, Kolkata.
Jayita Pandey
Jayanta Pandey started his musical training at the tender age of four, under his father, Shri Ashis Kumar Pandey and later, Shri Bhismadev Bhattacharya. He was a scholar at ITC SRA between 1980 and 1984 under the guidance of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. He later trained under Ustad Munawar Ali Khan and then, Pandit Prasun Bandopadhyay and Vidushi Meera Bandopadhyay. He received the National Scholarship award in 1990 and is a regular artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Jayanta has numerous performances to his credit. From 1995, he has been a staff artist of AIR, Kolkata.
Joyeeta Sanyal
As a child, Joyeeta Sanyal was initiated into the art of sitar playing by Pandit Deepak Choudhury and later learnt from Pandit Kushal Das. She has also imbibed the art of the gayakee ang from Shri Kumar Roy. A recipient of the national scholarship from Central Cultural Resource and Training Centre, New Delhi, she has had several performances to her credit on the concert stage and on television. Joyeeta was a scholar of the Academy between December 2005 and April 2012. She initially trained under ITC SRA Guru, Pandit Manilal Nag and later trained in the gayaki ang under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and finally, under Pandit Partha Chatterjee.
Jyoti Goho
Jyoti Goho was trained in Hindustani Classical Music by Pandit A. Kanan, Shri Sanat Banerjee and Shri Biren Bose. He was trained in the Harmonium by Shri Deb Kumar Banerjee.
Jyoti has accompanied stalwarts like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and Ustad Rashid Khan on the Harmonium. He has performed both in India and abroad in countries like Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Dubai, New Zealand, Australia and China.
Jyoti was an Accompanist at ITC Sangeet Research Academy till his retirement in 2018.
Kasturi Bandopadhyay
Born in 1987, Kasturi Bandopadhyay is the daughter of Tabla maestro Pandit Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay of the Banaras gharana. Kasturi was initiated into music at the age of four by Pandit K G Ginde and later learnt from Vidushi Subhra Guha. She was later inducted as a General Class Student of ITC SRA, taking talim in khayal under Pandit Arun Bhaduri. She has been a scholar of the Academy since August 14, 2009 training under both Pandit Bhaduri and also Vidushi Girija Devi, from whom she learnt thumri and dadra.
Kasturi was also trained in semi-classical forms from Vidushi Purnima Choudhuri. A prize-winnning participant of the Tara Music Channel competition on television, she received the National Scholarship in Thumri and Dadra in 2007 and in 2008, she was awarded the second prize in Thumri, Dadra in the All India Radio Music Competition. Kasturi was a scholar of the Academy till July 2012.
Kaustuv Kanti Ganguli
Kaustuv is a professional vocalist, an engineer and a budding musicologist trained in Hindustani music tradition, proficient in Khayal, Thumri and other forms of Hindustani music. Initiated into music at an age of 4 through his grandfather Late Phanindra Mohan Ganguli, he has continued his musical training since the age of 7 with vocal maestro, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, at his institution Shrutinandan, Kolkata.
Kaustuv has been actively performing in various cities of India as well as abroad in prestigious concerts such as the Young Artist Festival (Mumbai), Art Music of India Festival (Barcelona, Spain) to name a few. He has received the President’s Award for winning the All India Radio National Competition (2011), Scholarship to Young Artiste’ from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India (2010) and scholarship from the National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai, India (2012).
Kaustuv has visited the Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain as an invited researcher and for music concerts and lecture-demonstrations. Kaustuv also has got his articles published in the international journal Samakalika Sangeetham from the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He has delivered invited talks and lectures in renowned musicological conferences such as the Indian Musicological Society and the MS University, Baroda to name a few.
Kaustuv was a Junior Scholar at ITC SRA between October 2010 and December 2013.
Koushik Bhattacharjee
Initially trained by his father, Shri Pataki Bhattacharjee, Koushik showed talent from a very tender age. For the nearly 13 years that he spent as a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, he trained under Pandit Arun Bhaduri initially, then under Pandit K.G.Ginde and finally, under Pandit Sunil Bose. After completing his training, Koushik has been performing at numerous concerts, in India, Europe and North America. Noteworthy concerts within India include Dover Lane Music Conference, Kolkata, Bhowanipore Sangeet Sammelan, Rajya Sangeet Academy Conference, All India Music Conference, New Delhi, Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai and many others. He has been performing abroad regularly since 2002 and he has participated in music festivals in prestigious venues across France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway and Bangladesh.
A regular artist of All India Radio and television and an empanelled artiste of Indian Council For Cultural Relations, Koushik has been a Guest Examiner of Rabindra Bharati since 2009 for the Masters exams. He has started a Live Classical Vocal class , “Gyan Vani” on FM Radio and has also been invited to participate on prominent radio and TV shows in Paris and Kolkata. Koushik has also been the recipient of several awards.
In addition to being a performer and teacher, Koushik is also busy developing Manindra Sangeet Tirtha (An Institution of Indian Classical Vocal), established by his father, in memory of his grandfather Dhrupad singer Shri Manindranath Bhattacharjee.
Krishna Mukhedkar
A Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and Shri Kumar Mardur, Krishna was a runner up in a reality show called ‘Voice of Bangalore ‘ Season – 5 (TV9) in 2011. He secured the first place in many state level competitions in Karnataka. He was also selected for the scholarship of Sangeet and Nruthya Academy, Government of Karnataka.
Krishna is a B grade artiste of All India Radio, Bangalore. He has performed on many local and National TV channels as well as at the famous Bidar & Hampi Utsav of Karnataka.
Kriteka M Iyer
Kriteka was initiated into Classical Music at the age of eight by her uncle, Shri Rajesh Iyer of the Agra Gharana. Subsequently, she began training under the guidance of Shri Vikas Parikh of Mewati Gharana.
She has performed at multiple stages and has been placed first at many state and national level competitions. A few of them include being placed 1st at the Youth Festival, Gujrat University in the Indian Classical Music category and winning the 2nd prize at the Pandit Omkarnath Music Festival, Bharuch.
A Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Kriteka has several performances to her credit including performances at the Saptak School Music Festival at Ahmedabad as a student, a performance at the Town Hall, Ahmedabad in the presence of stalwarts like Ustad Zakir Hussain, Gajjar Hall, Ahmedabad and at the Raghavendra Mutt, Mysore in 2015.
She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in the year 2012 under Musician Tutor, Shri Waseem Ahmed Khan. Kriteka has also trained under Vidushi Girija Devi.
Maitrayee Roy Dadarkar
The earnest endeavour along with an unflinching devotion to the Classical heritage of the country, the essential prerequisite of becoming a classical artist, is gracefully manifested in Maitreyee Roy-Dadarkar. Born on 1st January 1979, she was patronised by her connoisseur parents and started to take her initial training at an early age from Shri Pallav Bhadra Roy of Patiala gharana. She was a scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 3rd August 2010 and 1st May 2015 during which she took taleem under the wise tutelage of guru, Pandit Arun Bhaduri, a very popular artist of Kirana Gayaki. She has also taken lessons from Late Pandit Yashwantbua Joshi, the legend of the Gwalior-Agra Gharana. She underwent Thumri-Dadra training under Vidushi Girija Devi as well.
Maitreyee also started taking lessons from Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande. She has completed the Masters Degree in Political Science from Calcutta University. After securing second position in All India Radio Competition in the Category of Khayal singing Maitreyee was selected as a regular performer of AIR, Kolkata. She topped the Music Competition arranged by Rajya Sangeet Academy and the Talent Search Contest organized by Doverlane Music Conference.
She has regularly performed in several prestigious Music Conferences in Kolkata, Mumbai, Banglore, Raipur, etc. Gifted with deep emotional voice and equipped with adequate taleem, Maitreyee is very graceful and composed in her attractive rendering of Ragas keeping proper touch with tradition. With an indomitable craving for Indian Classical Music Maitreyee is steadily progressing as an emergent classical vocalist of today.
Mallar Rakshit
Mallar was initiated into classical music by his parents at the young age of four. He has been with ITC Sangeet Research Academy from 2006 under Sarod maestro, Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta first as a General Class Student and later as a Scholar. Mallar has also taken guidance from Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, the senior-most disciple of Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta.
Awarded the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in 2008, Mallar stood first in the State Music Academy competition in 2010 and received the Ustad Alauddin Khan Memorial Award from NCPA, Mumbai. He has performed at concerts all over the country and is a B High artiste of All India Radio.
He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in instrumental music from the Rabindra Bharati University where he topped his class with a first class first and won a gold medal, both times.
Manali Bose
Manali Bose received preliminary training from her parents and then from Shrimati Debjani Basu, a disciple of late Pandit A. Kanan. She was but a child of ten when she began taking private lessons from Pandit Arun Bhaduri. She became a general class student of ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1996 and was a Scholar here between 2006 and 2010, under her Guru.
Manali has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships. In 1995, she stood first in the Bhajan category in the West Bengal State Music Academy competition and performed in the Children’s Section and Special Bengali Service of All India Radio. She received a scholarship in khayal from Anun Lund Rej Fund (ALR Fund), Norway in 1999, followed by the Sangeet Piyasi Scholarship in khayal in 2000-01. In 2007, Manali stood first in the khayal category of the All India Radio Music Competition and in 2010, she was awarded a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Manali’s various performances have always been well received. She has performed creditably at ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Bangalore (2008), ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Kolkata (2009), West Bengal State Music Academy’s annual conference (2009), Ballygunge Maitreyee Music Circle (2009) , the Anirban Foundation (2009) and Brhaddhvani’s ‘The Universe of Sound’ festival in Chennai in 2009.
Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan
Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan owes his family lineage to the legendary Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, the founders of the Kirana Gharana. His father, Sarangi-Nawaz, Ustad Shakoor Khan was the grand nephew of Ustad Bande Ali, Beenkar. After his father’s death, Mashkoor joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1984 as a Musician Scholar to further develop his undiluted style of Kirana Gayaki. Now as a Guru of the Academy, he nurtures several scholars under his able guidance.
Mashkoor Ali has inherited a veritable treasure of bandishes and rare Ragas. An A-graded artist of AIR, he has featured in several National Programmes of Akashvani and Doordarshan. He has performed at numerous festivals and conferences in India and abroad and his awards include the Abhinav Kala Sammelan, Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Award, Swaranjali Award, the title of ‘Bandish Nawaz’ and the Ustad Niaz Ahmed Khan and Ustad Faiyaz Ahmed Khan Memorial Award.
Meghna Sardar
Born on 4th March 1987, Megha na has been learning Dhrupad under Pandit Uday Bhawalkar since 2005. Meghna has performed in numerous programs and festivals like Mahila Dhrupad Utsav in Bhopal.
