Akhil Jobanputra - Vocal
Tejas Tope - Tabla
Srikar Ayyalasomayajula - Harmonium
Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for an evening of Vocal Music performed by Akhil Jobanputra, a promising young artist. The performance will also be streamed live on-line.
Akhil Jobanputra
As a child, Akhil always enjoyed singing devotional songs at the local temple, and hitting random pots and pans at home. He started taking tabla lessons, but his passion kept driving him towards singing. At the age of three, he was enrolled in the Pandit Jasraj School of Music Foundation, Vancouver. He received his preliminary training from Smt. Asha Lohia of the Jasraj school, as well as from another local teacher Smt. Neeraja Aptikar. Akhil's association with the school gave me opportunities to learn from his BadeGuruji Pandit Jasraj and other representatives of the Mewati gharana. After his association with the school, he took a period of self-study, after which he found amazing Gurus for his intensive training. Akhil currently receives taleem in khayal from Pandit Dr. Arun Dravid, and in khayal and dhrupad from Pandit Arijit Mahalanabis. He is also fortunate to receive guidance from Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar.
Akhil's gayaki (style) is mainly shaped by the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, but also exhibits elements of Agra, Mewati, Gwalior, and Kirana along with Dagarbani Dhrupad. His approach to Hindustani raga sangeet brings contemporary experience into the context of a traditional art-form. It is constantly evolving, finding itself situated beyond time and space, but stays firmly rooted in its essence. His music is shaped by drawing on elements of self-introspection, personal narratives, metaphysical beliefs, and artistic expression. He also enjoys composing and have created bandishes (compositions) in different ragas and compositional styles. Apart from his Gurus, some artistes who inspire Akhil's music are: Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Vidushi Kesarbai Kerkar, Pandit Kedar Bodas, Vidushi Mogubai Kurdikar, Pandit Maniram, Vidushi Gangubai Hangal, and Vidushi Asgari Bai.
Akhil had the privilege to perform for various organizations and festivals across Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and India as a soloist and an accompanist. His first solo performance in India was at the prestigious Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh at the age of thirteen. Recent performances of note include Chaar Prahar Festival 2020 (Global), Richmond World Festival 2019 (Canada), and UTSAV SpringFest 2018 (U.K.). As an accompanist, I’ve performed with BadeGuruji Pandit Jasraj in some of his performances, such as at the Sawai Bhimsen Sangeet Mahotsav, as well as with his other Gurus and various eminent vocalists.
With the permission of his Gurus, Akhil has been teaching Indian classical music since 2010 across the Metro Vancouver region. His curriculum has been developed over the years through a variety of experiences that he has encountered both as a student and a teacher. Pedagogy plays an extremely important role in cultivating good musical sense, and his curriculum constantly evolves through feedback from his students. As an educator, he has delivered lectures, both of academic and non-academic nature, on Indian classical music. He was recently featured in the Canadian South Asian Youth Conference, and his paper “My Identity, My Music” was published by the Simon Fraser University Library. Growing up, he wanted to see more Indian classical programs curated in his hometown. At the age of twelve he founded the Indian Classical Music Society of Vancouver (ICMSV) with the goal of bringing communities together and promoting various local events. Since then, his team at ICMSV and himself have organized a series of initiatives and events geared at increasing awareness, accessibility, and education around Indian classical music.
Besides music, Akhil is a University of British Columbia alumni with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography. His focus has been on socio-cultural development, South Asian studies, and decolonization.
Tejas Tope
Tejas Tope is an aspiring young Indian percussionist who comes from Long Island New York. Tejas has been learning tabla from Pt. Samir Chatterjee for over 15 years. Additionally, since 2011, Tejas has been attending classes in the Summer with Ustad Zakir Hussain. At Zakirji's invitation, Tejas performed a tabla solo at the Barsi of Ustad Alla Rakha on February 3, 2018 at Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai.
Tejas Tope has also been learning Pakhawaj from Pandit Mohan Shyam Sharma for the last 5 years. He has also had the opportunity to study with Pandit Manik Munde and Shri Pratap Awad.
Tejas received First prize in the instrumental category from 2005-2011 at the annual Vedic Heritage’s Holi Youth Talent Competition held in Hempstead, Long Island, NY. In the summer of 2006, he played at the 6th Marathi European Sammelan in Almelo, Netherlands, at the 13th BMM Convention in Seattle (June 2007), and 15th BMM Convention in Chicago (July 2011). In October 2007, Tejas had his Rangamanch Pravesh and presented tabla solo as a part of Chhandayan Concert Series. Tejas received first prize in the Swardhara Competition held by Marathi Vishwa of New Jersey in 2010 and 2012. Tejas is recipient of Chhandayan’s most prestigious Jyotsna Award in the student category in 2011.
Srikar Ayyalasomayajula
Srikar grew up in central New Jersey and currently lives in Brooklyn. He has learnt Harmonium from Guru Sri Hemant Kulkarni in New Jersey for over ten years. Srikar has performed harmonium solo pieces in a number of concerts and competitions in harmonium growing up, including winning first prize in national competitions conducted by Marathi Vishwa, Academy of Indian Music and Fine Arts, Bharat Sevashram, etc. Apart from solo performances, Srikar has also provided dynamic as energetic Harmonium saath to artists from around the world regularly for over a decade. Srikar was also the Music Chair of Michigan Sahana, the premier Indian Classical Music and Dance Organization at the University of Michigan and had been organizing and performing in their concerts throughout his time at the university. After graduating, Srikar had been continuing to be a part of both classical accompaniment and fusion collaborations across the country. Apart from music, Srikar currently works at Google as a Software Engineer in New York City..