She has also received Sangeet Alankar and the HRD Scholarship. Meghna has completed her B.Com, LLB and Company Secretaryship. She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy and was a Junior Scholar under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Uday Bhawalkar between 2012 and 2017.
Minakshi Majumdar
Minakshi Majumdar was initially trained by her mother Smt. Sandhya Majumdar. Subsequently, she trained under Pandit Nihar Ranjan Bandopadhyay, Vidushi Purnima Choudhuri and Pandit Arun Bhaduri. Minakshi holds a Masters’ degree in Music and has stood 1st in the All India Radio competition in Khayal and Thumri, the Dover Lane Music Competition and the Ravi Kichlu Foundation competition. She has also received a National Scholarship from the Government of India. Her performances include those for ITC SRA in Mumbai, NCPA in Mumbai, Dover Lane Music Conference, All India Radio Programmes in Indore and Kolkata, the Haridas Swami Sabha in Mumbai and many others. A ‘B’ -High graded artiste of AIR and Doordarshan, she was a scholar of the academy from 1st June 2011 to 14th January 2014 under the tutelage of Musician Tutor, Aniruddha Bhattacharya and was also under the guidance of ITC SRA guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
Mohasin Khan
Mohasin Khan was born in Dharwad on 9th August, 1992 in the illustrious family of Sitar Ratna Rahimat Khan of the Beenkar Gharana of Indore. Representing the 7th generation of sitarists in his family, he was a child prodigy. At the age of five, Mohasin’s grandfather, late Ustad Abdul Karim Khan initiated him into the magical realm of the sitar. Further tutored by his father, Ustad Hameed Khan, young Mohasin blossomed into a mature sitarist with a commanding and melodious touch.
Mohasin has been the recipient of numerous awards already. He won the 1st prize at the National Youth Festival held at Udaipur and Mangalore organised by the Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of India in 2011 and 2012 respectively. He has been awarded the Naada Kishor Award by Vidwan N. Ramani, 2010, the Kala Kiran Award from Kala Vikas Kendra, Gadag, 2010 and the Sanskriti Poshak Award by Sanskrit Bharati, 2010. He has been a scholarship awardee of the Centre for Cultural resources and Training (CCRT) since 2005. Mohasin was a Junior Scholar at ITC SRA from 2012 to August 2014 under Pandit Partha Chatterjee.
Nibedita Ghosh
Born on 2nd August, 1985, Nibedita Ghosh’s musical training started at the age of four from her father, Shri Gobinda Ghosh. She started to learn the Sitar at the age of 10, initially from the Late Sri Biswanath Das and later under Pandit Manilal Nag. She continued her training with him after she joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student in 2005. Nibedita stood first in the West Bengal Youth Festival, 2008 and was stood in the National Youth Festival, 2009. She was a Scholar at the Academy between September 2009 and December 2011, initially under Pandit Manilal Nag and subsequently under Pandit Partha Chatterjee.
Nilanjana Sengupta
Born into a family of musicians, Nilanjana Sengupta started learning the nuances of Hindustani Classical Music at a very early age from her mother. For 12 years she then trained under Shri Kumar Roy, a noted vocalist of the younger generation of musicians. She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2002 as a Scholar under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. She has won laurels in several music competitions in Kolkata and was awarded a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in 2002.
Nilanjana continues to be a musician and stays in touch with her Guru. Her major concerts include ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelans of Kolkata, Raipur, Kanpur, Lucknow and Hyderabad, the All Bengal Music Conference, 2007 and the Gunijan Baithak in Mumbai.
Nirbhay Saxena
Born on 1st January 1994, Nirbhay started learning vocal music from his father, Shri Radheyshyam Saxena at the age of 9. Subsequently he learnt from Pandit Umesh K. Kampoowale and Shri P. L. Gohadkar of Gwalior Gharana.
He attained a Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering and has also completed his Masters in Music from the Indira Kala Viswavidhyalaya, Khairagarh.
He was a Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 2011 and 2019 under Padmashree Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. Nirbhay has received taalim from Padma Vibhushan Dr. Girija Devi and Shri Omkar Dadarkar. He has performed in various music concerts at Gwalior, Agra, Bhopal and Hyderabad, winning appreciation from connoisseurs and critics, as well as various reputed newspapers in the region.
He is a recipient of the national scholarship from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training of the Indian Government and also the Chacha Nehru Scholarship from NCERT and a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture. Having been awarded the Bal Shree Honour for young artists in 2009, Nirbhay is a regular artiste of All India Radio, Indore.
Oishi Bhattacharya
Born on 12th April 1996, Oishi Bhattacharyya learnt Hindustani classical vocal music from her father and guru, Shri Goutam Bhattacharyya and mother Smt Bina Bhattacharyya for about 10 years. She has performed in several classical programmes and was a Junior Scholar under Pandit Arun Bhaduri from 20th August 2009 to 17th July 2013.
Omkar Dadarkar
Born in Mumbai on 30th July 1977, Omkar hails from a family of ‘Marathi Natyasangeet’ exponents, and was naturally drawn towards this idiom. He received his initial guidance from his aunt, the late noted classical vocalist Smt. Manik Verma and thereafter from Shri Ram Deshpande. After being awarded the CCRT scholarship (Delhi) for classical music, he was groomed by Pandit Yashwantbua Joshi under the scheme of Guru-Shishya-Parampara of the Dadar-Matunga Cultural Centre. A Sangeet Visharad and Bachelor of Arts in Marathi Literature and History, Omkar joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar in July 1999, receiving rigorous talim under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. He completed his training in June 2005 with an A+ grade. He also trained in the light classical form under Vidushi Girija Devi and Shri Srinivas Khale.
Omkar is fast gaining recognition as a regular concert performer. His performances in ITC Sangeet Sammelans at Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai besides other prestigious programmes in India and also Bangladesh, Nepal and Canada have been highly applauded. His numerous awards include the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2009-2010 conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi to talented artistes below the age of 35, the Aditya Vikram Birla Puraskar for 2008, the Shanmukhananda Hall-Mumbai-Sangeet Shiromani award in 2007 and he is also the first recipient of Chaturanga Sangeet Shishyavrutti Award given by Chaturanga Pratishthan in collaboration with Mhaiskar Foundation, Mumbai in 2006.
Omkar who was previously working with Mumbai Educational Trust, as Music In-charge returned to ITC SRA as a Musician Tutor from 2010 onwards. He is presently a Guru at the Academy.
Pampa Banerjee Mukherjee
Guided by her mother, Pampa started her musical training from the age of six and later learnt from Janab Fazal Masi and Smt. Sanhita Mazumdar. She was first trained by Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, the doyen of the Gwalior Gharana and by Shruti Sadolikar of the Jaipur Gharana. As a scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, she also learnt dhrupad, bhajan and thumri from Gurus like Pandit Falguni Mitra, Pandit Arun Bhaduri and Smt Girija Devi. An M.A in Political Science, she has completed her B.Mus. from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh and is a junior diploma holder from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad.
Pampa has won a National Scholarship, 2003, and has stood 1st in the All Bengal Musical Competition and Burdwan District Competition. She has also won prizes in the music competitions held by Rajya Sangeet Academy and Pandit Ravi Kichlu Foundation in 2006. A B-High graded radio artist, Pampa taught music for a while at the Shakhri Begum Memorial Trust Music Academy. She resumed her training under Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, as a Scholar of the Academy, from October 2009. She has performed in various programmes in and around the city and also in other parts of India.
Paritosh Pohankar
Born on 13th April 1977 in Indore into a family of musicians, Paritosh grew up in a musical environment. His initial curiosity in music soon developed into an earnest lifelong pursuit. As a first step his tutelage began under Pandit Goswami Gokulotsavji Maharai of Indore Gharana at Indore.
After completing his graduation with subjects like Psychology and Ancient Indian Culture, he was as a General Class Student in ITC Sangeet Research Academy and soon became a Scholar under the guidance of Guru Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan of the Kirana Gharana.
With his mature, rich and sonorous voice, he delineates a Raga through Alaapi and intricate taans. Though khayal singing is close to his heart, Paritosh sings tarana and thumri also. Ustad Amir Khan, Roshan Aara Begum and Smt. Hirabai Barodekar have influenced his gayaki but he does not imitate them and has developed a distinct style of his own.
Paritosh groomed students at the Surtal Music Academy in Rajasthan for many years. He also has several CD releases to his credit.
Partha Sarkar
Born on June 7, 1982, Partha Sarkar started learning the Flute from his father, Shri Kumud Ranjan Sarkar when he was six and later from his father’s guru, Shri Jugal Kishore Sarkar. From 2003 onwards, he has been a disciple of Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia at his Vrindavan Gurukul, Mumbai and has accompanied him on various prestigious platforms like the NCPA, Ramkrishna Mission, Golpark, Taj Mahal Festival, Agra and the Konark Festival, Orissa.
Partha also has numerous solo performances to his credit. His achievements include the 2nd prize in the National Youth Festival at Mangalore, 2012, the Sangeet Ratna in Flute from Bangiya Sangeet Parishad and the Best Performer award from Indian Music Academy at the Idea Jalsa talent hunt in 2009. Partha has also trained on the Tabla for 15 years, starting from the age of 5 and was awarded a Sangeet Vibhakar in Tabla from Bangiya Sangeet Parishad in 1998.
Partha was a Scholar of the Academy between February 2011 and December 2014, training under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Parthapratim Das
Parthapratim Das, the only child of Late Hirak Kr. Das started learning music systematically from an early age, first from Shri Shyamal Dasgupta and then from Pandit Prasun Banerjee, the exponent of Patiala Gharana. He went on to train under Pandit A. Kanan for many years and became an ITC Sangeet Research Academy Scholar during this time (1994-1995). After the demise of Pandit A. Kanan he received guidance from Pandit Kumar Prasad Mukherjee, the exponent of Agra-Gwalior Gharana for a short spell. Parthapratim Das is now a successful performer of Kirana Gharana.
A regular artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Kolkata, Parthapratim has a Master’s degree in Music from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He was the recipient of several awards at his University including the Sangita Charya Girija Shankar Chakraborty prize and the Bijan Ghosh Dastidar Gold Medal. He also topped the music competition in khayal’ and thumri’ organised by All India Radio in 1992 and followed this up by standing first in the classical and light classical music section in the H. M. V. Golden Talents of Bengal, in 1993 and was selected by H. M. V. for recording. In 2000, he was awarded the Surmani title by Sur Singar Samsad in Mumbai.
He has numerous performances to his credit across India and also in Bangladesh.
Parthasarathi Desikan
Born in 1973, Parthasarathi’s interest in learning Hindustani classical vocal music was first induced in by his mother. Consequently, he trained under the meticulous care of Smt. Dipti Mukherjee. He began performing at a young age and his participation in the Junior Talent Programme and the All Bengal Competition, organized by the West Bengal State Music Academy, brought him recognition as he achieved first position.
He also secured first position in bhajan and second position in khayal at the A.I.R music competition. Partha proved his mettle when he was selected as a Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy where he was nurtured carefully by Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty between 1992 and 1998.
Pinaki Bose
Pinaki had his initial training from his mother, Smt. Bula Bose. He then received talim from the veteran guru of the Academy, Pandit Biresh Roy and went on to become a General Class Student with ITC Sangeet Research Academy. As a Scholar of the Academy, Pinaki continued his training first under Pandit Biresh Roy and later under Pandit Arun Bhaduri between 2001 and 2004, and then again between 2005 and May 2009. Pinaki received a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture in 2004.
Since SRA, Pinaki has been representing Indian Classical Music in Australia by doing workshops and programmes. He has formed a group with other musicians and is also conducting research on World Music. Pinaki has many performances to his credit, notable among them being a concert in Delhi with the late Padmashree Mehmood Dholpuri.
Prasad Gulavani
Born in 1965, Prasad Gulavani hails from a family with a musical tradition. Initiated by his father, Shri Madhukar Gulavani, a vocalist of the Jaipur gharana, Prasad has also been trained by Pandit Prabhakar Deshkar of Nagpur. He was a scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Pandit Nivruttibua Sarnaik. A B-high graded artist of All India Radio, he has performed at numerous concerts including AIR Sangeet Sabhas and ITC Sangeet Sammelans.
Prasad Khaparde
Born in 1973, Prasad hails from Ghatanji, a small town in Vidarbha, Maharashta. His initial training in music was under the guidance of eminent gurus Shri Bhalerao, Shri D V Phanke and Smt Sumantai Chaudhuri of Amaravati. He was a regular participant of competitions and conferences all over India. He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student in 1996 under the tutelage of Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan of Gwalior Gharana and later after completing his master’s degree in music, became a scholar under Ustad Rashid Khan of the Rampur Sahaswan Gharana. A winner of the All India Radio music competition, his dedication and hard work has brought him many awards.
Prasad has performed credibly at coveted platforms of the country including Sawai Gandharwa Sangeet Mahotsav in Pune, Shree Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan in Jalandhar, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki Mohotsav and Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroh in Goa, Tansen Samaroh in Gwaliior, Pt. Vasantrao Deshpande Samaroh in Nagpur, Saptak Festival in Ahmedabad and the list goes on. His performances have taken him around the globe: Dubai, Muscat, New Zealand, Australia, America, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Paris & Turkey.
Prasad has worked as Faculty at Kala Academy Goa and is a recognized A-Grade Artiste of All India Radio. Along with his ardent riyaaz, also teaches Hindustani vocal music to students from India and abroad. He also has several CDs and cassettes to his credit.
Prasant Samadhar
Born in 1974, Prasant was initially trained by maestros like Shri Mohan Lal Mishra and Pandit Chinmay Lahiri. On the untimely death of his guru, he joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a student and later was a Scholar between 1996 and 1997, under the guidance of Guru, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. He was later also tutored by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
Prasant has had the privilege of performing as a vocal support artiste with Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Vidushi Girija Devi. He has also performed with a galaxy of classical artistes like Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.
Prasant has been involved in Fusion and World Music and has sung in more than 20 Hindi films. He has groomed participants in various music reality shows like Indian Idol etc. and has also been a faculty member and judge on popular television reality shows like Fame Gurukul and Sitaron Ko Choona Hai. Prasant’s versatility is evident whether he is performing a classical recital, a romantic film song or a fusion piece with artistes like Sivamani, Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Karl Peters and others.
Prasant is on a mission to bring Indian Classical Music at the same popular stage as light music. He performs with his band “Namah” at various concerts to promote Indian Classical Music. He has performed with AR Rahman, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and has represented India at a SAARC concert in Russia. His fusion band has performed at the Zee Cine Awards.
Mumbai based Prasant is now a prolific composer and singer and also Director of a company called Optimum Ore Creations, which creates concept-based shows and reality television.
Priyanka Mitra
Born on October 4, 1986, Priyanka Mitra was initially trained by Shri Sanjay Dubey of Siliguri. Subsequently she joined Shrutinandan and learnt from Smt. Chandana Chakraborty, Smt. Kaushiki Chakraborty and finally under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. An M.A. in music, she stood 1st in khayal and 2nd in bhajan and ragpradhan in the Dover Lane music competition and won the Pandit Ravi Kichlu Foundation award in bhajan. She was a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy from May 2009 to July 2015, under the tutelage of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Puja Chowdhury
Puja started learning music at the age of 7 under the guidance of Shri Ajit Halder. She joined Shrutinandan in the year 2010, where she received training from Smt. Sujata Bose, Smt. Chandana Chakraborty and Shri Deborshee Bhattacharjee. She has been placed in the All India Radio Music Competition under the categories of Nazrul Geeti, Bhajan and Contemporary Bengali songs. In 2016, Puja also participated in a reality show held in Mumbai. Puja joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Junior Scholar in 2017, under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
Raghab Chatterjee
Initiated into music by his mother Smt Shila Chatterjee, Raghab trained under Dr. Amiya Ranjan Bandyopadhyay before joining ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1993 as a general class student. In August 1996 he became a scholar under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. He was also the finalist of the Pandit Ravi Kichlu Golden Talent Contest 1994.
Raghab has since gone on to become a regular performer on stage shows all over and has also made a name as a playback singer in the Kolkata and Mumbai film industries, with a lot of commercially popular songs to his credit. He has also brought out albums in Bengali and Hindi. He performs regularly all over India, USA, Hong Kong and other countries. His achievements include winning the National Scholarship, the R. D. Burman Award, Uttam Kumar Award, Kalakar Award, the HMV Golden Talent Contest etc.
Following is an excerpt of his performance during a recital at ITC SRA, where he was accompanied by Shri Chandrabhan on the tabla ans Shri Jyoti Goho on the harmonium.
Rajyasree Ghosh
Gifted with a powerful yet melodious voice, Rajyasree was initiated into Hindustani vocal music at a young age and went through an extensive training in the hands of some of the most illustrious maestros in this field. A gold medalist both in her B.A and M.A. in khayal from the Rabindra Bharati University, she later became a Scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 1989 and 1991 under the able tutelage of Vidushi Girija Devi and Pandit Arun Bhaduri and subsequently, Pandit K.G. Ginde. This training, coupled with her exceptional musical talents has helped Rajyasree develop a style, which, while maintaining the purity of tradition is individual and original. She is equally adept at both Khayal as well as the lighter semi-classical genres. She has also trained in Nazrulgeeti under Smt Suprava Sarkar and studied Bengali tappa and puratani from its most famous exponent, the late Shri Ramkumar Chattopadhay.
Regularly featured on All India Radio, Rajyasree has been performing at some of the most esteemed venues both in India and abroad. For three consecutive years she was adjudged the best in the Khayal, Ragpradhan and Bhajan categories at the Dover Lane Music Conference. In 2000, invited by the Bangiya Parisad of Oman she performed at several musical soirees in Muscat and also had a series of successful concerts between 2001-2006 in the USA. In 2008 she performed in Malhar Festival arranged by Indo-Occidental Symbiosis and took part in the annual conference of West Bengal State Music Academy.
Rajyasree is currently Senior Lecturer of Music at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.
Rajyasree Patil
Born on 5th April 1994, Rajyasree started learning music at the age of 13 from Pandit Chandrashekar Puranirmath and later trained under Pandit Venkatesh Kumar.
She has participated and has been placed 1st in many competitions such as Kishora Pratibhotsav and Pratibha Karangi, both conducted by the Government of Karnataka. She has also performed in many musical festivals like Mysore Dasara Festival, Kittur Utsav, Dharwad Utsav. Belgum Visva Kannada Sammelan, etc.
Rajyasree was a Junior Scholar of the Academy between January 2013 and May 2015 under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Ram Deshpande
Initiated and trained by a number of renowned musicians like Pandit Prabhakar Deshkar, Ram Deshpande later trained under Pandit Yeshwantbuva Joshi and for a short while, as a scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy between late 1992 and early 1994, under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. Though generally a singer of the Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas, Ram also receives guidance from Pandit Babbanrao Haldankar of the Agra Gharana. He is a doctorate in music and an A-Graded artist of the All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Ram has been the recipient of numerous honours. He has received a National Scholarship from the Indian government, the Kesarbai Kerkar Scholarship from N.C.P.A, Mumbai, the Best Vocalist Award from SRA in 1991, the prestigious Vidyasagar Award by Music Forum and the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskar in 2005. Gandharva Mahavidyalay has selected him as a guide for doctorial students.
Ram has participated in many music seminars and has had a spate of successful concerts in the USA in 2010 and as also performed several times in Kenya, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Ramya Bhat
Born on May 22, 1992, Ramya has been learning Hindustani Classical Music under Dr. Ashok Huggannavar since she was 7. She is also learning Kannada Ranga Geet and light music.
Her achievements in music include a 1st place in the State level classical music competition conducted by the Department of Kannada & Culture in 2004 and a 2nd place in the State level classical music competition conducted by Gangubai Hangal Foundation, Hubli in 2007. She has had numerous performances in venues like Nadiger Vade, Kundgol, Hubli, Pandit Puttaraj Gawai Ashram, Gadag, Hubli, and a music concert in memory of Nalavdi Shrikantha Shastri.
Ramya was a Junior Scholar of the Academy between April 1, 2011 and December 23, 2013, under the tutelage of Vidushi Subhra Guha.
Ranjani Ramachandran
Ranjani was initiated into Hindustani Classical Music by her mother, Vijaya. Her formal training began under the tutelage of Pt Kashinath Bodas from Kanpur and later under Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe. Ranjani was a Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy between august 2001 and March 2006 under the able guidance of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. While at the academy she also acquired a rich repertoire of thumri, dadra, kajri and chaiti under the guidance of Vidushi Girija Devi.
Endowed with a rich vibrant voice and coupled with immense dedication to her chosen vocation and trained in the Gwalior and Jaipur Gharana Gayakis, Ranjani has, over the years, earned wide acclaim for her performances which are known for their powerful exposition and highly melodic appeal.
She has been duly acknowledged for her talent with numerous awards, scholarships and fellowships including the Surmani Award from Sur Singar Samsad, Ramkrishnabua Vaze Yuva Gayak Puraskar, 2013, Charles Wallace India Trust Research Grant from UK, Central Government Scholarship for Hindustani Classical Music and Resident scholarship of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy from Kolkata. Ranjani regularly broadcasts for the All India Radio and Doordarshan and is empanelled as a performing artiste for the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Her music has reached wider audiences through the publication of many audio CDs which have been critically acclaimed.
Parallel to her engagement as a concert performer, Ranjani is also a serious researcher in music and has been awarded a Doctorate in Vocal music. Her research work focuses on studying the stylistic diversity within the Gwalior Gharana through analysis of recordings of a few Gwalior Gharana vocalists from the 20th Century. She has also been regularly interacting with ethnomusicologists Dr Martin Clayton and Dr Laura Leante from the Durham University, UK since the past few years and has contributed to their research in a variety of capacities as a performer, interviewee and collaborator.
Currently, Ranjani is also engaged in academic practices at the university level working as a faculty in the Department of Hindustani Classical Music at Sangit Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan in West Bengal.
She has performed in prestigious venues in India and abroad. Some of her noteworthy past performances include the Vishnu Digambar Jayanti Samaroha, New Delhi, Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan, ITC Sangeet Sammelans Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, Sangeet Pratibha of Sangeet Natak Akademi, Nehru Centre (London), Learnquest Academy (Boston), Basant-Bahar ,California, Classical Arts Society, Houston, Jadavpur Uuniversity, Kolkata, Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre, Mumbai, Arpan Festival, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, Kalakshetra Art Festival, Chennai, Pt. Kumar Gandharva Smirti Samaroha, Dewas, Horizon Series ICCR, Pune , Varanasi, Kala-Bhavana, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, Bengaluru Temple Festival , Bangalore, Bharatiya Sangeet Vidyalaya, Dharwad, Goa Kala Academy, Riwaayat and Campus Concert series, Hyderabad, SPIC MACAY, Kota, Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan, Mumbai, Deval Club, Kolhapur, Lalmani Mishra Sangeet Samaroha, Kanpur.
ustad Rashid Khan
A child prodigy, the immensely gifted Ustad Rashid Khan joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy with his grand uncle, Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan, one the greatest maestros of the Rampur Sahaswan Gharana. Though the young Rashid initially showed little or no interest in music, his tutelage under his illustrious grand uncle, changed the course of his life.
Rashid was six years old when Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan intuitively perceived his latent potential. The Ustad decided to nurture his grand nephew’s musical sensitivity in the traditional Guru-Shishya Parampara – first at Badaun , Uttar Pradesh, where Rashid was born and thereafter at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata. Ustad Rashid Khan’s growth from a child prodigy to a maestro is noteworthy. He became a Scholar at the Academy in April 1980 when he was barely 14. The long and arduous training under his Guru made Rashid a perfect exponent of the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana. He remained a Scholar under the tutelage of Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan until the latter’s demise in 1993. He then became a Musician Scholar. Finally, from 1994 to 1998, he was a Guru and a part of the teaching faculty at the Academy
Rashid became a Top Grade artiste of All India Radio in his very first audition, and has never looked back since. He has won accolades for all the aspects of his musical performance – voice, phrasing, virtuosity and sensitivity. The fine balance between his technical virtuosity and artistic creativity has amazed connoisseurs. He is also a master of the tarana like his Guru but sang them in his own manner, preferring the khayal style rather than the instrumental stroke-based style for which Nisar Hussain was famous. He has performed in an endless list of prestigious concerts, in the greatest of festivals in the country and abroad.
Though a loyal and proud member of the Rampur Sahaswan Gharana, Rashid has always been prepared to learn and incorporate the best from other Gharanas into his renditions. His singing bears a distinctive stamp that is his very own, grand and majestic, yet soul-stirringly pure and simple. Rashid Khan has also experimented with fusing pure Hindustani music with lighter musical genres or in experimental concerts with western instrumentalist Louis Banks. He has also performed jugalbandis with Sitarist, Ustad Shahid Parvez and others.
He was awarded the Padma Shree as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006.
Ratan Bharati
Imbibing a sense of rhythm from childhood, Ratan was attracted to the Guitar at an early age. Starting with lessons from Sri Swapan Kar, when he was all of four, he graduated to taking taalim from renowned guitar player Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya. Ratan stood first in many prestigious competitions and has received the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
He participated in India’s first online instrumental reality show, Life is Music, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. where he was awarded the Best Solo Instrumentalist by stalwarts of the Indian Instrumental music industry like Louis Banks, Ustad Taufiq Qureshi and Pandit Purbayan Chatterjee. Ratan has been engaged with various fusion music projects and performs all over India with his own fusion band.
Under his Guru’s watchful guidance, he has performed in different parts of the country and has also toured Europe, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, Muscat, etc. A few noted performances have been at NCPA, Mumbai, Sur Sagar, Bangalore, Kala Prakash, Benaras, ITC Sangeet Sammelan Kolkata, Bengal Foundation, Bangladesh amongst many others. He was awarded an A Grade at his first All India Radio audition, an unusual feat for a young musician.
Ratan joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar in May 2011, under Guru Pandit Partha Chatterjee and was a Musician Scholar of the Academy between 2016 and 2017. Having a keen interest in and understanding of Western classical music as well, Ratan believes in spreading his knowledge to dedicated students of music.
Reshma Bhat
Born on 8th June 1988, Reshma Bhat has been learning Hindustani Classical Music under Dr. Ashok Huggannavar since she was 13. She has also been learning Kannada Ranga Geet and light music. Her achievements in music include a scholarship from Karnataka Music & Dance Academy, a first prize in the State level classical music competition held by Dr. Mallikarjun Mansur Trust, Dharwad, a first prize in the All India Radio competition and a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture. She is a B-High Artist of All India Radio. She has performed for the Gangubai Hangal Foundation, Hubli, at a concert in the memory of Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, Manipal and many others.
Reshma was a Junior Scholar from March 1, 2011 to August 2014, training under Vidushi Subhra Guha.
Roopkatha Banerjee
Born on 15th Nov 1996, Roopkatha started her musical journey at a very young age. Her formal training began at Ustad Rashid Khan’s Shakri Begum Memorial Trust. A General Class Student of ITC Sangeet Research Academy since August 2011 under the guidance of Vidushi Subhra Guha, Roopkatha trained under her Guru as a Junior Scholar from June 2012 to September 2015. Roopkatha was awarded the SPICMACAY Scholarship, 2010-11, and has won several interschool awards in a variety of extra-curricular activities including music. She has also learnt the Tabla at SBMT from Shri Subroto Dandopat.
Ruby Mallik
Dr. Ruby Mallik was initiated in the art of music by Ustad Shabbir Ahmed Khan of the Agra Gharana in 1970. She completed her B.A. in 1974 with Hindustani Music as one of her subjects from Agra University. She did her a M.A. in English Literature in 1976. She then joined Delhi University from where she qualified for her M.A and M Phil in Hindustani Classical music.
During this period she got the opportunity to continue her professional training from one of the foremost musicians of the Agra Gharana, Ustad Yunus Hussain Khan. She learnt rare Ragas and compositions from him. In 1980, Ruby became a Scholar at the I.T.C. Sangeet Research Academy where she continued her professional training at an advanced level from the master musician of Agra Gharana, Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan.
She was awarded Ph.D In Music in 2003, for her research on the musical style and contribution of her Guru to Indian Music by Agra University. From 1989, she started teaching music in Agra University at the under graduate and postgraduate level. In 2004, she was sent on deputation as Vocal Music Teacher- Cum- Performer at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation, Trinidad & Tobago by the Indian Council For Cultural Relations.
An exponent of khayal, thumri, tarana, dadra and other semi classical forms, Ruby has participated and presented papers in various seminars and symposiums, which have also been published. She has successfully conducted lecture demonstrations to create awareness for Indian Classical Music and continues this endeavour. Ruby has performed in many prestigious concerts in India, USA, Grenada, Jamaica and Trinidad. She was awarded the Surmani title at the Kal-Ke-Kalakar concert by Sur Singar Samsad in 1987.
Ruchira Kedar
Ruchira Kedar received her initial training from her father. She started learning from Vidushi Alka Deo Marulkar, a vocalist of the Jaipur Gharana, since the age of 14. She went on to top the All India Radio Music Competition in 1999 and subsequently bagged the National Talent Search Scholarship from the Government of India in 2000. She has performed in major concerts in India and has also toured the USA and Canada in 2002. She was a Scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy between June 2003 and December 2006, under the guidance of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. She then moved to Pune and completed her Master’s degree in English Literature and Music.
Ruchira has since been performing solo and collaborative Hindustani concerts very regularly. A significant few among these are the Tansen Samaroh at Gwalior, ITC Sangeet Sammelans at Lucknow and Delhi, Yuva Mahotsav, DMCC at Mumbai, the Vedic Heritage Aashram, Long Island, New York etc. She has been the lead vocalist of Anuradha Pal’s “Stree Shakti”, an all-women musician’s ensemble and has received several awards including the Yuva Sadhak Sammaan in 2007 by Madhukali ,the Young Achiever award from Mid-Day, Pune, the Woman Achiever award from Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal, the Sur Mani title from the Sur Singar Samsad in Mumbai.
Her first solo album released by Sonic Octaves, Mumbai has been getting a very positive response while a popular U.K. label, which has brought out a world music compilation features her music representing the Indian music genre. The label has also released her first solo EP.
Rupashree Bhattacharya
Having learnt from her musician father, Shri Durga Chandra Bhattacharya, then from Shri Ashit Bandopadhyay, Vidushi Shipra Bose and Shri Sanjay Chakrabarty, Rupashree was an ITC Sangeet Research Academy Scholar between 1996 and 2002, training under Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty of the Patiala Gharana. She received a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and came 1st in the East Zonal finals at the ITC SRA Golden Talent Scholarship. Noticing her innate talent in playing the Harmonium, her Guru gradually guided her through the intricacies and exacting standards of accompaniment. Maturing into a sensitive and unobtrusive accompanist, she has been a faculty member of ITC Sangeet Research Academy since 2002.
A B-High graded artiste of All India Radio, Rupashree regularly broadcasts Shyama sangeet and bhajan. She has participated in almost all classical conference of Kolkata, accompanying great maestros like Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Vidushi Girija Devi, Pandit Arun Bhaduri, Pandit Amiya Ranjan Banerjee, Vidushi Subhra Guha, Vidushi Ashwini Bhide and many others.
Rupayan Sarkar
Rupayan’s initial training in music was from his mother Smt. Bonalata Sarkar subsequent to which he received training under Pandit Arun Bhaduri since 2004.
He has stood 1st in the All Bengal music competition held in Kolkata in 2009 under the Hindustani Classical Vocal category and has performances at Kolkata, Coochbihar, Bhopal, Asansol and Delhi to his credit.
Apart from this, Rupayan is a very talented photographer and has impressed many with his aesthetic skill set.
He joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student under the guidance of Guru Pandit Arun Bhaduri in 2011 and was a Junior Scholar between 2015 and August 2017.
Sabina M Islam Rahaman
Born in 1975, Sabina was initially groomed by her father, Shri Nurul Islam, and later learnt from Pandit Aloke Chatterjee in Guwahati. An honours graduate in English Literature from Cotton University, formerly known as Cotton College, she passed Sangeet Visharad from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith, Lucknow, in 1988. She set foot in the world of ITC Sangeet Research Academy under the guidance of one of the Academy’s senior-most Scholars, Shri Jainul Abedin. She was at first a General Class Student under Pandit Sunil Bose of the Agra Gharana, and then a Scholar of the Academy under Vidushi Subhra Guha, also of the Agra Gayaki, between 1999 and 2003.
Sabina continued her sadhna of music, living with her Guruma in true Guru-Shishya parampara. Apart from khayal, Sabina also sings thumri, dadra, kajri, tappa in the Poorab Ang and is an A-grade artiste of All India Radio under the same category. She is a B-high artiste of AIR Guwahati, Assam and has won several competitions and scholarships. She stood 1st in the All Assam Music competition , won the Jnana Pravaha Scholarship and in 2003-04, the prestigious Young Artist Award under EZCC, together with a Gold medal offered by the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India.
An empanelled artiste of ICCR, Sabina has several prestigious performances to her credit including a concert organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi at Siliguri in 2007 and more recently, at the 103rd Shastriya Sangeet Sammelan at Amritsar, the Indo Occidental Symbiosis programme in Delhi and Sangeet Piyasi at Kolkata. From 2006, Sabina has been visiting USA regularly on performance tours, performing at New York, Chicago, New Jersey and Wesleyan University, Connecticut. She is also a visiting teacher of Indian Classical vocal in NYC under the American Academy of Indian Classical Music.
Sadhana Deshmukh Mohite
Sadhana Deshmukh Mohite’s initiation started with Shri D V Pandke and continued with Smt M Sumantai Chowdhary. She was awarded a gold medal for her Master’s in music and is a Government of India senior scholarship holder. She is also a gold medalist in the All India Radio Classical Music Competition.
Sadhana joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1992 to further develop her style under the guidance of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and trained here for nearly 7 years.
She relocated to Gwalior in 1999, but continues to be in touch with her Guru and the Academy. Sadhana has also trained in tappa and ashtapadi under the eminent Pandit Balasaheb Poochwale of the Gwalior Gharana. A teacher of Hindustani Classical Music and a regular performer, Sadhana has participated in many music conferences and seminars. Some of her concerts have been for Tansen Sangeet Samaroh at Gwalior, Ustad Allaudin Khan Sangeet Samaroh at Bhopal and Jabalpur, Amir Khan Sangeet Samaroh at Indore and Agra and many others.
Saket Sahu
Saket Sahu has been learning the Violin from the age of 5. Holding a Masters degree in Music, he has won numerous scholarships and awards and has performed in several parts of India. In May 2009, he joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty under whom he is learning the Gayaki Ang.
Pandit Samaresh Chowdhury
Pandit Samaresh Chawdhury was initiated and trained in Dhrupad and Dhamar by his father, the Late Sangeetacharya Amaresh Chawdhury, who himself was a disciple of the Late Ustad Dabir Khan Saheb of Rampur Senia Gharana. In 1977, Samaresh joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar and was here for a while, developing into a mature musician. During his tenure at ITC-SRA he was also specially permitted to continue as Assistant Teacher of Music at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur. From 1984, he has been under the guidance of the great maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar.
A top graded artiste of All India Radio, Samaresh has performed in several Akashvani Sangeet Sammelans and Doordarshan National Programmes since 1979. he has performed at many prestigious concerts within India including several performances for the Dover Lane Music Conference since1980, Sadarang Sangeet Sammelan, Tansen Sangeet Sammelan, Park Circus Sangeet Sammelan, Banga Sanskriti Sammelan, Sawai Gandharv Festival at Pune, Ustad Allauddin Khan Festival at Maihar, Ustad Amir Khan Festival at Indore , the RIMPA Festival at Banaras and the Raja Rani Festival at Bhubaneswar. He has also performed abroad, at USA, Europe, Canada, etc. He has been on ICCR’s Reference Panel of Artists since March 1990 and has been named outstanding artist by the ICCR panel.
Samarth Nagarkar
Samarth Nagarkar was initiated into Raga Sangeet in Bangalore by Smt. Aditi Kaikini Upadhya, further to which he received intensive training from Pandit Dinkar Kaikini. During this period he also received guidance from stalwarts such as Pandit Balasaheb Poonchwale, Pandit S. C. R. Bhat, and Smt Shashikala Kaikini.
He was a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 2003 and 2009, under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Samarth was awarded a Fellowship by the Department of Culture, Government of India and was one of the youngest musicians to be adjudged winner of the prestigious All India Radio National Competitions at 19 years.
He features in several prominent music festivals and venues around the world. He has two albums titled Pravah and Pranali to his credit and has published a book tilted Raga Sangeet. Samarth is currently Guru and Director of Academic Affairs at Chhandayan Center of Indian Music, New York and also frequently presents lectures and master-classes at schools/universities like MSM and NYU. Pursuing a full-fledged career as a performer, composer, teacher and author, Samarth is described by critics as a prolific performer and a torchbearer to the tradition he represents.
Sameehan Kashalkar
Born in a highly musical atmosphere, Sameehan has been receiving taleem from his celebrated father, Guru Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar of Gwalior gharana since a very young age. He was a Musician Scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata between 2013 and 2016. He has also undergone training in Thumri and other light classical forms from Dr. Girija Devi of the Banaras tradition.
Sameehan’s debut performance at Aundh Mahotsav at the age of 13, where he was accompanied on the Tabla by Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, won him many accolades. He has also performed at the ITC Sangeet Sammelans in Kolkata, 2006, 2012 and 2013, Hyderabad, Mangalore 2010 and Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki Mahotsav in Pune, 2011. Sameehan’s performances at the Asian Music Circuit in London, 2009 and at the renowned Darbar Festival in London, 2011, were highly appreciated by music lovers and critics alike. Sameehan also performed at the prestigious Sawai Gandharva Festival in Pune in December 2012 in front of an audience of over 15,000. In March 2013, Sameehan was invited to perform at the famous SIFAS Festival in Singapore and at the Malaysian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
Described by critics as a “chip of the old block” and hailed for his insightful perception of raagdaari and khayal bandishes, Sameehan Kashalkar is being touted as one of the foremost performers of his generation.
Sameer Athreya
Born on December 12, 1999, Sameer Athreya is a child prodigy who gave his first public concert at age 7 and won the hearts of music lovers with his amazing display of Hindustani Classical Music. He sings khayal, thumri, taranas, bhajans, as well as devotional songs in Sanskrit, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati with the panache of a veteran. He has been featured on All India Radio and Television channels and has received rave reviews in the press.
He excels in complicated ragas and intricate talas. Since the age of 7 he has been training under Dr. Sakuntala Narasimhan of the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana in Bangalore. Sameer has won the Pogo Amazing Kid Singer award 2011.
Sameer was a Junior Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, training under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, from October 2011 to July 2015.
Sandip Bhattacharjee
Born in 1980, Sandip Bhattacharjee began his training under his mother Smt. Krishna Bhattacharya at the age of four and continued his talim under Smt. Amita Dasgupta. A winner of prestigious music competitions organised by All India Radio and Rajya Sangeet Akademi, he has also received the National Talent Search Scholarship and was awarded the title of Sur Mani. In May 2002 he became a residential scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy under the guidance of Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. He also took talim from Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan. An ‘A’ graded artiste of AIR and Doordarshan, he has participated in several major concerts in India, including the Dover Lane Conference. Among his performances abroad are a tour of USA, accompanying the ITC SRA group as well as concerts in Bangladesh, 2008, 2011 and Germany, 2011. Sandip regularly conducts workshops in Guwahati and Digboi, Assam. He was a Musician Scholar of the Academy between June 2012 and June 2015.
Sandip Ghosh
Born in 1954, Sandip Ghosh started his training in Indian classical music at Sangeet Bharati, Calcutta, under the guidance of the late Shri Sukhendu Goswami in 1970. Later, he found his guru and mentor in legendary vocalist, the late Pandit A Kanan, with whom he began his talim and entered the realm of the Kirana gharana.
From 1980 to 1990, he was a scholar of ITC-SRA, also under the tutelage of Pandit Kanan. Here he supplemented his training with guidance from the late Pandit K G Ginde.
Sandip Ghosh has been performing within India and abroad since 1980. Some of his noted performances in India have been at ITC-SRA Sangeet Sammelan, Agra, Radhika Mohon Moitra Music Conference, Kolkata, Dakshini Sangeet Sammelan, Kolkata, Sursagar Music Conference, Kolkata, and Silchar Sangeet Chakra, Silchar. He has been visiting the United States since 1998, performing at various venues across the country and also conducting music workshops at various musical institutions, such as the LearnQuest Academy of Music, Waltham, Massachusets, etc.
His performances in USA and Canada in 1998 won him the Honorary Citizenship of Baltimore and Maryland. In addition to Hindustani Classical music, he also performs Bhajan, Bengali Semi-Classical, Nazrul Geeti, Rabindra Sangeet, and Shyama Sangeet with equal competence.
Sandip has been effectively spreading his art amongst his several students. He is a visiting lecturer and examiner at University of Rabindra Bharati, Kolkata and an acclaimed artist at All India Radio.
Sandip is also the founder of musical institution, Dithi, aimed at showcasing young talents of Hindustani Classical Music. He also teaches music via interactive sessions at GyanVani, an educational FM radio station.
Sandip has also trained in Rabindra Sangeet under the guidance of legendary singer Shri Subinoy Roy.
Sanika Rajan Kulkarni
Born in musical family, Sanika grew up listening to her father, Pandit Rajan Kulkarni. She began her initial vocal training at the age of 4 and soon realised that this is what she wanted to pursue in the future.
She has participated in various competitions like IIT Bombay’s Surshringar where she stood 1st. She also received a one-month scholarship from SpicMacay which facilitated her in experiencing a Gurukul environment for learning music. This was her first tryst with ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, during which she derived so much inspiration and motivation that she decided to appear for the auditions at ITC SRA to receive a direct scholarship and become a student at the Academy.
Sanika trained under Shri Omkar Dadarkar at the Academy.
Sanjoy Banerjee
Sanjoy was at first a General Class Student and then a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 1998 and 2001 under the able guidance of Vidushi Malabika Kanan of the Kirana gharana. Sanjoy divides his time between his performances, scoring music, experimenting with fusion music using Hindustani classical music and teaching vocal music. He is presently a visiting teacher at the American Academy of Indian Classical Music in New York and at schools in Derby, UK and is currently doing a lot of concerts in those parts of the world.
Sanjukta Biswas
Born in 1978, Sanjukta Biswas hails from Chakdaha, a small town of Nadia District, West Bengal. Initiated into music by her father, Shri Bharat Chandra Biswas, she was further trained by Shri Amalendu Pal and Shri Kalyan Guhathakurta. She won the first prize in All Bengal Music Competition at the age of ten and went on to become a 1st class Graduate with Honours in vocal music from Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata. She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1994 as a General Class Student and was a Scholar between 1999 and January 2003, training under her Guru, Vidushi Subhra Guha of the Agra Gharana.
Sanjukta at present lives with her Guru, Subhra Guha and learns in the Guru Shishya style. Apart from khayals sung in the Agra style, she also sings thumri, dadra, kajri in the Purab Ang. In 2001, she bagged the 1st position in the AIR competition for Hindustani vocal music. She also won the much-coveted ITC SRA Award for Promising Artistes given by ITC SRA (West) and Music Forum, Mumbai. In 2002 she was awarded the National Scholarship for Young Artistes by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. In 2005 Sanjukta became the recipient of the prestigious Jnana Pravaha Scholarship for being a promising and budding young musician of West Bengal State. In 2007, Sanjukta won the prestigious Swar Vilas, Vadodra, All India Competition. In 2010, she was conferred the prestigious title of Surmani and in 2011, she has been awarded the prestigious Madhobi Chatterjee Fellowship and has also won the Girija Devi Puruskar.
A B-High artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan, she has performed at nearly all the major cities of the country as well as on various television channels. She has also performed at several cities in the USA and currently teaches Indian Classical vocal in NYC and Chicago as a visiting instructor for the American Academy of Indian Classical Music.
Sankumay Debnath
Sankumay started learning music under the guidance of Shri Amal Chattopadhyay in Siliguri. From 2005, he has been under the tutelage of Pandit Arun Bhaduri, under whom he became a General Class Student and was a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy between 2009 and 2018.
In 2005, he stood first in the State Youth Festival and in 2006 he stood second in the National Youth Festival. Later on in the same year, he also stood first in the All India Railway competition. He received National Scholarship from the Government of India in 2011. He has also been selected as an artist by All India Radio, Kolkata. Sankumay has several performances to his credit in cities such as Baroda, Jaipur, Delhi and Pune. Having performed at the ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Kolkata in 2014, he has toured Germany performing extensively. He has recently also had the opportunity to perform at Louvre Museum, Paris.
Saswati Banerjee Choudhury
Born in 1964, Saswati started her musical journey under Pandit A. Kanan at the age of six. She joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student in 1979 and became a Scholar in 1982. Shri Sukhdev Mukherjee, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan and other eminent personalities have also contributed to her musical career. A regular broadcaster from 1999, she has also performed at various venues in India. Gifted with a melodious voice, she has also been a faculty at Sakhri Begum Memorial Trust.
Satyanarayan Mishra
Born in Varanasi in May, 1961, Satya Narayan Mishra was a descendant of both the Senia as well as Banaras gharanas. He was initially trained by his illustrious father, Pandit Shrichandra Mishra, and then by Smt. Girija Devi, after his father’s death. He became a Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1978. He held a Masters degree in vocal music and Hindi literature. He was a recipient of several awards including the Surmani award, 1991 and Saptarshi Samman, 1995. Satyanarayan, besides being a performer, was also a poet, writer and composer, having worked with Kelucharan Mohapatra, Birju Maharaj and other eminent artistes of India. He had been teaching in the vocal department of Bhatkhande Music College, Dehradun for more than a decade when he died on July 12, 2010.
Sayani Palit
Born in 1989, Sayani has been learning Indian Classical Music since she was 4. She first started taking lessons from Smt Chandana Chakrabarty and later under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty at Shrutinandan. She is a recipient of the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Sayani stood third at the Dover Lane Music Conference’s Talent Search Contest for Vocalists in 2010-2011. She topped her B.A examination in Classical Music this year from Calcutta University with a first class first and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree.
Sayani was a Junior Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy under herGguru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty till August 2014.
Sayantani Dasgupta
Born on 25th December 1986, Sayantani Dasgupta started her music training as a student of Shrutinandan from 1997 to 2009, where she trained under Shri Bidhan Mitra and later, Smt Kausiki Chakrabarty. She then joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student under Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and from October 2010 she has been inducted as a Junior Scholar at the Academy. She was ranked 4th in Bhajan in the Dover Lane Music Competition, 2008-09.
Shantanu Bhattacharya
Shantanu Bhattacharyya was initiated into music first by his mother and later learned from Pandit Sukhendu Goswami, Pandit Prasun Banerjee and Vidushi Meera Banerjee. He became a scholar of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1994 and came under the guidance of Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty. Leaving the academy in 1997, he has perfected himself into a musician aiming to combine the best of all styles, focusing centrally on the Gayaki of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
A Calcutta University Graduate with Honours in Economics, Shantanu is a Top graded artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan and has performed thrice at the National Programme. He is a winner of several music competitions, including the A.I.R music competition, where in 1989 he topped both in khayal and thumri. He has also won a SaMaPa Award.
He has performed at most of the major music festivals across the country, including the State Music Akademi Annual Conference at Kolkata, Sangeetalok Conference, Ambala, SaMaPa Music Festival for Sopori Music Academy at New Delhi, Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan & Amir Khusro Music Conference in Chennai. He has also had many concert tours in the USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Bangladesh, including concerts at Esplanade Theatre in Singapore, Sangeetaanjali in Fremont, Bay Area and at Humber College, University of Toronto.
He has several CD & cassette releases of khayal, thumri and bhajan, as well as his own music compositions on Yoga & Meditation. Shantanu was associated with SRA from 2003 to 2007, as a Research Consultant and also taught young students. Besides his performances, Shantanu is currently teaching Raga music to students at home and to online students across the world.
Shashank Maktedar
Shashank Maktedar is one of the most promising vocalists of the present generation. He started learning classical music from his father, who instilled in him the proper values of traditional Classical Music and gave him a glimpse of the richness of this form, when he was just eleven years old. Armed with a Masters degree in Music and several awards, including the first prize in the All India Radio Music Competition held in 1987, Shashank, who wished to learn music intensively, participated in the ITC Sangeet Research Academy’s National Talent Competition. Topping the competition, Shashank joined ITC SRA in 1990 as a residential Scholar and began his training under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, a Guru with the Academy and one of the most renowned exponents of the Gwalior Gharana today. He has not looked back since.
Shirin Sengupta
Shirin Sengupta was initiated into music by her parents and then started learning from Shri Shubhrajyoti Chakrabarty and Pandit Dinanath Misra. She then joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student, training under Pandit A. Kanan and also Pandit Arun Bhaduri. She became a scholar in 1996, training under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
A recipient of the President’s Award for securing 1st position in both khayal and ragapradhan (light classical) category at the All India Radio Music Competition, 1996, Shirin studied Music from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and topped both her graduation and post graduation exams, receiving a gold medal. She stood 1st in the Sangeet Visharad exam and has also received the Jadu Bhatta Award, the Pandit Ravi Kichlu Foundation Award and the Dagar Brothers’ Award.
Shirin still continues to be guided by Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and has been performing worldwide in major music festivals and other concert venues in more than 15 countries including USA, Canada and countries in Europe and Africa. She has also been performing in concerts in India for the last 11 years, including several ITC SRA concerts. Her recital was broadcast from Swiss Radio Station in 2002.
An empanelled Artiste with ICCR, Shirin has also been invited to judge the University Festival (UNIFEST) in Ranchi organized by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
She has founded an institution called Monomanjari Institute of Performing Arts & Research along with her husband, sarod player & music composer, Ranajit Sengupta & they have around 50 students both from India & abroad, some of whom have been awarded National & CCRT Scholarships & have excelled in various music competitions.
Shirshendu Mukherjee
Born in a family of music connoisseurs, Shirshendu received his initial training from Smt. Chandana Chakraborty and later, Sri Shantanu Bhattacharya, the latter himself being an ex-Scholar of the Academy. He then became a General Class Student of the Academy under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and went on to become a Scholar under his Guru between June 2004 and 2007.
He received a first class for his Master’s degree in Vocal Music in 2006 from Rabindra Bharati University, and was ranked first. A B-high graded artist of All India Radio, Shirshendu has been performing since he was 14. He has earned appreciation for his numerous concerts in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and other places in India and abroad. His music has also been telecast on various television channels.
Shoumi Roy
Brought up in Dubai, UAE, Shoumi was initiated into vocal music by her parents at an early age. She received her initial training at the age of 6 from Smt. Chitra Ghosh and subsequently learnt from Shri Milind Chittal in Dubai itself. She has completed her graduation in Cost & Works Accounting from Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune, where she continued her Classical Music training under Smt. Arati Ankalikar Tikekar.
In the year 2009, she joined as a General Class Student in ITC SRA under Dr. Girija Devi. During this period, she also pursued her career in taxation with one of the Big Four audit firms. She went on to become a Scholar of the Academy where she trained under Dr. Girija Devi and Shri Omkar Dadarkar between 2012 and 2016.
Shoumi has participated and has been placed 1st in numerous inter-school competitions. She was awarded by ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh for her innate talent in ghazal rendition. She stood first and second in many inter-collegiate festivals like Malhar organised by St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Unify organised by Symbiosis College and Mood Indigo organised by IIT Bombay. She has also participated in Zee TV Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, World Series held in Dubai, in 2004 and went on to participate in Zee TV Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 held in Mumbai. Shoumi used to be a regular performer on radio there.
She has also performed at the ITC Sangeet Sammelan 2017.
Shripad Limbekar
Born on 5th January 1991 into a family of kirtankars of Maharashtra, Shripad was initiated into vocal music by his father, Shri Vilas Limbekar and Smt Nalini Deshpande of Parbhani. He later moved to Pune and continued his training under Pandit Vijay Kaparkar. Shripad has graduated in vocal music with a gold medal from the Lalit Kala Kendra Gurukul, University of Pune. He was also awarded a scholarship from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi.
He was a Junior Scholar of the Academy between March 2012 and December 2015 under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Shruti Gupta
Shruti Gupta was born in a musical family on 10th November 1993. Her father, Shri Subrata Gupta is a renowned percussionist and her mother, Smt Subarna Gupta is a well known vocalist. Shruti started her training from her mother at the age of three, and continued to be her shishya for about 10-11 years. She started taking her advance training from Vidushi Shubhra Guha since 2007. Shruti has stood first in several music competitions including the Dover Lane Music Competition. She is a regular artist of All India Radio, Kolkata (Yuvavani). And has received various scholarships like CCRT Junior Scholarship (Delhi), Sangeet Piyasi (Kolkata) senior scholarship etc. She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2012 under Vidushi Subhra Guha.
Shrutilekha Roy
Born in 1992, Shrutilekha started learning music from her father at first and subsequently trained under Shri Koushik Goswami, Smt. Chandana Chakrabarty, Shri Anol Chatterjee and finally Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty at Shrutinandan for almost 10 years.
She has several solo performances under her belt in and around Kolkata and has stood first twice in the Semi Classical music category at intra college competitions. In 2012, she stood first in Khayal and ragpradhan and third in bhajan at the Dover Lane Music Competition.
She was a Junior Scholar from March 1st , 2012 to August 2014, under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
Subham Bharti
Born on 25th April 1997, Shubham Bharti has been learning music from Shri Hardeep Singh and Dr. Suresh Gopal Shrikhande. A student of Class 8, Shubham already has several performances to his credit in and around his hometown of Saharanpur, as well as in New Delhi and Mumbai. He was the 2nd Runner up of the Sangam Kala Finals in New Delhi in 2009 and was also one of the top 12 finalists of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs in the same year. He was also selected for the Zee TV Amul Voice of India in 2010.
Shubham was a Junior Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy from 1st June 2011 to April 2014 being trained by Shri Omkar Dadarkar and Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.
Subhayan Ganguly
Born in 18th November, 2000, young Shubhayan comes from a musical family. His grandmother is Vidushi Krishna Ganguly (Dasgupta), a well-known singer of the previous generation. A truly gifted boy with rare musical ability, Shubhayan has been received the Sitar training sinc he was five from his father, Shri Samiran Ganguly, a disciple of Late Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Pandit V G Jog and currently, Pandit Partha Chatterjee.
As a child performer he has already had a number of small concerts to his credit – including those at Belur Math on 26th January 2011 and at Srirampore Town Hall on 16th February 2011, in memory of Late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He has received a special scholarship from Ustad Zakir Hussain in February 2008 on behalf of Shri Purbayan Chatterjee’s organisation, Unnati. Shubhayan has joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Junior Scholar on April 11, 2011 and trained under Pandit Partha Chatterjee until July 2015.
Subha Ghosh
Shubho started his musical training from Smt. Baishakhi Chakraborty, at the age of 3. Subsequently he trained under Ustad Rashid Khan for seven years.
Shubho has received many prestigious performance opportunities, which include the ITC SRA Mini Sangeet Sammelan, Kanpur, at Ravi Kichlu Foundation, Kolkata, at Rabindra Bhavan, Agartala, at Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia Trust, Bhubaneshwar and Nazrul Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
He has been awarded the SBMT Scholarship, Pandit Ravi Kichlu Foundation Scholarship, Unnati Samhasta Scholarship and Sangeet Piyasi Scholarship.
Shubho joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Junior Scholar between May 2015 and July 2016, initially training under Guru Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, later under Guru Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan.
Smarajit Kumar Sen
Born in December 1983, Smarajit Kumar Sen took his initial sitar lessons from Prof. Sukumar Chanda when he was 11 and later began to receive guidance from Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta. In 2001, he won the first prize in the Inter-University Youth Festival at Vinoba Bhave University and received a National Scholarship in 2004. In May 2005, he joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student under his Guru and went on to become a Scholar between 2007 and February 2010. With a 1st class in his Masters degree in music from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, he topped the Paschim Banga Rajya Sangeet Academy music competition. He is an A grade from Calcutta Cine Musicians Association and is also an A graded artiste of All India Radio. Smarajit who is currently completing his PhD, performs and teaches the Sitar. He is also busy composing and arranging music for music albums and films.
Snehesh Nag
Born on May 18, 1996, Snehesh Nag started learning the Sitar from his father, Sitarist, Shri Sugato Nag when he was four years old. He also took additional talim from Shri Pranab Naha and already has to his credit, performances in the USA and Canada. He joined the ITC Sangeet Rsearch Academy in September 2009 as a Junior Scholar and was training under Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta as a Junior Scholar till May 2015.
Sohini Bhattacharya
Born in a musical family, Sohini Bhattacharya was initiated by Smt. Chandana Chakraborty at the early age of four. When she was 9, she joined Shrutinandan, where she received training from Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty for ten years. The recipient of a two-year scholarship from Saurabh Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, she is a masters in vocal music from Rabindra Bharati University. In July 2009, she joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar where she trained under Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty till July 2016.
Soumalya Chakraborty
Born in December 1982, Soumalya Chakraborty was initiated into Hindustani vocal classical music by his father, Shri Sajal Chakraborty. By the age of eight, he developed an interest in the Sitar and was initially trained by Shri Harasankar Bhattacharya. In 2000, he began training under Pandit Kushal Das, torchbearer of the Maihar gharana. A commerce graduate of Kolkata University, he became a General Class Student of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy from December 2005 and later was a Scholar under Pandit Manilal Nag for a short while. Soumalya stood first in the All India Radio music competition in 2006 and was awarded the National Scholarship in 2006-2007. In January 2007, he was awarded the Sri Ravi Koppikkar Memorial Award instituted by the International Foundation for the Fine Arts, Mumbai. He is currently undergoing further training under Pandit Kushal Das.
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav’s preliminary training in Sitar began in 1997 under Shri Tapash Chattapadhyay of Maihar Gharana. In the year 2005, he got the opportunity to learn under Sarod maestro Padma Bhushan Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta of the Senia Shahjahanpur Gharana as a General Class Student of ITC Sangeet Research Academy. He got promoted to Scholar in 2007 after which he came under the tutelage of Sitar exponent Pandit Manilal Nag of Vishnupur Gharana.
Sourav has performed as a child artist at the All India Radio, Kolkata and thereafter participated in conferences like ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Kolkata, Bengal-ITC SRA Sammelan, Dhaka, Gaan Mela, Kolkata, Golpark Ramakrishna Mission Kolkata, Sangeetangan, Jalpaiguri, Eklavya Sangeet Academy, Krishnanagar among many others. He received National Scholarship from Ministry of Culture in Instrumental Classical Music (Sitar) in the year 2010. Having performed in a classical fusion concert with Pandit Purbayan Chatterjee, Sourav has also contributed to multiple light music recordings in different languages.
Sourav was an A grade senior scholar of the Academy training under Pandit Partha Chattopadhyay of Maihar Gharana until November 2015.
Souvagya Karmakar
Souvagya Karmakar is a prodigiously talented young Sitar player representing the tradition of Imdadkhani Gharana. Born on 7th December 2006, he was initiated into music by his father, Shri Suman Karmakar, a renowned Sitar maker of Kolkata and then took training from Smt. Rukmini Kundu. At the age of eight, Souvagya came under the tutelage of Shri Ashim Chowdhury who taught him the lessons of disciplined development of Ragas based on Gayaki or Khayal Ang.
He has performed on various prestigious platforms such as the Annual Music Conference at Ahindra Mancha, Chetla, Shovabazar Rajbari, Sri Ramakrishna Pathachakra Music programme and Durgapur Malhar Festival, to name a few. He has been placed first in many a competitions such as the Murari Smriti Sangeet Pratiyogita, The Talent Search Music Competition organized by Shishu Kishore Sangeet Sammelan and the All India Talent Search Music & Dance Competition organized by Vistar Music Foundation. He is also a recipient of a scholarship from Sangeet Piyasi, Kolkata.
Souvagya joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Junior Scholar under the tutelage of Guru, Pandit Partha Chatterjee in the year 2018.
Subhankar Hazarika
Born in 1987 in Assam, Subhankar Hazarika started his training at very tender age under his father, Shri Hem Hazarika, senior disciple of Pandit Manilal Nag as well as his mother, Smt. Swapna Hazarika. From 1998, Subhankar too became a student of Pandit Manilal Nag at Kolkata. He continued his taalim with his Guru, first as a General Class Student of ITC Sangeet Research Academy from November 2005 and later as a Scholar between June 2007 and May 2009.
Subhankar’s achievements include a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, A Grade from Calcutta Cine Musicians Association in 2001, Sur Shravan award from Sur Shravan Samaroh in 2003 and the SURMANI award from Sur Singer Samsad Mumbai in 2009.
Subhankar teaches more than 40 students across North East India and holds music recreation classes for students and faculty at IIT Guwahati and at the Music Department of Guwahati University. He is also working as a composer, music arranger and a music director in numbers of Films, Tele-film and Albums. He has also been involved with a Fusion Music project Naad Brahma, that involved a blend of north and south Indian classical music, Indian folk, rock, pop, jazz and blues
His performances include concerts for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of Assam, NEZCC’s World Music Day celebrations, the Haridas Sangeet Sammelan and several Nehru Yuva Kendra festivals. He performed in a jugalbandi with his Guru, Pandit Manilal Nag at Guwahati in 2010 and has also performed at the Jazz Festival in Bangalore, 2011.
Vidushi Subhra Guha
Vidushi Subhra Guha joined the Academy in 1982 as a Research Scholar. She was trained by Pandit Sunil Bose, the veteran of the Agra Gharana. Subhra also received guidance from Pandit K.G. Ginde, Pandit D.T. Joshi and Pandit Vijay Kumar Kichlu while she was a scholar at ITC SRA. She went on to become a Guru of the Academy between 1992 and 2003 and has rejoined the Academy later. Subhra has been performing regularly at prestigious platforms both in India and abroad – in the USA and in various countries in Europe and Asia. She has gained recognition for her thumri renditions in the Purab Ang. She has also had numerous teaching assignments in the US and in 2006, she sang the playback for famed film maker, Goutam Ghose’s film, Yatra.
Sucheta Ganguly
Born in 1984, Sucheta Ganguly was initiated into the world of Hindustani Music by her father, Shri Bhajan Krishna Ganguly, at the age of seven. Subsequently, she also learnt from Shri Sujit Ganguly of the Bishnupur Gharana. She has won the first prize at a State level music competition in 1994 and is a regular performer on All India Radio and Doordarshan.
She joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in the year 2000 as a General Class Student under the tutelage of ITC SRA Guru Pandit Arun Bhaduri and from 2003 she has been a full time residential Scholar. She has also been a disciple of Vidushi Girija Devi, from whom she learnt thumri and dadra. Sucheta’s memorable performances include solo recitals at the Guru-Shishya presentation, 2006, ITC Sangeet Sammelans at Mumbai and Kanpur, a jugalbandi performance at the Navonmesh Utsav, 2008 and at the Chennai Festival in 2009. In 2009, she stood first in her graduation in music from SNDT Women’s University.
She has been awarded the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, 2010. Sucheta has also been a Musician Scholar at the Academy.
Suchismita Das
Initiated into music by her mother, Suchismita had her first public performance when she was two and a half. Vigorous training at home continued with Shri Kalyan Guhathakurta, a disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and from age of four, she started performing on Doordarshan programmes for children. She was nine when she joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1990 as a General Class Student under the tutelage of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. In 1992, she became a Scholar here. The disciplined training in classical music and long hours of practice gave her a strong foundation.
She left the Academy in 2002 and has been a prolific performer since, singing Classical, semi classical and contemporary music at concerts as well as playback for TV and films. Her Classical Music concerts include performances at Saptak Festival 2011, Ahmedabad, Aarohi Music Festival 2011, Mumbai, Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai, Mallhar Utsav, World Peace Convention, New York, India Fest, USA, Ananda Utsav 2011, New Jersey and NABC 2011, Baltimore. She has sung the theme song of IPL tournament 2009 and has also done the playback for a Hollywood film. Suchismita also conducts music workshops and gives lectures across the world. Her CD releases include recordings of Bhajans, Bangla Adhunik and Nazrul Geeti.
She has won numerous awards but the three she values the most are the best singer award at a competition organised by the Russian Consulate in Kolkata when she was eight, the first prize in a competition for khayal, thumri and dadra organised by West Bengal State Music Academy and the best National Classical Singer award at the national level competition organized by All India Radio.
Sumana Gupta
Initially trained by Pandit Amaresh Chowdhury and Shri Kashinath Chakraborty, Sumana initially joined the Academy as a General Class student in 1997. She went on to become a scholar, training for nearly a decade at the Academy, between 1999 and 2008, initially under Subhra Guha of the Agra gharana and subsequently under Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty of the Patiala gharana. Since her graduation, Sumana has been teaching students at home.
Sumedha Dey
Born in 1997, Sumedha started training in vocal music under Shri Ajit Haldar when she was all of 3 years old. Displaying early signs of talent, she has been lauded wherever she has performed. She has won the 1st prize in khayal at the Dover Lane Music Competition 2014, where she was also adjudged the best Classical vocalist.
She has performed at many a prestigious platforms, a few amongst which are All India Radio, Shishu Mahal, Golpo Dadur Aashor and Eto Sur Eto Gaan (DD Bangla).
Sumedha has been accepted as a Junior Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy in September, 2011. She was under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
Supratik Sengupta
Guided by his father, vocalist, Shri Kuber Sengupta, Supratik was initially trained at the age of five, by the late Shri Biswanath Das. He went on to train under Shri Deboprosad Chakrovorti, Sangeetacharya Ajoy Sinha Roy and Shri Pradeep Chakrabarty. Supratik joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2002, training under the Sarod maestro, Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta and was inducted as a Scholar the following year. He subsequently trained under ITC SRA Guru, Pandit Partha Chatterjee and went on to become a Musician Scholar of the Academy between July 2009 to June 2012.
An A graded artiste of All India Radio and Television, Supratik has won a number of awards and scholarships, including both the National Talent Search Scholarship and the Senior National Scholarship from the Government of India; he has stood first in the West Bengal State Music Academy competition, Swar Prabhat Talent Search contest and in the Bharatiya Sanskriti Sangsad contest; he has also received the Pandit Nikhil Banerjee Memorial Award, the Dover Lane best instrumentalist award and the Prasun Banerjee Memorial award for his prowess with the sitar. Supratik’s numerous performances include numerous ITC-SRA Sangeet Sammelans across the country and at various other festivals of repute. He has also performed in concerts in Bangladesh, France, Germany and Spain.
Tapash Datta
Tapash started learning music at the age of 12. He took his initial training from Shri Utpal Sengupta and then went on to train under Shri Arun Chakraborty, Shri Shyamal Basu, Shri Satyajit Chakraborty, Shri Swarnamay Chakraborty, Dhrupadiya Shri Gaur Sharan Dasgupta, Shri Tushar Dutta, Shri T.K Majumdar and Vidushi Dalia Rahut.
He joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a General Class Student in 2011 under the guidance of Guru, Pandit Arun Bhaduri. He was a full time residential Scholar from 2014 to 2016.
Tapash has received a gold medal in music from Bangiya Sangeet Kala-Kendra. He stood 1st in khayal in an inter-college music competition organised by University of Calcutta and stood 2nd in a dhrupad competition organised by West Bengal Rajya Sangeet Academy. His first audio CD of Classical Music received the Citycell Channel Music Award in 2013. He has performed at programs in India, Bangladesh & Qatar and regularly performs in popular TV shows, namely Tara Muzik (Aaj Sokaler Amontron e), Aakash Aath (Good Morning Akash), DD Bangla (Sokal Sokal), Onkar channel, Amar Channel, RTV, BTV, NTV, SA-TV, Machranga TV and also in Gyanvani FM, JU community FM channel etc.
Teja Kale Godse
Teja Kale is a Sanskrit graduate, who joined the Academy as a General Class Student in May, 2005 and was guided by Shrimati Shruti Sadolikar Katkar. Her father is a Marathi theatre artiste while her mother plays the Tabla. A winner of several prizes in school and college, she went on to become a Scholar at the Academy between May 2006 and early July 2007. She later completed her Sangeet Visharad from Bharat Gayan Samaj, Pune and was ranked 2nd in her Masters in Music from Mumbai University . She received a 3-year Scholarship from Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre Mumbai and also received the Vile Parle Music Circle’s Pt. Bhimsen Joshi Scholarship from the Department of Music, Mumbai University. Teja received a scholarship from NCPA Mumbai in coordination with CITI Bank and has also been awarded a B grade from All India Radio.
Tushar Dutta
Tushar Dutta began learning the fundamentals of Indian classical music from Shri Bimal Mitra at an early age. He also learnt from Shri Santosh Choudhury of Natore, Bangladesh and Pandit Vishnu Sebak Mishra of Malda. He joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1983, coming under the tutelage of Pandit A Kanan and later of Pandit Arun Bhaduri, as a General Class Student. Later, as a Scholar in 1992, he became a Gandabandh Shagird of Pandit K G Ginde, after whose demise he took advanced talim from Pandit Sunil Bose of the Agra gharana. He left the Academy in 1999, to explore the world on his own. Tushar was also under the guidance of his Guru-Sister, Vidushi Subhra Guha.
In 1998, Tushar stood first in Khayal at All India University competition in Banaras. He got the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and was nominated as one of the best new talents for Ananda Sangeet Puraskar by Ananda Bazar Group of Publications in the field of Bengali Songs. Tushar has received the Surmani title from Sur Sringar Samsad of Mumbai. Since 1996 he has been an A-grade khayal performer of All India Radio and has also sung for the national programme. Equally adept at singing bhajans, he is a regular radio performer and has at least 40 music CD releases of khayals, bhajans and Bengali songs to his credit by leading companies like Saregama, Sagarika etc.
He was nominated as the best new comer in Bengali music and received the Ananda Sangeet Puraskar. Tushar has been performing regularly in prestigious music conferences all over India, including Saptak Music Festival, Pranganga Swarotsav, Mumbai, Dover Lane Music Conference, Kolkata and others. Across the globe, he has been performing in the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, France, UAE, Oman with ever increasing popularity.
Vijaya Jadhav Gatlewar
Initiated by her father, Dinkar V Jadhav, Vijaya came to ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar in 1978 under the expert guidance of Pandit Nivruttibua Sarnaik and continued to learn from him for over fourteen years. From this association springs Vijaya’s awareness of what is most subtle and beautiful in the style of Jaipur Gharana. After completing her scholarship, she returned to Mumbai with her Guruji because of his illness and completed her M.A. in music from Mumbai University. Vijaya has been performing regularly ever since. Some of her concerts for the last 25 years have been at prestigious venues such as the Tansen Mahotsav, the Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav, at Bharat Bhavan Bhopal for Saptak and at many other concerts in India. She has also performed for All India Radio on their Sangeet Sammelan as well as their Mangalvariya Sangeet Sabha. Vijaya also conducts regular classes for Hindustani Classical Music at her residence.
Vivek Karmahe
Born on 23rd May 1992, Vivek inherited his musical abilities from his parents who are from a spiritual background and are into devotional music. He began his initial vocal music training under Smt. Kumudini Mundkar, a disciple of Pandit T.D. Janorikar of Bhendi Bazar Gharana. He has also received training in Tabla from Pandit Nishikant Barodekar of Punjab gharana.
Having received a gold medal in B.A (Vocal Music) from Khairagarh University, he has also completed his Sangeet Kala Vidya from Raja Man Singh Tomar University, Gwalior. Vivek pursued his MA final (Hindustani Vocal Music) from Indira Kala Vishwa Vidyalaya, Khairagarh.
Vivek has performed at Delhi, Ujjain, Shimla, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Bangalore. He has recently been awarded National Scholarship in the Hindustani classical vocal category from Government of India for the year 2012-2013. He has also received the Abhinav Kala Yuva puraskar in 2016 from Abhinav Kala Parishad Bhopal, as an upcoming artist of Gwalior Gharana.
Vivek joined the Academy in 2012 under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and former Musician Tutor Shri Omkar Dadarkar. Vivek has also taken talim of Purab Ang Gayaki under Dr. Girija Devi.
Waseem Ahmed Khan
Born in 1974, Waseem Khan comes from the great lineage of traditional musicians of the Agra Gharana, being the grandson of Ustad Basheer Khan Sahib. He took his initial taalim from his maternal grandfather, Ustad Ata Hussain Khan at the age of six. Thereafter, he learnt from his father, Ustad Naseem Ahmed Khan. In 1st July 1999, he became a Scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy under erstwhile Guru, Ustad Shafi Ahmed Khan, who was his grand uncle. He left the Academy in April 2003, after becoming an A grade scholar.
After leaving ITC SRA, Waseem has focused on giving talim to students of all ages as it is his passion to groom young talents. Of course he is passionate about performing too. Waseem`s performance debut was at the age of ten. Since then he has performed at various important concerts all over the country, sharing the stage with prominent maestros, including the ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelan at Delhi and the ITC SRA Guru Shishya Parampara concert in Kolkata, 2003. In 2007, he toured France and Germany, one of his memorable performances being at the Theatre de-la-Ville in Paris. He also conducted workshops there. He is a regular performer of All India Radio.
On the invitation of Spicmacay, he has been giving performances and conducting workshops all over the country, along with great maestros, since 1996. He has taught for five years as a senior faculty member of Shakhri Begum Memorial Trust, an Academy run by Ustad Rashid Khan. Wasim has also been a Musician Tutor at the Academy.
Yashwant Vaishnav
With a pair of hands that can create magic, 18-year-old Yashwant Vishnav was a Junior Scholar in the Tabla at ITC Sangeet Research Academy from 2012 to 2015. He was taking accompaniment training from Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar at the Academy and from Pandit Yogesh Samsi at Mumbai.
Yashwant’s training began at home at the age of three, under his father, Shri Rajendra Vaishnav. With an innate sense of rhythm, he soon graduated to taking lessons from Shri Mukund Bhale of Khairagarh under whom his talent blossomed. The accolades Yashwant has received include the Balashree Award from the President of India in 2008, Kishor Adhyata Puraskar in 2009 and Social Science Exhibition Awards for three consecutive years between 2007 and 2009 from the Kendriya Vidyalaya.